3rd Street Features 14 Artists with Winter Blues A new gallery returns to Queen Village
"Winter Retreat," a watercolor by Blanche Levitt Torphy, is featured in Winter Blues at 3rd Street Gallery.
I
n celebration of winter and the holidays, 3rd Street Gallery features a show in its main gallery entitled Winter Blues, spotlighting local artists and their interpretations of the cool hues and tones of winter. The show includes works in watercolor, acrylic, oil, and digital. (But keep an eye out for the collage in glass and gold leaf!) The exhibit opened on November 21 and runs through December 22. Curated just for your holiday shopping, 3rd Street Gallery has transformed its backroom into a Holiday Art Shop, featuring unique, handmade gifts inspired by the season. All works are priced under $500. The gallery first opened in 1978 on the corner of 3rd and Bainbridge Streets. After a lengthy sojourn in Old City, it returned to Queen Village six months ago. 3rd Street is one of the oldest artist-run fine art galleries in the city—having been home to thousands of Philadelphia artists during its 40-plus year run. An artist cooperative, 3rd Street boasts a diverse group of mem-
bers, both formally-classically trained and self-taught artists. Many members are also educators and award winners whose work is collected by museums as well as by corporate and private collectors. In addition to their creative practice, co-op members also have advanced degrees in the arts as well as the sciences, and work in both traditional and digital media, among many other disciplines. Their mission is to foster a stronger relationship between the public and fine art. ■ The Winter Blues exhibit features artists Rissa Berlin, Rhea Dennis, Nicole Patrice Dul, Sharon Egan, Jacque Ferretti, Matthew Hall, Tom Herbert, Robert Hunter, Nancy Lloyd, Neil Marcello, Conny Parsons, Elynne Rosenfeld, Eli Smith, and Blanche Levitt Torphy. 3rd Street Gallery is located at 610 S. 3rd Street.
Call the Gamekeeper (Just for Fun) by Cari Romm Nazeer
S
tacked on the shelves at Queen & Rook Game Cafe (607 S. 2nd St.) are games for nostalgia seekers (Clue, Operation) and die-hard enthusiasts (Terraforming Mars, Betrayal at House on the Hill). There are games for families, for bachelor parties and birthday parties, for casual weeknight gatherings—more than 1,200 in all, with new titles arriving weekly and a retail selection of around 200. Those looking to play something new over vegetarian plates and a beer can flag down one of the gamekeepers–employees trained to help customers through any of the cafe’s offerings and offer recommendations for the uncertain. “It’s like having a sommelier,” says co-owner Edward Garcia, who founded Queen & Rook with his partner, Jeannie Wong. “You don’t know much about wine, but you know you like a dry red, so what fits that? We do the same thing with games.” Ultimately, though, many customers turn to the pleasure of a classic: By a long shot, he says, the most popular game is Battleship. ■
Queen Village Quarterly Crier // PAGE 9
