Well-known West Philly based photographer Lori Waselchuk has spent the last couple of years hanging out with block captains, attending block parties and photographing the people that hold streets and neighborhoods together.

You can get an intimate look at the results of that work at two exhibitions that open this Friday. Block Party is an exhibition of Waselchuk’s newest work connected with her multimedia project Them That Do.

West Philly block captain Lisa Barkley (Photo by Lori Waselchuk).

For Windowishes, Waselchuk teamed up with six block captains for an installation in the storefront display windows on the west side of South 40th Street between Chestnut and Ludlow. Waselchuk and her collaborators – block leaders and captains Lisa Barkely, Mary Campbell, Carol Dubie, Freda Egnal, Elizabeth Waring, and Renée McBride-Williams – installed “a small environment in each of the bay windows inspired by their community stewardship and neighborhood histories,” according to Waselchuk.

The result is seven stand-alone exhibits that invite us into the life of a single block. For example, the children of Dubie’s block on South 46^th Street made flags for her display, “Legends of the Block.” Teens from Waring’s block of Powelton Avenue helped design and construct a four-foot tree for her display, “Our Trees.”

A whole bunch of community organizations came together for this one. Local cabinet maker and carpenter Gordon Richardson of Oberholtzer Custom Cabinetry donated labor, materials and expertise. Community organizations such as the University City Arts League and the Spruce Hill Community Association also supported the project.

So come have a look and celebrate the launch of both exhibits on Friday, Oct. 16 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the AIRSpace Gallery (4007 Chestnut St.).

Jessica at ease at The Woodlands. She doesn’t like your dog as much as you do. Photo by Lori Waselchuk.

The tension between those who walk their dogs off-leash at The Woodlands and those who wish they wouldn’t is kind of the west-of-the-Schuylkill version of the Hatfields and the McCoys, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Biggie and Tupac. That may be overstating it slightly, but it’s kind of a big deal to many who frequent the cemetery/park.

Jessica, a West Philly yoga instructor and blogger, has had it. In “An Open Letter to People Who Let Their Dogs Off-Leash at Woodlands Cemetery,” she draws a line in the dirt. “I was once a vicious 13-year old girl,” she writes. “And given the right situation, she can return.”

Jessica originally posted this on her site, but has graciously allowed us to repost it here:  Continue Reading

Courtney Douds, a falconer living in West Philadelphia, is looking for her missing bird, a red-tailed hawk (pictured). The bird lived behind a row home in an outdoor aviary, and sometime on Sunday her tethers broke and she flew out.

“While she is fully capable of surviving in the wild, I am predictably distraught,” Courtney wrote in an e-mail. “The bird is a red-tailed hawk, and she’s wearing very loud bells (that don’t interfere with her ability to catch food for herself) that can be heard from quite a distance away.”

So if you hear bells above you or see a red-tailed hawk wearing bells please let Courtney know of the bird’s general whereabouts. Please don’t try to catch the hawk, Courtney says, and it’s unlikely she will come down to anyone. But narrowing down the range of where the bird might have flown to might help Courtney recover her. By the way, Courtney is one of three falconers living in Philadelphia County.

If you spot the hawk, please email: courtney.douds[at]gmail.com

Six-year-old Elliott is in Clark Park every Wednesday to collect canned goods and other non-perishables for Philadelphians in need. His ongoing “Super-Duper Food Drive,” which benefits Philabundance, started in early August, and the response so far has been great. This Wednesday, Elliott will be in Clark Park at 43rd and Chester from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for his 4th collection, so everyone is welcome to swing by and bring a donation. High-priority items are:

• Jelly, jams or preserves;
• Miscellaneous shelf-stable proteins (peanut butter, beans, canned stews, or chili);
• Pasta, rice, & dry mixes;
• Breakfast foods (hot & cold cereals, bars, & oatmeal)

Elliott plans to host many more events throughout the year, according to his mom Jennifer. “We’d like to get others involved, especially kids,” she writes. “Elliott wanted to fill my empty coffee cans with food + water for those in need, so this is our compromise: an ongoing food drive to benefit Philabundance.”

For more information on Elliott’s Super-Duper Food Drive check out this Facebook page.

As you may know, actor Kevin Bacon’s father, Edmund Bacon, was born in West Philadelphia and was a renowned architect and Philadelphia city planner. Kevin and his brother, well-known musician Michael Bacon, are encouraging both students and professionals to be part of the 2016 Better Philadelphia Challenge with a chance to win $5,000. The annual urban design competition was founded in 2006 in memory of Ed Bacon.

The 2016 competition focuses on the Mantua/Belmont section of West Philadelphia, which was designated as a “Promise Zone” by President Obama.

“As part of this neighborhood’s development, what physical design interventions could encourage healthy and active lifestyles, thereby improving public health among residents?” reads the competition announcement.  Continue Reading

Here are two chances to meet and support West Philly-based authors who will be presenting their new books this week.

• Anna Badkhen, a journalist, world traveler and writer, is inviting neighbors to the Penn Book Center (34th and Sansom) on Tuesday, Aug. 4 for the launch of her new book, Walking with Abel. Named a top summer reading pick by the Los Angeles Times, Playboy and Mental Floss, the book takes readers on a journey with a family of Fulani nomads, as they embark on their annual migration across the African savanna. Badkhen spent much of 2013 living with the nomads in the Sahel region of Mali in Western Africa (read our earlier post about Badkhen and her book here).

“[Badkhen] mak[es] Fulani culture come alive as she follows the herders’ daily efforts to cope with drought, disease, and death in an often unforgiving landscape…,” reads a review by Library Journal, and Playboy calls the book a “vivid, memorable nonfiction.”  Continue Reading