Welcome to Art+Soul Food!

We're a team of local artists, musicians, property owners and restaurateurs pooling efforts to create a recurring series of gallery spaces known as Art + Soul Food. Slated to open with a community-wide celebration on Saturday, June 13th, 2009, the event will highlight emerging artists by staging exhibitions in currently unoccupied storefronts along West Girard Avenue in Brewerytown. In conjunction, Butters Soul Food, Deborah’s Kitchen and Rita's Water Ice will cater the opening events which is appropriate, seeing as Brewerytown has recently been recognized as the “epicenter of soul food in Philly” by the Philadelphia Weekly.

What we hope to accomplish with this project is to bring attention and visitors to the 6 block stretch of West Girard Avenue between Girard College and Fairmount Park, while showcasing the area’s culinary and arts contributions and subsequently create more activity on the avenue from both a residential and commercial standpoint.

Unoccupied storefronts along the 2600-2900 blocks of Girard will be serving as gallery spaces, and a team of curators have assigned a diverse collection of work to each space, featuring emerging artists working in a plethora of media. Also included will be live music (both inside and on the street!), soulful refreshments, and visual and performing arts. The hope is that with six exhibition spaces featuring multiple artists, along with the general celebratory atmosphere, there will be a significant opportunity to draw a critical mass of people to the event.

Each show will be open for at least one month, with the possibility to extend. Additionally, they will be accessible to the public on a weekly basis, with the time and day to be coordinated so that all the spaces are open at the same time.

Please check back regularly as we assemble the show's full and comprehensive roster.