17-38 N. 2nd St.

[THURSDAY, JULY 19, 2018] Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest will be closed Thursday for a private event. But there is still tons to do on the waterfront including seeing Mission: Impossible III at Screenings Under the Stars​ or grooving to live music at WXPN Welcomes Waterfront Sessions: Frankie Vado at Spruce Street Harbor Park Sustained by Univest Corporation​!

Congratulations! Taller Puertorriqueño just unveiled its naming wall for their new building the El Corazón Cultural Center. Check out these quotes from local cultural leaders about Taller's impact on the city, including one by our Curator, Jennifer Zwilling, "[Taller] is a platform for the city to see and declare the value of the community, ..." http://www.philly.com/philly/news/taller-puertorriqueno-kensington-maria-quinones-sanchez-wall-appreciation-20180716.html?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar

233 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Pineapple chili at Capofitto, 233 Chestnut St. The Old City outpost of Stephanie and John Reitano’s Capogiro gelato empire has a...

Staycation anyone? 😍

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to join us for a FREE screening of Mission: Impossible III Thursday night! http://www.delawareriverwaterfront.com/events/screenings-under-the-stars-2018

Engaging artists and audiences in imaginative reflection. http://goo.gl/wXS2U6

Collection Highlight: Artist: Siegfried Schreiber Title: The Lovers Date: 2005 Materials: Maple, pear Dimensions: 9.5 " x 19.25" Credit: Donated by the artist You can see this piece by Siegfreid Schreiber and over 1,100 other objects in the Center's Museum Collection. Open Tues - Sat, 10 - 5 pm.

Congratulations, ICI Macarons & Cafe! (via 6abc Action News )

Congratulations, ICI Macarons & Cafe! Via 6abc Action News ‪Congratulations, @icimacarons! Dessert destinations: Philadelphia’s top 5 bakeries, ranked http://6abc.com/3771873/ via @6abc‬

Today we want to highlight the work of Jim McElhatton, a freelance reporter and private investigator whose research in our civil case files contributed to his article “The Homeless Man who Made Alexandria Civil Rights History“ in the Alexandria Times which chronicled James Lomax and his important but forgotten role in Virginia’s civil rights history. You can see his article at the following link (https://alextimes.com/2018/05/jameslomax/), and see his description of his research here at the National Archives at Philadelphia below: Years ago, my family and I lived in an old rental house in Alexandria, Virginia across from a church where volunteers fed lunch to the homeless. Among the same faces I would see day after day was a heavyset African American man with a long gray scraggly beard. His name was James Lomax. He did not talk very much. But he displayed a quiet generosity that set him apart. When he must have thought nobody was looking, James sometimes set plastic bags by our front of our door filled with cast off toys and clothes intended for my young children. After a while, our family finally saved up enough to buy a house of our own and so we moved away. I would still see James in and around town once in a while. Then, I stopped seeing him altogether. I would like to be able to say I tried to find out what happened. But the truth is, life moved on. And I had not thought much about James Lomax in several years. But that changed suddenly not long ago when I visited the National Archives in Philadelphia. A few months ago, I was researching an old civil rights case, Jones v School Board of Alexandria, a 1958 lawsuit that desegregated public schools in Alexandria. As a freelance reporter for the local weekly paper, the Alexandria Times, I wanted to learn more about this case. After all, the old newspaper clips only told so much: Four years after Brown v. Board of Education, seven African American families petitioned Alexandria’s school board to let their children attend whites only schools. The school system refused. So the families and NAACP sued. I took off from work from my day job as a private investigator to have a look at the original case file. I did not know what to expect. I had never visited a National Archives facility. But within ten minutes of my arrival, I had researcher card in hand and the staff laid out original case files that had not been seen or touched in many years. As I paged through the exhibits, I noticed grades and report cards for the 14 school children plaintiffs. I scanned the names of the students then stopped, stunned, to read about a brilliant second grader named James Lomax. I couldn't be, I thought. But it was. It took a few weeks to confirm the student and homeless man were, indeed, the same person. I eventually found James in an assisted living center in Maryland. He had lost a lot of weight. He lay curled up on a bed. I re-introduced myself. He said he remembered me. Then, without a word, I handed him an old wire services newspaper article showing a photo of him as a second grade boy crossing a police barricade. It was the first time public elementary schools were integrated in the Commonwealth of Virginia. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s me.” I later wrote a story about James and his important but forgotten role in Virginia’s civil rights history. Without the National Archives, though, nobody in Alexandria could have ever known, let alone imagined, that the homeless man we walked by countless times did more good by age 8 than most of the rest of us will do in a lifetime. Because that is the point of it all. You just never know. -- Jim McElhatton is a freelance reporter and private investigator; he can be reached at jimmcelhat@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Jim_McElhatton Article: https://alextimes.com/2018/05/jameslomax/

Dancing is our favorite way to get fit and we'll be doing a lot of that at the PA Care Health Festival featuring TI (rapper), Estelle, SWV, Dru Hill (official), Suzann Christine and Beano French! Register online to get your FREE tickets!👇😍🙌

Thanks to Historic Fair Hill for having our Community Maker Days plate making project as part of the Summer Festival this past Saturday! It was a beautiful setting filled with music, family fun, ponies, history, art and community! https://www.theclaystudio.org/events/maker-days

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the 2018 Open Studio Day in Memory of Lee Bender. It was a wonderful day learning about the Windgate ITE Fellows. We're looking forward to the upcoming exhibition allTURNatives: Form + Spirit 2018! Pictured is Windgate ITE Scholar Sean Breen giving a demo on hand planing to Carolyn Picciotti the Centr's Vice President of the Board and Ron Picciotti.

Old City Eats makes Philadelphia -- visitphilly.com’s Top Things To Do This Week! See you Thursday! 🍽

Old City's ICI Macarons & Cafe, located at 230 Arch St., is another top choice, with Yelpers giving the bakery, which offers coffee, tea, macarons and more, five stars out of 158 reviews.

Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest ~ July 16 – September 3 ~ Held at the Blue Cross RiverRink, 101 S. Columbus Boulevard. Enjoy the roller rink, mini-golf course, The Midway (with the giant Ferris wheel!) and food concessions this weekend! ~ Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest ~

Con Air At FringeArts ~ July 18 ~ FREE – Starting at 8:30 pm at FringeArts at 140 N. Columbus Blvd. Enjoy Con Air, with food & drinks (pay-as-you-go). ~ Con Air At FringeArts ~

Where:Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest, 101 S. Columbus Boulevard

Where:Various locations including Red Owl Tavern, 433 Chestnut Street

“Started by two artists, Brooks Bell and Vi Vu, in April of 2018, this isn’t an escape room like the others. This is an artfully designed space with intricate and original stories that you can’t find anywhere else in the city.” Read about Olde City Escape Games in PhillyVoice: https://www.phillyvoice.com/olde-city-escape-games-brings-art-and-history-to-the-concept-of-the-escape-room/

Read about Olde City Escape Games in PhillyVoice: https://www.phillyvoice.com/olde-city-escape-games-brings-art-and-history-to-the-concept-of-the-escape-room/

Our Friday Date Nights are super fun even if you have never seen the movie Ghost! Scroll down to check out The Clay Studio mention in this Narcity USA article! https://www.narcity.com/us/pa/philadelphia/things-to-do-in-phl/30-fun-philadelphia-date-ideas-that-are-way-more-fun-than-youd-think

Something cool to keep on your radar! Flygirrl presents Roll Train with DJ Mike Nyce + special guest DJ Prince Paul! for a night of dope music, live art, soul train lines and more! 😍😍

The popular Smooth Jazz Summer Nights series at the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing is back every Friday night in August. Up first is Smooth Jazz Summer Nights: Boney James August 3rd! Check out the full lineup here 👇http://www.delawareriverwaterfront.com/events/smooth-jazz-summer-nights2018

101 S. Columbus Blvd.

Open Studio Day in Memory of Lee Bender is taking place today! Fellow Vivian Chiu talkes about her techniques with Don Miller the Wood Coordinator at UArts.

The summer on the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing has been full of fireworks, free performances, and amazing festivals and we're just getting started thanks to our amazing sponsors PECO, Pennsylvania Lottery, Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages, Philadelphia -- visitphilly.com, Live Nation Philadelphia, and City of Philadelphia Government!

233 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106

Join us July 21st for the Opening Reception, Artist Talks, and Demos 2-4pm!

Gather your kiddies for two of our favorite free weekly activities Storytime in the Lodge + Sundays with Pop-up Play!

We're heading into the last week of Connie Mississippi: Circle of Time. Make sure to experience this unique retrospective by its last day on Sat, July 21st. Tues - Sat, 10 am - 5 pm.

The studios have been busy this week with the Claymobile teaching at ten different camps around the city, and our clay camps in Old City getting under way! Had to share some great pics from Clay Camp, and Claymobile sites at the Salvation Army and the Cecil B. Moore Library! Thanks to all of our amazing Teaching Artists for bringing their love of clay to kids all over Philadelphia! Ellen Schraeder-Charpentier, Catherine Gacki-Harrt, Nitza Walesca Sierra, Megan Millman, Maria G Albornoz, Drew Schenck, Jae Hubay, Emma Pilon, Emma Herrmann, Laure Krumenacker, Andrew Perez, Cristhian Varela, Jihan Thomas, Nina Valdera, Hope Mead, Bronwyn Simons, and more! More camp info here: https://public.theclaystudio.org/public/3/camps More Claymobile info here: https://www.theclaystudio.org/claymobile

The Summer Sounds in the Historic District free music series delivers sweet tunes at locations in Old City all season long! Philadelphia -- visitphilly.com Philadelphia Jazz Project 🎶🎶🎶

Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest ~ July 13 – September 3 ~ Held at the Blue Cross RiverRink, 101 S. Columbus Boulevard. Enjoy the roller rink, mini-golf course, The Midway (with the giant Ferris wheel!) and...