Out in the world
My art in public/semi-public spaces in Philadelphia
I’ve been feeling compelled to write a bit more recently, and since this is the second post in as many days, consider this a bonus post for this week. I sometimes get the question of “Where can I see your work right now?” and my first inclination is to think of a gallery show, but I always have to remember that there are a handful of public works of mine around the city. The one I refer to most often is my mural, Bound Together, at 10th and Callowhill Sts, at the north end of Chinatown because it’s the most accessible to the public. However, there are other works around, some easier to get to than others…
I’m sitting in my studio having a moment. I’m still thinking about what I just recored above, that my art journey began with a sense of wanting to be seen. As a kid, I think I felt more alone than most because of being an only child. Between that and being on the receiving end of the usual childhood teasing about needing to wear glasses and the bald head I’d have after visiting my grandmother:
Barber: “You wanna give him a skinner?”
Grandmom: “Yeah, take it all off…”
Me: *Cringing and making the nastiest look I dared to at her when her head was turned, lol* She had no clue what was going to happen once I was back in my own neighborhood. Having a bald head then as a 9 or 10 year old in my neighborhood was just an invitation to be slapped the back of your head by friends and bullies, alike. She didn’t know and didn’t care about my prepubescent worries. Her biggest concern was making sure I was presentable at church and part of that meant a clean-shaven cue-ball of a head.
Anyway, I digress…
I found a photo folder that I started last year and that contains images of various public and semi-public places where my art can be seen in Philadelphia. I made the folder to share about this topic on social media and realized that I hadn’t done so here, yet.
One of the reasons that I shifted this publication to Substack was to have a place where I could share about my life as an artist with longer format writing than on social media. The continuous scrolling, instant gratification nature of most other platforms doesn’t leave much room for longer, more thoughtful writing. So with that in mind, I’m sharing some images and thoughts with you about these pieces here.
I Wrote Some Poems That You Could See :: Location: Philadelphia International Airport, Terminal A-East
In 2017, I was one of six Philadelphia artists commissioned to make ceiling installations at the Philadelphia International Airport. This was the first major public work that I’d ever made and was part of It’s A Wrap! 2 . I was provided with 32 ceiling tiles (28 of which were used). Before getting the tiles, I made a number of notes and sketches to figure out how I was going to orient the imagery and what images I was going to use.
I was in a transitional phase with my studio painting and had begun experimenting with the glyph imagery that I would spend the next few years working with. The glyphs are meant to be an analogue for language, but aren’t a substitute or code. They are made spontaneously, so no two are exactly alike. This was the first time that I used the glyphs for a major body of work and thankfully, it was met with enthusiasm from the airport’s art devision, as well as the public. It’s located in Terminal A-East, the international terminal and can only be seen by ticketed passengers. I’ve had the chance to see it a couple of times when I’ve returned home from trips abroad and it still boggles the mind as to how many people may have seen it over the years.
Fun fact: this installation was only supposed to be on display for about a year, but it’s still there and intact six years later!
Ode (GFDP 2019) :: Location: The Fashion District, lower concourse level near the Jefferson regional rail stop on the 11th Street side.
Ode (GFDP 2019) was made to be a part of Streets Dept Walls, a project by Conrad Benner, founder of the Philly-based art blog, Streets Dept. I was one of eleven artists brought on to this project that brought mural-sized works to the interior of the then-newly opened Fashion District. The FD was a renovation project geared towards revitalizing the decades old urban mall that I grew up knowing as The Gallery.
At the time, I didn’t have the space to make this work, so, Conrad was nice enough to lend his studio space to me and a couple of other artists for this project. The glyph imagery and stacked composition was meant to evoke the idea of the many people and voices that traverse this area of center city.
Ode (TRFE) :: Location: 990 Spring Garden Street, lobby
The second of the “Ode” series from 2019, this piece was originally made for the Tiny Room For Elephants Festival that was held at the Cherry Street Pier on the Delaware River that summer. TRFE has been an invitational art and music festival where visual artists have about ten days to make mural-sized works in a public space. At the end of the paint time, there’s a big weekend art & music festival with bands and djs/producers. Some of those djs and producers are making music on the days that the visual artists are working, as well. This piece is made up of a mix of drawings on drafting paper, direct drawing/painting on masonite and stenciled elements.
I made some of the drawings at home and more on-site. I thought it would be interesting to make this in black, white and silver instead of my usual color palette. I bounce between b/w and color palettes a lot but not many people had seen my black and white work previously.
Bound Together (2021)
Location: 10th and Callowhill Streets, Philadelphia, PA
In 2021, in collaboration with Mural Arts Philadelphia, I made my first public mural. To get to this point, there were a few bumps along the way, like the first wall I was supposed to have being blocked off for construction almost two years early. The end result of another wall hunt landed me in a much better spot, anyway. There were the requisite Zoom meetings with Mural Arts staff and two community organizations whose interests overlap in that area.
The one organization signed off on the initial design right away, but the organization representing the Chinese community’s residents and businesses (the mural site sits at the northern end of Philadelphia’s Chinatown) had input where they wanted something representative of Chinese culture in the mural. Since my work is abstract, the place of compromise was in color choices. I made some edits to my design and ended up making the top layer of glyph images red and yellow/gold, to reflect the meanings of prosperity, hope and royalty in Chinese culture. Other elements in the mural: The teal lines stand in for the three streets at the intersection: 10th Street, Callowhill Street and Ridge Avenue. The blues, greens, light yellows and blues are a hint at the historically natural landscape of this area before Philadelphia grew into the city that it is now.
Fun fact 1: In my research of this area of the city, I found out that Callowhill Street was named after William Penn’s second wife, Hannah Callowhill Penn (1671-1726). Hannah C. Penn administered the Province of Pennsylvania for 6 years after William Penn suffered a stroke and for another eight years after his death.
Fun fact 2: The building where this mural is located houses Movement, a climbing, yoga and fitness center. They were amazing to work with when I was making the mural.
Paintings at the Sheraton Downtown Philadelphia
Location: 201 North 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA
The last space where some of my work can be seen (for the next few months, at least) is the lobby of the Sheraton Downtown Philadelphia, in the center city area of Philly. Not too long before my recent show at the Bridgette Mayer Gallery was over, I was invited to install some works in the lobby for a new exhibition program that the hotel has undertaken and they have this huge wall. Working with Bridgette, we chose some of the larger new paintings and a fourth one that’s been in my studio for a while (right side).
I was a little apprehensive at first because I had visions of people not being spatially aware and possibly damaging the work. They’d already thought of that and wanted us to hang the work at a certain height from the floor to avoid any problems. There are regularly tables for various activities in that area of the lobby, and with the wall being so big, this configuration was a no-brainer.
Admittedly, it’s taken some getting used to seeing these big pieces in this salon-style configuration, but I’m happy to have it out in the world where a range of people can engage with it. Plus, I’ll have a little extra space in my studio until the end of the year, at least.
Works shown above, clockwise starting lower left:
THG (Walking Into A Dream), 2023, acrylic on canvas, 72 x 60 inches
Sail To The Moon, 2024, acrylic on canvas, 63 x 84 inches
Seen and Heard: Today, Tomorrow, Forever, 2022, acrylic, acrylic marker, collage, spray paint on Masonite, 120 x 72 inches
Everyday Is Everyday Is Everyday, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 72 inches
**These works are available and for artwork inquiries, contact the Bridgette Mayer Gallery directly: 215.413.8893 or bmayer@bmayerart.com**
So, there you have it! Those are (most of) the stories behind my public artworks in Philly, so far.
If you happen to be in Philadelphia and want to see some of my work out in the wild, check out the above places. Also, I’m usually available for studio visits, so feel free to contact me if you’re going to be in the area: tim@timmcfarlane.com
As always, you can see more of my work at timmcfarlane.com
A drum ‘n bass mix I was listening to while writing this. A bit on the mellower side, but good.
Thanks for reading and I’ll catch up with you soon!
This was such a delightful and illuminating read, Tim. Thank you for sharing these parts of you and your (public) art with us. Longer form writing about art & life suits you quite well!
Fantastic work, Tim. Thank you for sharing your story. Ode really hits me hardest but I love Boynd Together. Have a wonderful weekend.