Destination Frankford to Move Forward with Womrath Park Sculptures and Pop Up Gallery

Destination Frankford has a made some progress since we last covered them in January: the Destination Frankford team recently selected the winner for its sculpture in Womrath Park and they’re making progress on a pop-up gallery set to open in April.

The winner of the sculpture proposals was Christine Rojek, a Chicago-based artist. Her project proposal, Confluence, will be a cluster of three sculptures which celebrates the evolution of Frankford, she wrote in an open letter to the Frankford Community.

The central feature in the sculpture will be a “rushing water form” to symbolize the creek and life. The sculpture will also feature two other main panels, one focused around history and events of Frankford’s past and another focusing on community and the current Frankford community.

The proposal will be presented to the Art Commission on May 7 and aims to be complete by November 2014.

In addition, Destination Frankford’s temporary pop-up gallery now has a location at Frankford Avenue and Paul Street right near the Margaret-Orthodox stop on the Market Frankford Line.

“We are working with a local building owner,” said Ian Litwin, project manager of Destination Frankford. “He’s giving us the storefront rent free. We are putting about 12,000 dollars worth of improvements into it because it’s been vacant for 12 years.”

The gallery will host “Reclaim, Rediscover, and Reanimate” from April 19-June 28, 2014, and there will be three separate exhibitions focusing on each part of the theme. The gallery will be open on Saturdays from 2pm-5pm.

“Reclaim,” the first exhibit from April 19-May 18, will include twenty-one members of Philadelphia’s Dumpster Divers who transform discarded materials into creative new art forms.  From May 24-June 22, “Rediscover” will include photographs from seven local photographers who used their cameras to explore Philadelphia’s urban terrain, concentrating on new perspectives of familiar imagery. “Reanimate,” the last exhibition from June 28-July 27, will present sculptures from members of Philadelphia Sculptors.

Receptions will be held at the opening of each show and will include live music, food trucks, and a local crafts market. In addition, a vacant lot next door to the gallery, currently owned by the city, will be transferred to the Frankford CDC to be turned into a community garden.

For more information about the Destination Frankford project, visit destinationfrankford.com.

Destination Frankford Gallery
“Reclaim, Rediscover, and Reanimate”
April 19 – June 28, 2014 (weekends)
4667-69 Paul Street, Frankford
Receptions and Street Events: April 19, May 24, June 28

(Images courtesy of Destination Frankford)