Philadelphia Art Appreciation Meetup Group

On October 11th, I attended an open studio event in the Wanamaker Room at the Masonic Temple; it was such a unique and lovely intertwining of different disciplines that I asked the participants if they could do an encore for our group during the holiday season.

Here's how Cara Schneider Bongiorno, with whom I've been honored to collaborate twice, described what took place last month:
"Collective Lessons. Philly History Pop Ups and the artists of the Mason Stitch Art Collective join forces for a second POST collaboration inside the fascinating Masonic Temple at Broad & Market Street. Cara Schneider Bongiorno will weave together surprising Philly stories, each inspired by the projects [Duwenavue] Santé Johnson’s embroidery students are working on."

In a local ABC news story, Santé Johnson explains, "I'm a hand-embroiderer for presidential flags, but I also do community workshops in Philadelphia." The photo above shows the (literally) big project of hers that you'll get to see in person ("in flag"?) at the event. You'll also hear the project's concept designer, Hayato Matsushita, talk about his contribution, (as well as his own work, which focuses on the mathematical and symbolic elements found in historical flags and maps), along with fellow artists Krista Dedrick-Lai, Andy Ita, and Alex Spalding (the last of whom has not yet confirmed).

Before and after all the participants speak (at 12:30), the above artists will have work on display for both viewing enjoyment and holiday shopping if you are so inclined. :) There will also be refreshments from the nearby branch of Trader Joe's. :) If people feel that they'd like even more of those, we can always go for coffee in the area.

Finally, there may be a possibility of seeing some of the spectacular rooms in the Masonic Temple during the last hour or so; I'll update this posting with what will either be the good or the disappointing news.

More information on the participants:
https://www.phillyhistorypopups.com/
https://www.artxstitch.com/
https://www.hayatomatsushita.com/
www.kristadedricklai.com
https://www.aspaldingart.com/

Note about Tuesday "Nights of Co-creation": I know that some of you have expressed interest in contributing to renowned muralist Meg Saligman's new project, Ministry of Awe (MoA), which is located in a former bank on North 3rd Street. On Tuesdays from 5:30 to 8:30 and possibly later, we're all welcome to come to Meg's new studio space at 225 Church Street to work on everything from mosaics to rugs to painted squares resembling velvet from a distance to giant pearls to "forged" famous artworks...