So last year the West Prize was awarded to the Dufala Brothers, who are Philadelphians and who also got the Fleischer Challenge exhibition. The details are below, its easy and free to sign up and enter....

The West Prize was launched in 2008 with the mission to find exciting new artists and adding them to the West Collection. In its inaugural year, the West annual acquisition budget of $125,000 was offered to ten artists. The flood of applications was unbelievable! In fact, 3,600 artists applied from 73 countries. West Collection curator Paige West had the job to go through all applicants and narrow the field down to ten innovative artists, but there were hundreds of fitting applicants in the application pool. The hope is that artists will continue to apply until they are acquired through the West Prize.

The West Prize will again award the 10 finalists $10,000 each from the acquisition funds, which is used to add their work to the West Collection. The application deadline is November 1, 2009 and artists must be 18 years or older and can live anywhere in the world. All artworks submitted for consideration for the acquisition award must be valued at less than $10,000. One of the 10 artists will win the balance of the purse, or $25,000 in cash, as a stipend for concentrating solely on art for the next year. Additionally, a 10 Catalog will again been produced to document the 2009 winners. There is no fee to apply to the West Prize.

Apply Here

Conflux Proposal Deadline Extended

In response to the high level of interest in the initial call as well as requests for more time, the Conflux Team has extended the “ConfluxCity” submissions deadline through Saturday, August 15, 2009.

Reburbia : Design Competition

ANNOUNCING THE REBURBIA DESIGN COMPETITION!

Dwell Magazine and Inhabitat.com are pleased to announce the first ever Reburbia competition: a design competition dedicated to re-envisioning the suburbs.

With the current housing crisis, the sub-prime mortgage meltdown, and rising energy costs, the future of suburbia looks bleak. Suburban communities in central California, Arizona and Florida are desolate and decaying, with for sale and foreclosure signs dotting many lawns. According to the US Census, about 90% of all metropolitan growth occurred in suburban communities in the last ten years. Urbanites who loathe the freeways, big box stores and bland aesthetics stereotypical of suburbia may secretly root for the end of sprawl, but demographic trends indicate that exurban growth is still on the rise.

In a future where limited natural resources will force us to find better solutions for density and efficiency, what will become of the cul-de-sacs, cookie-cutter tract houses and generic strip malls that have long upheld the diffuse infrastructure of suburbia? How can we redirect these existing spaces to promote sustainability, walkability, and community? It’s a problem that demands a visionary design solution and we want you to create the vision!

Calling all future-forward architects, urban designers, renegade planners and imaginative engineers:
Show us how you would re-invent the suburbs! What would a McMansion become if it weren’t a single-family dwelling? How could a vacant big box store be retrofitted for agriculture? What sort of design solutions can you come up with to facilitate car-free mobility, ‘burb-grown food, and local, renewable energy generation? We want to see how you’d design future-proof spaces and systems using the suburban structures of the present, from small-scale retrofits to large-scale restoration—the wilder the better!

HOW TO ENTER THE REBURBIA COMPETITION

Enter the Inhabitat / Dwell REBURBIA competition, by sending up to 5 images and a statement about your design proposal. You can submit as many entries as you like, but each individual entry should be focused on one singular design problem/solution (i.e. a McMansion farm rehab, a bicycle transportation hub, a piezoelectric, energy-generating freeway paving system). Entries will be judged on clarity of idea, usefulness of design, and visual/aesthetic appeal of renderings.

SEPTA : Art in Transit : Call to Artists.

Art In Transit

A call to artists is currently open for two stations in the SEPTA system.

Deadline: August 1, 2009
Project Name: SEPTA Spring Garden Subway Station
Budget: $150,000
Location: Broad and Spring Garden Streets, Philadelphia, PA
Download the Call For Artists Spring Garden Station package (pdf) for complete details and application instructions.

Deadline: September 18, 2009
Project Name: SEPTA Girard Subway Station
Budget: $150,000
Location: Broad Street and Girard Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
Download the Call For Artists Girard Station package (pdf) for complete details and application instructions.

SEPTA invites all artists living in the Greater Philadelphia area to apply for a public art commission. Artists are asked to envision permanent artwork that will be seen by tens of thousands of pedestrians, shoppers, residents, motorists and SEPTA riders commuting through or passing by stations each day.

The Art In Transit Program is designed to incorporate art elements into renovation and construction projects for selected stations and public transportation facilities. The program allocates up to one percent of the construction budget of capitally funded projects for the design, fabrication and installation of permanent artwork. The purpose of the Art in Transit Program is to create a more inviting and dynamic transit environment for regular and new riders and to foster a feeling of pride within the surrounding community.

Please join us tonight at 6 p.m. at VOX POPULI
319 North 11th StreetRichard Torchia, Director of Arcadia University Art Gallery, presents

"Toward a History of Artists'-run Spaces in Philadelphia,"

an illustrated talk developed in preparation for a text in to be inlcluded in a forthcoming publication planned as part of Vox's 21st Anniversary.

Richard Torchia is an artist and director of Arcadia University Art Gallery, Glenside, Pennsylvania. Since taking the position there in 1997, he has curated one-person exhibitions and projects by artists such as Dave Allen, Olafur Eliasson, Amy Hauft, Candida Hofer, William Larson, Donald Moffett, Gerald Nichols, Paul Ramirez Jonas, Kay Rosen, and Beat Streuli. Working with a range of regional and international talent, and frequently collaborating with co-curators, he has developed thematic shows addressing issues such as the sited gesture, the peformative figure, the childhood drawings of contemporary artists, and the sea and cosmos as subjects for recent art.

Prior to his tenure at Arcadia he was the inaugural curator of the Levy Gallery at Moore College of Art and Design (Philadelphia) where, between 1987 and 1995, he curated over 40 exhibitions featuring the work of Philadelphia-based talent. In addition to ongoing independent curatorial and editing efforts (including the first issues of "D Magazine" and recent monographs for artists Bill Walton and Tristin Lowe), he has contributed extensive essays for exhibition catalogs on the work of Gabriel Martinez (Samson Projects, Boston) and collaborative team Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller (for their project Pandemonium at Historic Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia). Since 1996, Torchia has been an adjunct professor on the graduate faculty of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and in 2003 initiated a course in curatorial practice that is now a standard offering in the art history curriculum at Arcadia.

Since 1990 he has maintained an active artistic practice employing sited projections (often produced with the camera obscura) at venues in Philadelphia, across the United States, and in Europe.

Image credit: Flier for the 1989 exhibition by MEAT at the C.E.C. in Philadelphia, PA.

Creative CapitalExhibit Opening Featuring Personal Work of Mural Arts Program Staff & Instructors

Date:	Thursday, July 16, 2009
Time:	5:30pm - 7:30pm
Location:	Commonwealth Gallery, Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center at the Thomas Eakins House
Street:	1727-29 Mount Vernon Street
City/Town:	Philadelphia, PA

Phone:	2156850750
Email:	gallery@muralarts.org

Creative Capital showcases personal artworks by Mural Arts Program staff and instructors. The exhibition will include drawing, painting, mosaics, photography, printmaking, poetry, mixed-media, and more. Opening reception July 16th. Work on display through August 14th.

For additional information, please contact Brian Campbell, Exhibitions Coordinator, at 215.685.0750 or gallery@muralarts.org.

Featuring work by:
Kim Alsbrooks, Alvaro Altamar, Marcus Balum, James Burns, Rodney Camarce, Brad Carney, Ellissa A. Collier, Angela Crafton, Ryan J. Derfler, Shelby Donnelly, Kate Duffy, Sebastian Duncan-Portuondo, Cheryl Durgans, Rachel Ehrgood, Sarah Folger, Emmanuel Gonzales, Colleen Hammond, Shari Hersh, Aliene de Souza Howell, Cathleen Hughes, Martha Knox, Luis Lee, Nathaniel Lee, Jon Laidacker, Jenn McCreary, Lisa Murch, Louise Radochonski, Miriam Singer, Kara Lynn Spalding, Craig Turner, Seth Turner, Mema Vaklinova, Carlos Vasquez, Harvey Weinreich, Deborah Zuchman

Conflux 2009 : Submissions

In keeping with its commitment to urban artistic exploration, community participation, shared knowledge, and critical civic engagement, Conflux will organize a user-generated open format event on Sunday September 20th, 2009 from 10am-6pm.

Through an open submissions process, ConfluxCity will provide a platform for artists, urban geographers, technologists and others to organize and produce innovative activities dedicated to the examination, celebration and (re)construction of everyday urban life.

Drawing inspiration from Burning Man’s creed of radical self-reliance and BarCamp’s philosophy of openness and participation, ConfluxCity will adopt an open-space approach in which participants will be expected to organize, promote, and host their own activities and events. To facilitate this format, the Conflux Festival headquarters and website will serve as a central communications hub directing festival attendees outward to individual event websites and locations.

ConfluxCity participants must submit their proposal by July 20th ($10 administrative fee). All proposals will be judged based on artistic merit, originality, and feasibility.

Once you’ve read the guidelines (below) and the participant agreement, please submit your proposal here.

Timeline

June 26: Call for Proposals OPENS
July 20: Call for Proposals CLOSES
Early August: Accepted proposals announced
September 17 - 20: Conflux 2009
September 20: ConfluxCity

Guidelines

Types of Event

Participants in Conflux share an interest in psychogeography. Projects range from interpretations of the classical approach developed by the Situationists to emerging artistic, conceptual, and technology-based practices.

Here are examples of events to be featured in ConfluxCity:

• exploratory drifts/dérives on foot or by bike, subway, bus or other transport
• walks with experimental mapping or navigation techniques
• social/environmental/urban research and fieldwork
• workshops and classes
• temporary outdoor installations/interventions
• interactive performance projects
• street games
• mobile-tech/locative media projects
• micro-radio, podcasting, vlogging and other broadcast proposals
• alternative use/re-use of public space
• projects proposing alternative/experimental/DIY cultures, economies, communities, and artistic initiatives
• lectures, multimedia presentations and panel discussions
• short film/video works
• live audio/video projects and musical performances for night events
• sculpture, painting, photography, or collage that directly addresses urban space and psychogeography

For examples of past Conflux events, visit our archived website.

Selection Criteria

Relevance: How does the event relate to psychogeography?
Does its theme address issues central to classic psychogeography and/or propose new methods? Does the event take a unique approach to exploring, understanding, celebrating or changing the city?

Participant Experience: How do Conflux attendees experience the event? Is the public experience well-thought-through? Does the event encourage dialogue between the diverse communities of New York City?

Feasibility: Is the event’s scope reasonable? Does the event have its own funding? Can the artists travel to Conflux with their own funds?

Locations

Only events that take place in the New York City area are eligible. They may be outdoors or in a venue you provide. Conflux HQ will be located at NYU Steinhardt’s Department of Art and Art Professions in the East Village (34 Stuyvesant Street). The HQ will feature a lounge area for visitors and space for event maps and flyers. There will be wi-fi at the HQ. We’ll focus heavily on events that are in downtown Manhattan, but we anticipate events happening in all five boroughs. In order to prevent excessive congestion at the headquarters, ConfluxCity events may not start or be located within or directly outside 34 Stuyvesant Street. However, we encourage you to locate parks and public spaces nearby that may be suitable for your event.

Heads Up [Permits & Production Info]

Please keep in mind that you’ll be responsible for doing the research and securing any necessary venues, permits, assistants, equipment, materials and so on in the production of your event. IMPORTANT: If your project is outdoors and has amplified sound, the city requires a permit; read about that here. We’d love to help plan each event, but we have a small (all volunteer) staff and our resources are limited. We’ll have several volunteers at Conflux HQ throughout the festival to help everyone. Some things to consider:

• New York Civil Liberties Union [Know Your Rights]
• Obtaining a Park Permit
• NYPD Anti-Graffiti Initiative
• For project materials/equipment, check out Freecycle and Wastematch.

Funding

Conflux unfortunately is unable to provide any funding or material assistance for ConfluxCity events.

Contact Us

If you have questions about the submission process, contact us.

Submission Guidelines

• You may work with collaborators. The form includes space for the lead contact person’s information, as well as the names of collaborators.
• Please don’t send us updates about your project via email during the submission and curating period. If we have questions, we’ll contact you for more information.
• You’ll receive confirmation by email that includes your submitted information. Please keep this for your reference.
• If you’d like to submit more than one project, no problem, but please submit entries individually; each requires payment of the submission fee.
• You must agree to the participant agreement.
• Payment is accepted online via PayPal. Only proposals with associated payment will be considered for entry.

Please submit your proposal here!

July 11th 6 to 9pm for all yous hep cats!

Photography by Stephen Callahan

Growing up an orphan, Stephen had to work to survive. He began his life as a chimney sweep. Because of his slim build and and lack of funds for the necessary equipment, he used his body alone as the cleaning implement. After a debilitating bout of “chimney sweep trots” (a bowel disorder), his livelihood was no more. Finding himself broke, he sold himself to a Frenchman of noble heritage. At this chateau he was taught the art of tadpole wrangling. A vital step in the raising of frogs. The frogs were de-legged to feed the never ending appetite of the French race for said legs. Leaving France he made his way to America aboard a tramp steamer. He paid his way by making artificial limbs from spare engine parts for the less fortunate of the crew. Dropped off in Philadelphia with no money or prospects, he spent nights sneaking into the zoo to sleep in the aardvark den. Fortune finally smiled upon him when rummaging through the zoo’s lost and found, he came upon a 35 mm camera. Desperate to learn how to use it, he found a local photographer willing to teach him. In exchange for this education though, he was forced to pose in compromising positions with stuffed animals and poorly constructed Swedish furniture.

After mastering the art of photography, he became rich and famous, and married a princess. The End

PS. The man hosting this event is an impostor and not to be trusted.

--
Square Peg Artery & Salvage
108 South 20th Street
Philadelphia, PA, 19103
squarepegartery@gmail.com
215 360 5548

VOX V - Opening Reception Sat, July 1oth 6pm - 11pm

Come visit on Friday, July 10 at 6 p.m. for the opening reception of VOX V, our fifth annual guest juried exhibition of emerging artists, curated by Ryan Trecartin and Larry Mangel.

Evan Abramson
Alexander Oslance
Sebastian Leclercq
Jaime Treadwell
Jonathan Monaghan
Andrea Goldman
Travis Southworth
Aaron Maietta
Dan Haddigan-Dreamboat
Joshua Bernstein
Jerry Kaba II
Daniel Petraitis
Marc Blumthal
Zena Pesta
Sarah Knouse
Steve Cossman
Adam Blumberg
Jesse Greenberg
John Heron
Jennifer Layzer
Alexander D'Agostino
Daniel Rosenbaum
Jeanine Woollard
Tim Eads
Tyler Kline
David Ubias
Strauss Bourque-LaFrance
Matthew Savitsky
Peter Schenck
Bryan Jones
Joseph Rohrer
Maki Hajikano
Katie Minford
Justin Bursk
Jennifer Murray
Eric Veit
Kikuko Tanaka
Tobias Waite
Giacomo Fortunato
Nicole Lenzi
Cyriaco Pereira
Patrick McDonough
Kathleen Shafer
Barbara Randall
Morgan Frew
Emily Bowser
Deniz Ozuygur
Katie Herzog
Maria Walker
Kat Schneck
Jessica Hendrix

319 N. 11th Street, Philadelphia, PA

Vote love it on my design

URBZ: Hosted @ Temple University Japan

The URBZ MASHUP workshop facilitates creative explorations and cultural exchanges between cities and people.

Dreams, myths and personal stories influence the destiny of cities as much as political choices and economic opportunities. They inspire architects and artists, stimulate activists and residents, and broaden the vision of the public and decision-makers.

This workshop provides a space of expression for practicioners in architecture, planning, design, art, media, creative writing and other creative fields. It is based on the idea that the best way to make genuine breakthroughs in the way we understand, experience and create our cities is to stimulate collective imagination, by bringing together people from all over the world and all ways of life. The workshop provides a space to produce new images, narratives and insights about cities and urban life, using online tools, digital technology, personal experiences and professional skills.

The first URBZ MASHUP will take place in Tokyo, hosted by Temple University Japan, in the first week of July 2009. The second one will be held at Istanbul Technical University in the first week of August, followed by Mumbai in November. Other workshops are planned in Rio, New York and Amsterdam in 2010. Each workshop will remix and mashup the material produced in other cities.

The dates are as follows:

Tokyo: July 1-5, 2009

Istanbul: August 2-9, 2009

Mumbai: Nov. 22-29, 2009

Rio: February 7-13, 2010

New York: April, 2010

Amsterdam: June, 2010

3 Headed: Adventures in the land of smoke and mirrors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Rika Hawes, Kim Harty, and Charlotte Potter
26 June 2009
Contact: Nike Desis
914.806.4889 / nike@thefluxspace.org

Exhibition Dates: June 26, 2009, – July 26, 2009 215.740.0819 / rikahawes@gmail.com

Opening Reception: June 26, 2009, 6 – 10 pm

Gallery Hours: Saturdays 12 – 4 pm or by appointment

FLUXspace is pleased to present Three Headed, a collaboration between Kim Harty, Rika Hawes, and Charlotte Potter. Their show, "Adventures in the Land of Smoke and Mirrors," opens June 27th from 6-10PM.

The event is an experimental journey that explores the subversive nature of spectacle, pleasure and entertainment. Modeled after the structure of the carnival, it evokes such canons as the sideshow, burlesque theatre, and the circus.

"Adventures in the Land of Smoke and Mirrors," also identifies with the Situationalist’s goal of setting up temporary environments towards the fulfillment of primitive human desires. Three Headed uses different optical, mechanical, and technological phenomena to inspire a viewer’s pleasure. "The goal of the show," says Harty, "is fabrication of spectacular representations which become interchangeable with reality." Evolving from Foucault’s concept of the Heterotopias, the artists create environments to transport the viewer to spaces that are both real and illusory, as well as mysterious and otherworldly.

Adventures in the Land of Smoke and Mirrors," is your chance to take a ride on the Love Boat, travel the Mirror Maze, check out the Peep Show, test your skills in the Shooting Gallery, drink from the Fountain of Youth, view the Cabinet of Curiosities, and see the 3 headed adventurers in action.!

Three Headed (Hawes, Harty, and Potter) presents collaborative art events that walk the line- a tight- rope line- between art and entertainment. They work in a variety of media and have also put on the production, "Cirque De Verre, " a hot glass Circus that has been performed at art centers and museums throughout the country. Cirque De Verre has been profiled in Glass Magazine, and recently performed at the Corning Museum of Glass with up coming shows at Goggle works and the Toledo Museum of Glass. In an effort to make performance art accessible to the audience, they combine their postmodern artistic sensibility with the circus, which Vladamir Lenin referred in 1919 as “the people’s art form.”

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FLUXspace is a Philadelphia based 501(c)3 contemporary arts space which provides artists, curators, and instigators the opportunity for unrestricted and uncensored experimentation, professional presentation, and critical dialogue for the purpose of exploring and creating new art practices and media. FLUX consists of an exhibition space, an artist residency program, as well as public programming including artist lectures, panel discussions, workshops, movie nights and performances.

3000 N. Hope Street www.thefluxspace.org
Philadelphia, PA 19133 info@thefluxspace.org