TUESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2016
F E AT U R E S
An alumnus creates interactive art Continued from Page 7
PARKLET the street. Cassway designed “The Frank Shuman Solar Art Parklet” in Tacony LAB’s studio, according to Mural Arts Philadelphia’s website. The parklet will be set up in front of the Tacony LAB on Thursday, but will be taken down for the winter in November.
Starting in April 2017, the parklet will be available for public use once again, serving as an overflow space for the library and a public space for pedestrians. The design of the parklet includes a built-in bench, lattices for displaying art and solar-powered USB ports. Cassway said he wanted to incorporate the solar panels artistically, so he created a sun design to be placed on multiple circular panels decorating the outside of the parklet. These panels are also reflective in or-
der to alert drivers at night of the parklets close proximity to the street. “It’s not exactly my artistic forte and it’s not normally what I do professionally as an artist,” Cassway said. “But I thought it was a good challenge to design a 3-D structure. ... Everyone was really into the idea, the councilman’s office loved it and the library loved it as well.” “I would love if the library did more of these throughout Philadelphia,” he added. “It’s a really interesting model.” Mariel Capanna, a painter and Cassway’s studio mate, created a mural on the wall of Marie Huff Hairdressing on Torresdale Avenue near Diston Street. The mural illustrates the working-class history of the Tacony neighborhood and will be the first fresco mural in Philadelphia. “On one side, we are hitting the nail on the head of community history,” Capanna said of the mural’s design. “On the other side, we are representing the present and future of Tacony which emphasizes local recreation and families.” Tacony resident Dianna Gavryleh works for LEAP, a free afterschool program that helps students with their homework. Gavryleh said resources like the Tacony LAB are the reason “people who want to be educated are educated.” “With failing schools nowadays, you can access lots of resources here that schools might not have,” she added. Cassway spent the summer in the studio working on the parklet and creating his own art. While Cassway worked in the studio, he said kids from Tacony would come in to draw and paint alongside him. “There are some kids that come in and sit here for hours just making art,” he said. “The kids saw me drawing all summer long too alongside them, which I think is super important for them to see and know that this is something people can do at any age.” meghan.caroline.costa@temple.edu Brianna Spause contributed reporting.
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EVENTS
Temple University Rome professors show their work “Mostra dei Docenti di Temple University Rome,” an exhibition featuring works by visual arts and architecture faculty from Temple University Rome, will start on Tuesday. The exhibit is a joint celebration for Ciao Philadelphia, a citywide celebration of Italian Heritage Month, and Temple Rome’s 50th anniversary. The exhibit will feature sculpture, drawing, painting, photography, printmaking and architecture pieces and it will be the first time Temple Rome faculty exhibits as a group in the United States. The exhibit opens on Tuesday and will run until Oct. 28. The exhibit is free and open to the public from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends. The opening reception is on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m. -Erin Moran
Media innovators to visit campus for BarCamp The 8th Annual BarCamp will be held this Saturday in Annenberg Hall from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Representatives from media outlets across the country will attend the event and discuss journalism as a changing industry. This year’s keynote speakers are Greg Linch, a data developer at The McClatchy Company; Jess Estepa, a senior digital producer at National Geographic; Emily McManus, the managing editor of TED; and Michael Gold, a social media editor for The New York Times. Previous keynote speakers at the event include Lauren Rabaino, director of editorial products at Vox Media, and Zach Seward of Intelligence from Social Media Analytics at the Wall Street Journal. The event is organized by Technically Media, a media company that was founded by two Temple alumni and produces two niche news sites. It is sponsored by Temple’s Center for Public Interest Journalism and The Mozilla Foundation, a nonprofit focused on making the “health of the Internet” a mainstream issue, according to its website. Admission is free for students. - Grace Shallow
Food, beer and music to be offered at Bloktoberfest
BRIANNA SPAUSE / THE TEMPLE NEWS Tacony LAB artist-in-residence Mariel Capanna installs a fresco mural on the corner of Torresdale Avenue and Diston Street on Sept. 6. Capanna’s project will be the first fresco mural in Philadelphia done in association with Mural Arts Philadelphia.
Student artists pose activism in work Continued from Page 7
SOCIAL JUSTICE LGBT activism, which was difficult. We’re talking the 80s which was a different era,” he said. “This was Reagan, the beginning of AIDS. It was pretty harsh and difficult to try and create social justice for the LGBT community.” Almost three decades years later, senior glass major Johnny Folliard is still trying to work towards equality for the LGBTQ community. In a performance, Folliard danced naked while junior glass major Sabrina Fasano, among others, threw balloons
at him with fake blood inside. The balloons had derogatory statements toward the LGBTQ community written on them. Folliard said the performance confronted “gay dating apps and how they erode the idea of the LGBTQ community.” “[Johnny’s art] made my mouth drop,” Fasano said. “Johnny’s a really good dancer, but also what he wanted us to do.” Folliard uses his performances to express his political and social concerns. “These performances make up something that functional and design work kind of lacks for me,” Folliard said. “I love blowing glass, that’s how I got into Tyler. It’s one of my passions ... but it’s kind of lacking in a sense that having a pretty
object at the end of the day is just having a pretty object, it’s not fulfilling. … Performance work gives me more of something, something that satisfies something deeper inside.” Zarro said art has always been an outlet to express the “deepest human thought and desires and emotions and narratives.” “Not just visual art, but music and novels and poems and movement and performance and dance,” she added. “I mean those historically seem to be the places that humans, in general, can communicate in very deep, powerful ways.” devon.lamb@temple.edu
On Saturday, the Graduate Hospital neighborhood of South Philadelphia will hold its annual Bloktoberfest on South Street from noon to 8 p.m. The festival is open to all ages and features food trucks, like The Happy Pita and Mama’s Meatballs. Bands, including Swift Technique and Worldtown SoundSystem, will be performing. Metro Kids Club will host events for kids, like face painting and gymnastics. Craft beer will be available at the event, and beer bracelets can be purchased online in advance. Proceeds from beer sales will support neighborhood initiatives like education and public safety. Over the last six years, Bloktoberfest has donated over $130,000 to various charitable causes.
Second Annual Philly’s Cheesesteak festival takes place this Saturday At Citizens Bank Park on Saturday, the second annual Philly’s Cheesesteak and Food Fest will be held from 12:30 to 5 p.m. The event will feature over 50 food vendors — including Primo Hoagies and Tony Luke’s — and a craft beer garden. Radio hosts from 97.5 The Fanatic, 93.3 WMMR, 102.9 MGK and 95.7 BEN FM will make an appearance, along with the Phillie Phanatic. Last year’s inaugural event saw several issues ranging from long lines to Facebook protest groups alleging fraud and demanding refunds. This year, general admission tickets are $20. Premium and VIP tickets start at $45 and include access to free samples, Phillies game tickets and early entry to the event. -Grace Shallow features@temple-news.com