Share the Spotlight, a 501(c)3 nonprofit group, is holding its annual end-of-season concert at World Cafe Live, 3025 Walnut St., Philadelphia, on Saturday, August 3 from noon to 2 p.m. in the venue’s downstairs concert hall.

The free show features 19 middle and high school students from Philadelphia performing classic rock, soul and funk songs.

Share the Spotlight offers a tuition-free summer music program for teens. Based in the Tacony section of the city, students rehearse twice a week through June and July and receive individual lessons. This is the non-profit group’s third year in Philadelphia, and its seventh season overall.

Previously, the group performed at the Devon Theater in the Mayfair section of the city.

This year, Share the Spotlight also expanded its programming to include free workshops for students interested in auditioning for Philadelphia public high schools with arts programs.

For information, visit www.sharethespotlight.org.

Primaries for registered Democrats and Republicans around the city are Tuesday, May 21 in an election that could reshape city politics for years to come.

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow. You can find your polling place by going here.

The mayor’s seat and all 17 City Council seats (10 district and 7 at-large) are up for election this year. And in Philadelphia, where Democrats dominate local politics, most races are decided in the primaries.

Instead of providing an exhaustive list of candidates, we have decided to provide links to folks who have compiled a variety of perspectives.  Continue Reading

Friends of Clark Park presents Party in the Park on Saturday, May 18, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. This year’s party will feature food trucks, Dock Street beer, wine, Lil’ Pop Shop, live music, pop-up art from the University City Arts League, and family fun – at Clark Park (43rd and Baltimore).

Party in the Park is free to attend and open to all ages. Food and beverages will be pay-as-you-go with alcohol specials for Friends of Clark Park members. Event attendees may sign up for membership at the event to take advantage of the specials.  Continue Reading

Registration for public school kindergarten for the 2019-2020 school year is open now through May 31, 2019. On Tuesday, March 5, parents and caregivers of children who will be 5 on or before September 1st are invited to visit their neighborhood schools and get their questions answered during the Kindergarten Open House day.

Here is a list of Kindergarten Open Houses at public schools located in West Philadelphia (for more information, visit the School District of Philadelphia website).  Continue Reading

             

Jamie Gauthier, a Garden Court resident and the former head of the Fairmount Park Conservancy, has announced that she will mount a primary campaign against Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, whose family has controlled the 3rd District seat since the 1970s.

Gauthier is a former president of the Garden Court Community Association, was born in the district and returned as an adult to get a master’s degree at Penn and raise her children here. She served as executive director of the Fairmount Park Conservancy from October 2017 until yesterday when she stepped down to announce her candidacy. She previously served as head of the Sustainable Business Network, a non-profit started in West Philly that helps small businesses balance profitability with social and environmental responsibility. Gauthier has a master’s degree in city planning from Penn.  Continue Reading

Artist Stacy Levy hopes that while you’re sweating the lack of parking spots or that missed bus, you will sit for a beat to notice the massive natural force that’s as big as the moon, the sun and the sea, unfolding daily in your midst.

Her installations, “Tide Field” and “River Rooms,” aim to help Philadelphians to connect to the tides that push water up and down Schuylkill River every day.

You may have noticed the clusters of buoys near the boardwalk along the river, near the Art Museum or at Bartram’s Garden. Those are part of “Tide Field.” The basic idea is to show you the tide, that mostly invisible rise and fall of the river that brings the forces of the sun and moon on the ocean into the city every day. The Schuylkill’s tide changes up to six feet daily.  Continue Reading