Exhibition Advocating for the Homeless

The Brossman Miller Gallery and the Cora Miller Gallery in Wolf Hall at York College currently have the exhibitions, "Give and Take," and "Nowhere to Lay His Head" on display. The first is a group exhibition, an interactive, living exhibition about cooperation and reciprocity in which a group of artists have created works dealing with ideas such as meeting the needs of others and having one’s own needs met, ridding oneself of excess, and addressing problems communally and individually. The artists are free to interpret these themes or introduce new ones, and visitors will be asked to participate in the life of the project as well. Exhibitors include Jane Craven, Alex Gartelmann, Melody Martin, Joanna Platt, Melanie Rodgers, JoAnne Schiavone and Katie VanVliet.

"Nowhere to Lay His Head," is a solo exhibition by Matthew Works. Works is an artist, writer and activist for the homeless who has lived in Boston for 30 years, the last 13 of which have been spent “on the streets.” When security tightened after the Sept. 11 attacks and the Boston police began to crack down on the homeless population more than usual, Works began responding to an increasing number of invitations to speak and exhibit his artwork around the country. Since beginning his “Cross Country Speaking Tours” and “Traveling Art Shows,” he has built a following at many colleges, universities and churches as an artist and “theologian in residence.”

To read the entire press release, or find out more about the exhibitions, please visit here.

Collecting Clothing

Philadelphia Friends,
If anyone has any large coats, blankets, sweatpants, hoodies, or knit caps they don't need anymore, Marianne Bernstein is trying to gather 20 of everything for the friends we made in Love Park during the Welcome House residency who need them for the winter. She is collecting them at the Painted Bride, or if you pass them to Book Bombs and we will get them there. Contact us at bookbombing(at)gmail(dot)com if are interested in donating.

Thanks,
Book Bombs

Book Bombs heads south!

Last weekend, Book Bombs flew the city to Atlanta, GA, to join other papermakers at the Friends of Dard Hunter Conference. At the event, Book Bomber Mary Tasillo gave the talk,"Slow Papermaking," as part of the Papermaking and Sustainable Art Practices panel, where she discussed the Book Bombs project. Also on the panel were Patterson Clark and Zina Castanuela.

The countdown to Philagrafika 2010 has begun -- check out our page on their site here. And keep your eyes peeled come January as Book Bombs makes appearances around Philadelphia...

The Welcome House at Night

After dark, the Welcome House has been transforming into a glowing video cube, documenting the daytime events. Here are some still images of the video about Book Bombs Shelter by the amazing Ricardo Rivera of klip collective.










Thanks once again to everyone who came out and participated. And a special thanks to Marianne Bernstein and Angela Jerardi who made the Welcome House happen!

Book Bombs Shelter

We would like to thank everyone who came on out to Love Park to participate in Book Bombs Shelter at the Welcome House last week! Above, you can see the final installation. Below are some images of the participants and the work they produced.










For more images of the day, please visit here.

In November, the pieces produced as part of Book Bombs Shelter will travel to the Cafe Gallery at the Painted Bride Art Center to be part of an exhibition documenting the works produced at the Welcome House. The Painted Bride is located at 230 Vine Street in Old City, Philadelphia. All are welcome - and we hope to see you there!

Come on out on Friday

The Welcome House project is now underway, with residencies each day in Love Park and an opening party tonight from 7-10.

Please come by on Friday between 10 and 6 (or so) to make your own print in handmade paper pulp and contribute to an amazing community installation.

THE WELCOME HOUSE PROJECT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Philadelphia’s First Person Arts Festival is proud to host BOOK BOMBS as part of the Welcome House Project. BOOK BOMBS is a collaboration between artists Mary Tasillo and Michelle Wilson. The Welcome House is a 10 foot by 10 foot transparent cube installed in Philadelphia’s own Love Park, featuring artist projects by day and video of the day’s activities by night. On October 9, 2009, as part of their daylong residency, BOOK BOMBS will utilize handmade paper and community participation to create a site-specific one-night installation called Book Bombs Shelter. This event is free and open to the public.

BOOK BOMBS is a collaborative, site-based zine project examining Philadelphia parks and benches as social spaces, shelters, and art galleries, and will culminate next year as a component of PHILAGRAFIKA 2010. As part of Book Bombs Shelter, Tasillo and Wilson invite the population of Love Park, including office workers, skateboarders, protesters, passers-by, and the homeless, to create works in handmade paper about Love Park. The resulting papers will be attached while still wet to the interior of the Welcome House, creating an evolving visual conversation about the nature of urban public space in general and Love Park in particular. In addition, the pieces will be documented on the project blog, and used as material for the upcoming zine publication about shelter, homelessness, and urban space during PHILAGRAFIKA 2010.

The Welcome House is a project conceived and curated by artist Marianne Bernstein and presented by First Person Arts in collaboration with InLiquid.com. Designed to re-imagine art spaces, art practice, and community engagement, artists were invited to propose one-day residencies using the space as a nexus for public interaction. All daytime events will be filmed by klip collective videographer Ricardo Rivera and projected onto the cube at night for public viewing. Following the project will be an exhibition of the works created in the Welcome House at the Painted Bride Art Center, located at 230 Vine Street in Philadelphia, in November 2009. The exhibition will remain on display during the First Person Arts Festival and through the end of 2009.

SUGGESTED LISTING;

October 9, 2009: Book Bombs Shelter, collaborative public art project by Mary Tasillo and Michelle Wilson, part of the Welcome House Project. Love Park, 15^th and JFK Boulevard, Philadelphia. Free and open to the public.