Gush Gallery co-founders Sarah Thielke and Stephanie Slate. (Photo courtesy of Thielke and Slate)

For local photographers Sarah Thielke and Stephanie Slate, art is a stimulus—a rapid stream of influence in their daily lives. After all, the lineage is there: Slate, a native of Florida, is the granddaughter of a professional photographer, and painters thrived in Theilke’s New Jersey-bred family.

“[Art is] just something that’s always been around us and that we are passionate about,” the duo, who met while attending Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute, told West Philly Local via email.

It’s a passion that’s amassed to Gush Gallery—a West Philadelphia interactive art gallery, community center and boutique Slate and Thielke hope to open in April with the help of donations through their Indiegogo fundraiser, which ends next month. So far, since its launch, Slate and Thielke have raised $1,315 of their $8,500 goal, which will go towards repair costs and equipment for their space (a lease is not signed at the moment; the pair are considering spots on the 5000 block of Baltimore Avenue and the 4700 block of Spruce Street).

Once opened, Gush will be an epicenter of sorts, serving an eclectic lot of emerging and underground artists from a hodgepodge of disciplines and styles—a call back to the gallery’s moniker, synonymous with “enthusiasm” and “torrents”—ultimately catering to a community rich with creativity but lacking in resources to foster it. At the start, Thielke and Slate will run Gush, curating the exhibitions, designing the annual Gush “yearbook” of shows, and leading the photography-based workshops for members and non-members alike (membership fees are three-tiered and start at $25 per year). Services like printing, scanning, film processing, alternative process printing, and digital workstations are also available through Gush at an hourly rate plus use of materials (discounted for members). And, as Gush evolves, the pair hope to bring on local artists to teach workshops in their respective field (like painting, illustration, or sculpture), bring on interns and possibly a small staff, offer a free monthly critique, and classes for children.

But Gush Gallery’s reality isn’t driven by hard numbers. The Indiegogo campaign the two 27-year-old artists are running is flexible, meaning if Thielke and Slate don’t meet their goal by February 7, they will still receive the funds they did raise. In addition, they’re researching grant opportunities for the arts and small businesses, as well as possibly brainstorming brick-and-mortar fundraiser events to help push Gush from concept to tangible.

Still, they say, “if we don’t make our goal but raise enough to open, we’re going to do just that. We want to open Gush as soon as we can.”

–Annamarya Scaccia

Click to enlarge.

Rich Wexler, the director of Project Arts (formerly known as Project Theater Project), invites teenagers to audition for a local production of “Avenue Q School Edition” to be staged at The Rotunda (40th & Walnut) this year. Wexler successfully produced RENT School Edition, also at The Rotunda, in 2011.

This will be an after school program in partnership with The Rotunda and teens aged 15-19 are welcome to audition for the project. Project Arts is an educational theater company that incorporates a curriculum into each project. The program also focuses on issues of social justice in each of its productions. This is a great chance for teens to get theater experiences at a time in which schools are forced to cut such needed programs.

Project Arts programs are free to all participants and production shows are priced very affordable for the audiences. Auditions will take place beginning this week (Saturday, Jan. 11) at The Rotunda. Here are the dates and times:

Saturday, Jan. 11, 11am-5pm
Sunday, Jan. 12, 11am-5pm
Monday, Jan. 13, 4pm-9pm
Saturday, Jan. 18, 12pm-4pm

The teens do not have to have any formal theater training to be considered for a part and can help with many other aspects of the production, such as puppetry, set, light, audio, video, crew, etc. More information about the requirements for the auditions can be found here. Also, feel free to email Rich at projecttheaterproject@gmail.com if you have any questions.

This is a call to all creative neighbors: Fun-A-Day, the annual community art project organized by the Artclash Collective, returns next month and your participation is very welcome. Here’s what you are asked to do:

Choose a project and make one piece of artwork every day for the entire month of January, then share your work in a group art show held the following month. The 31 resulting pieces create a narrative outlining each artist’s journey through the first month of the year. Projects may vary from lighthearted to serious, “high-brow” to “low-brow.” Past year’s list of mediums includes photos, drawings, paintings, songs, textiles and more.

Since its inception in 2005, Fun-A-Day has grown to inspire similar art shows around the country and internationally and shown tens of thousands of pieces by hundreds of artists. Fun-A-Day Philadelphia is organized by a group of local artists, including three of the founding members of the Artclash Collective.

Photo via Fun-A-Day on Facebook.

The 10th Annual Fun-A-Day Art Show will be held at Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave) on Friday, Feb. 7, and Saturday, Feb. 8, 2014, 7 p.m.-11 p.m. Studio 34 has hosted the event since 2008. The “Fun-A-Day Lite” show will feature select pieces of various projects in the hallways of Studio 34 for an entire month after the show, until mid-March.

Participation in Fun-A-Day is free and open to all ages. No sign up is necessary. Everyone is invited to join in on the fun and come to the show to see what your friends and neighbors have been up to during the first month of 2014.

Please follow Fun-A-Day on Facebook or visit the Artclash Collective website for updates on the show.

As West Philly Local recently reported, The Blockley, a popular music venue located at 38th and Chestnut, is closing at the end of the year and has announced its final shows this weekend (Dec. 26-29). For more information, go to The Blockley’s Facebook page.

Thursday, Dec. 26 – Hip-Hop Finale feat. Schoolly D, Reef the Lost Cauze, Cee Knowledge (Doodlebug of Digable Planets), Mic Stew, Beano, Voss, and Chase Allen. Doors – 8 p.m. , Show – 9 p.m. 21+. $10 adv/$12 D.O.S.

Friday, Dec. 27 – Splintered Sunlight (Grateful Dead tribute) w/ Sakima. Doors – 8 p.m., Show – 9 p.m. 21+. $7 adv/$10 D.O.S.

Saturday, Dec. 28 – Long Miles w/ Spiritual Rez. Doors – 8 pm , Show – 9 p.m. 18+. $10 adv/$13 D.O.S.

Sunday, Dec. 29 – A Funky Farewell feat. The Everyone Orchestra. Late night DJ Battle 1-3 am feat. DJ Logic & Special Guest TBA. Doors – 5:30 p.m., Show – 6 p.m. All Ages. $20.

“What they might now see is not always what it was.”

This statement, in its simplicity, carries weight. It’s as somber as it is matter-of-fact—a wistful acknowledgment that the blight that now dots the Mill Creek neighborhood is not the contour that defines it or the future it’s nurturing.

This statement is also at the heart of The Mill Creek Documentary: Past, Present, and Future, a new film by the Mill Creek Community Partnership (MCCP) and Eli Lu Productions exploring and honoring the three prongs of Mill Creek’s history (view trailer below). It’s a provoking documentary that encapsulates shifting images and heavy interviews with hopeful poignancy—refusing to accept the systematic and social issues that devastated the streets north of Market as permanent.

This Friday, Dec. 20, MCCP and Eli Lu Productions will screen The Mill Creek Documentary for Mill Creek residents—and those beyond the West Philly community—at St. Ignatius Nursing Home, 4401 Haverford Avenue. The premiere screening event will open with a reception at 5 p.m., followed by the showing at 6 p.m., and a panel discussion immediately after.

The documentary was made possible by funding and support through the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia. It is also a project of MCCP’s Fine Art Through Our Eyes Community Arts Initiative.

For more information, contact info@mccponline.org or call 267-288-3255.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Curio Theatre is continuing an exploration of gender this season and invites interested and open-minded folks to the Corner Queens Cabaret, a brand new drag cabaret show that kicked off last week on Curio’s Corner Stage (48th and Baltimore). The weekly shows are presented by a group of seven local artists and friends who began meeting once a week a year ago to perform in drag. In an effort to support the artists, Curio has offered them the Corner Stage for a limited time to put on a show.

Performers in the cabaret are not just Drag Queens and Kings; audience members are welcome to sign up to perform in upcoming shows. The Corner Queens Cabaret is designed to “allow a spectrum of artists to get on stage, take a risk, and have a great time.”

To help the audience get into the mood before the show, Curio has partnered with The Gold Standard Café who serves special $20 food platters for two with complimentary wine (you can also order from the menu and BYOB).

Shows run every Monday, except December 23, beginning at 9 p.m. The last show is on March 3, 2014. Admission is $5 cash at the door. For more information, visit: http://www.curiotheatre.org/corner-queens-cabaret.html