BY ALAINA MABASO FOR NEWSWORKS
Sept 23
Nothing daunts the poets in Germantown where, for a second consecutive year, one parking spot wasn’t nearly enough space for the Artists Roundtable to celebrate Park(ing) Day.
Friday’s festivities took over the sidewalk and an empty storefront’s grate as a proud crop of local writers read their work aloud despite the mid-afternoon racket of Chelten Avenue traffic.
For this year’s annual celebration of the possibilities of parking spaces — from mini-parks to the art exhibitions and beyond — the Roundtable and Germantown United Community Development Corporation (GUCDC) each claimed spots on the Chelten Avenue business corridor near Greene Street. Philadelphia University shared some space with G-Town Radio a few blocks north of that.
Roundtable festivities
An African drumming circle at the Roundtable’s space drew nearly 30 people in the early afternoon.
There, multimedia work from local artists Tieshka Smith, Susan Mangan, Terisita Stidem, Jill Saull, Gary Reed, Ife Iwoo, Adrienne Morrison and Rocio Cabello decorated every available space.
Roundtable organizer Paula Paul said she appreciated the generosity of artists who trusted their work to the public outdoor setting.
The poetry readers had a respectable audience despite many necessary pauses while SEPTA buses rumbled past.
“The keys in this pocket lead to Germantown,” poet Nzadi Keita read in a literary tribute to the neighborhood’s racially diverse residents that also touched on the region’s economic troubles. “Checks and food stamps cost a day of day of waiting.”
YahNe Ndgo, a writer and Friends of Vernon Park leader, read from her story titled “Five Minutes,” an unflinching look at the experience of abortion “at my request and his insistence.”
“Hopefully, the human element will transcend the subject matter, no matter how you relate to it,” she said, prefacing the work.
Art in the streets
The parking space itself was given over to “Broadway Boogie,” a street installation by iMPeRFeCT Gallery co-owner Renny Molenaar featuring salvaged car mufflers and tailpipes stitched tight into luxurious corduroy, lace and velvet covers.
“I’m a garbage guy,” Molenaar said when NewsWorks caught up with him at his Maplewood Mall gallery.
He said he was squatting in the South Bronx years ago when a big truck pulled up and dumped a load of “couture” fabrics right on the street.
“I thought, I can do something with this,” he said of Broadway Boogie’s inspiration.
On a whim, he began to stitch the fancy fabrics over the rusty car parts.
“It totally became sensual; they became like a body,” he said of how the metal objects were transformed by the cloth.
The one-day park
Two blocks north, Germantown Park(ing) Day organizer Megan Fitzpatrick, GUCDC board members Andy Trackman and Yvonne Haskins and others turned a parking spot into a woodsy garden.
Paved with wood chips, the spot featured potted plants sprouting from hollowed tree-trunk pieces and colorful repurposed wood pallets housing more blooms.
The GUCDC was also promoting the Re-Imagining Maplewood Mall event, scheduled for 1 to 5 p.m. on Oct. 19.
After an online crowd funded a shoestring budget for last June’s block party, photographer and event planner Gary Reed said that GUDCD has secured a $5,000 grant from Urban Mechanics toward the upcoming festival.
GUCDC is seeking arts-and-crafts vendors and live performers to participate in the festivities, which will also feature goodies from local restaurants.
For more information on participating as an artist, vendor or performer, e-mail[email protected]. GUCDC leader Garlen Capita is also looking for more volunteers for the event; anyone interested in lending a hand should visit the organization’s website or e-mail [email protected].
Pathmark reaches out
GUCDC’s Haskins also told passersby about an upcoming meeting regarding the future of the Germantown Pathmark grocery store.
She said she hopes the meeting — scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 2 in the Flying Horse Center’s Pegasus Room (5534 Pulaski Ave.) — will raise concerns about the appearance of the market’s parking lot and adjacent sidewalks, and the many habitual loiterers who often contribute to an unpleasant, sometimes-threatening environment.
“The fact that he asked for this meeting is exciting,” Haskins said of the store’s new manager, Jeff Kelly.
“We want to get the word out that Pathmark has a new manager who is receptive to community concerns,” she added, urging community members to attend with questions, suggestions and an appreciation for Kelly’s positive gesture.
September 18, 2013
By Alaina Mabaso for NewsWorks, @AlainaMabaso
As SEPTA offers up a possible “doomsday” plan that would eliminate nine of its 13 regional rail lines in the next 10 years, threatening to send 40 million riders back to their cars, some Northwest Philadelphians are still imagining a future of repurposed parking spaces.
Along West Chelten Avenue on Friday, the Germantown United Community Development Corporation (GUCDC), the Germantown Artists Roundtable and Philadelphia University will celebrate Park(ing) Day, an annual worldwide event dedicated to transforming cities’ metered spaces from parking spots into public mini-parks.
Artists, activists and eco-entrepreneurs worldwide use Park(ing) Day to share their message with the public and imagine something other than asphalt covering the world’s parking lots. Locally, there are more than 40 locations beyond Germantown, viewable on this interactive map.
Imagining a different world
“We’re going to be making our spot into a little outdoor park,” GUCDC Park(ing) Day organizer Megan Fitzpatrick told NewsWorks this week. “What would happen to the spots if more citizens used public transit, and didn’t depend on cars so much?”
GUCDC members will talk to locals about the fate of the old Germantown Town Hall. They will also pass out menus from nearby cafes in an effort to promote local dining.
A trip to a Fairmount Park recycling center netted the planners a large cherry tree trunk that they hollowed out and cut into planters.
With some pallets donated from Killian’s Hardware of Chestnut Hill, these are becoming a vertical garden with the help of GUCDC board member Sarah Endriss’ Philadelphia University landscape-architecture students.
“After Park(ing) Day is over, we’re going to march these little planters and little garden installations over to Maplewood Mall, to beautify the space in preparation for the Re-Imagining Maplewood MallFestival in October,” Fitzpatrick said.
Arts in the parking mix
Germantown Artists Roundtable organizer Paula Paul is helping spearhead that group’s (Park)ing Day spot at Chelten Avenue and Greene St., modeling it after their successful street-arts extravaganza last year.
“The highlight is an attempt to pull from each of the arts: Visual, performing and literary, and somehow transform a parking spot for a day into a place where all those things can happen at once,” Paul said.
The day will include an outdoor art salon, with a special street installation from iMPeRFeCT Gallery co-founder Renny Molenaar.
The window grate of the deserted store behind the parking spot will become an impromptu gallery, including a photo display from Germantown photographer Tieshka Smith and a showcase of this summer’s “Photographing Germantown’s Human Assets” project. African drummers, a poetry circle and a yarn-bombing will round out the day.
Germantown in 3D
Philadelphia University will also have its own Chelten Avenue spot.
Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture Kim Douglas said it is an opportunity for students to prepare for a studio-course project focused on Germantown revitalization.
Fifth-year landscape-architecture and architecture students, along with masters’ students in GeoDesign, are developing a virtual 3D “ecodistrict framework plan” for the Germantown business corridor. Students will be on the scene to get community input on Park(ing) Day.
“The students will set up easels and pads and chalk on the parking area to record what the community envisions, so we hope people will stop by to talk, draw and record their dreams,” Douglas explained.
The Germantown spots will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday along Chelten Avenue between Germantown Ave. and Greene St
At Maplewood Mall block party, opinions vary about upcoming $2.2 million redesign (via NewsWorks)
June 25, 2013 By Alaina Mabaso for NewsWorks, @AlainaMabaso “Everybody has a different take. People who have been here longer are jaded. I can understand why people do stop believing.” –Rocio Cabello, co-founder, iMPeRFeCT Gallery”What I’d like to…
Exciting news! Maplewood Mall’s brand-new, state-of-the-art BigBelly high capacity trash can units have arrived and are ready to tackle our waste management needs. Positioned strategically at both ends of the mall – within the Germantown Ave/Armat plaza and curbside at Greene St/Armat – these units combine functionality with a touch of artistic flair to the mall’s surroundings.
Thanks to the creative brilliance of Oluwafemi (@olwfm), these trash can units transcend mere utility and transform into eye-catching pieces of urban art.
A Collaborative Effort
Thanks to the Philadelphia Department of Commerce and the Streets Department for providing the necessary resources to make this addition a reality. Their support underscores the importance of community collaboration in building a more sustainable and visually appealing urban environment.
Further kudos are due to the dedicated members of Germantown United’s corridor cleaning and beautification dream team, who provide services in the Central Germantown Commercial Corridor: Ready, Willing & Able, Depaul USA Philadelphia, Candice Price Garden Design, and Friends of Germantown NW.
Collectively, these efforts are paving the way for a cleaner, more beautiful Germantown.
Germantown, Philadelphia, PA – The Germantown Second Saturday Festival will be held on Saturday, July 8, 2017 from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. in Northwest Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood. The festival will take place along a one-block stretch of Germantown Avenue, between School House Lane and Coulter Street, and surround Market Square Park (5501 Germantown Avenue). Rain or shine. (Event rescheduled from previous date of May 13 due to weather.)
The community festival, presented by Historic Germantown and Germantown United Community Development Corporation, invites the public to experience Germantown. The festival celebrates the kick-off the Second Saturday series–when all 16 Historic Germantown sites are open monthly–and showcases the many thriving cultural, civic, and business attractions and activities that make Germantown an exciting place to live and visit.
Throughout the day, musicians, poets, and creative performing artists will take to the main stage on Germantown Avenue.
The headlining performance by The Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble will close out the event with an hour-long show. The troupe is sensational and electrifying, and features amazing stilt walkers, dancers, drummers, and ground masquerades with an exciting acrobatic performance. The Universal African Dance & Drum Ensemble represents the beauty of African culture and is considered one of the best of its kind by scholars and African Djelis (historians).
Musical talent includes popular local artists: Danie Ocean Band, Jim and Andrew Dragoni, and many others. Germantown resident Yolanda Wisher, the City of Philadelphia’s Poet Laureate, will host the festivities.
Thank You to Our Amazing Lineup!
The family-friendly Festival will also feature a Kid Zone with moon bounce, face painting, and many art-fueled interactive activities. The Germantown Artists Roundtable will invite festival-goers to create a work of art they can take home at the Imagination Station. The Free Library of Philadelphia’s Techmobile will be on-site with books and lots of learning opportunities.
Visitors will learn about Historic Germantown’s 16 extraordinary historic houses, destinations, and museums, including Awbury Arboretum, Ebenezer Maxwell Mansion, Grumblethrope, and Wyck.
The two sites located within the festival grounds, the Germantown Historical Society and Deshler-Morris House (The Germantown Whitehouse), will be open for tours. At the Historical Society, visitors can view the Elephants on the Avenue Gallery Show featuring work by Sonia Sanchez, Barbara Bullock, Benjamin Volta, Yolanda Wisher, Diane Pieri, Ife Nii Owoo and local community members. Learn more at freedomsbackyard.com.
Over 25 vendors will participate in the Art & Craft Vendor Marketplace, coordinated by Germantown United CDC. Local eateries and visiting food trucks including Uptown BBQ Grill, Sweet Lavender, Hardy Funnel Cakes, and The Lunchbox will be serving up good eats. Attendees can also get to know many of Germantown’s civic and community organizations, including Friends of Vernon Park, Germantown Life Enrichment Center, and others.
This is the second year Germantown United CDC and Historic Germantown have partnered on the Festival to bring renewed attention and interest to a little-used neighborhood park and public space, and kick-off Historic Germantown’s monthly Second Saturday series.
The festival will be held rain or shine!
The festival is accessible by SEPTA. Bus Routes: 23 Bus, XH Bus; Chestnut Hill East Regional Rail: Germantown Station (150 E Chelten Ave). Visit http://www.septa.org for schedules.
Street parking is available near the festival grounds.
Limited free off-street parking is also available. Festival parking is permissible at the Citizens Bank Lot at 5500 Germantown Ave (enter from W School House Ln).
Road closures: Germantown Avenue between School House Lane & Coulter Street, and the unit block of E Church Lane will be closed to all traffic from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Historic Germantown
Historic Germantown is a partnership organization serving historic sites in Philadelphia’s Old German Township that works collaboratively to preserve its extraordinary historic assets, increase access, interpret them to the public and raise their visibility. Learn more at freedomsbackyard.com.
Germantown United CDC
The mission of Germantown United Community Development Corporation (GUCDC) is to promote and facilitate the revitalization of the business corridors in the Germantown neighborhood of Northwest Philadelphia through a sustainable, creative, and community-driven approach to economic development. Learn more at http://germantownunitedcdc.org.
# # #
To request interviews and high-resolution photos, please contact:
Emaleigh Doley, Commercial Corridor Manager, Germantown United CDC
215-856-4303, [email protected]
Trapeta Mayson, Executive Director, Historic Germantown
215-844-1683, Ext. 101, [email protected]
The third annual Germantown Second Saturday Festival, presented by Historic Germantown and Germantown United CDC, will be held at Market Square Park on Saturday, May 13, 2017. We will be seeking performers, vendors and community organizations to table at the event.
More information will be posted at germantownunitedcdc.org as it becomes available. Got questions? Email [email protected] today.