WHEN:
Thursday, May 15: 11:30 a.m. (rain or shine)
WHERE:
Glenwood Green Acres Community Garden
1801 Glenwood Ave. (on Glenwood between 18th and 19th streets)
Street parking available. Info: 215-685-0750 or muralarts.org/katharinagrosse
WHO:
An informal meet-and-greet with Jane Golden (executive director, City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program), Katharina Grosse (artist), Elizabeth Thomas (project curator), Danelle Hunter (senior outreach and communication officer, Amtrak), Drew Becher (president, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society) and more
WHAT:
Celebrating the culmination of psychylustro’s around-the-clock two-week-long installation along Philadelphia’s Northeast Corridor, City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program officials, Berlin-based artist Katharina Grosse and project collaborators will come together on Thursday, May 15, 11:30 a.m. to give an exclusive look at the monumental public artwork.
This special press preview is an opportunity for an up-close and unobstructed view of one of psychylustro’s seven bright, bold passages along the city’s rail gateway between 30th Street and North Philadelphia stations, and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s verdant Glenwood Green Acres Community Garden in North Philadelphia is the perfect backdrop. Proximity to North Philadelphia station also allows psychylustro to be viewed as it was intended, through the windows of the moving train.
Says Jane Golden, “We really want people to see what we see. We see the deterioration along the corridor, but we also see the beauty, we see the history, we see Philadelphia’s past.” Golden will be in attendance along with project curator Elizabeth Thomas, who explains the project’s unique title: “psychylustro combines ideas of the psyche and illumination to convey the work as a landscape of the mind. The project aims to frame viewers’ railway journey and intensify the experience of their surroundings.”
In addition to the press preview, the public is invited to a special tour and opening reception onSaturday, May 17, noon-2:30 p.m. Take a tour of the artwork (departing from 30th Street Station at 12:24 p.m.) and return to the Cira Centre Lobby to enjoy food and drinks by chef Jose Garces’ JG Domestic and learn more about this monumental installation of seven bright, bold passages along Philadelphia’s rail gateway. The event is free, but space is limited and reservations are required. RSVP and receive ticketing instructions by calling 215-685-0753 or emailing RSVP [at] muralarts [dot] org (RSVP@muralarts.org). Learn more about the project by visiting muralarts.org/katharinagrosse.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Access to railroad property is prohibited. The public is warned NOT to attempt to walk along, cross or approach the tracks as trains can operate on any track in any direction at any time. Trespassing on railroad property is extremely dangerous and violators will be prosecuted.
psychylustro is presented in cooperation with Amtrak and has been supported by: The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, National Endowment for the Arts, John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The Fierce Advocacy Fund, PTS Foundation, AT&T, Philadelphia Zoo, David and Helen Pudlin, halfGenius, The Beneficial Foundation with support for the exhibition publication from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation. Media partners: WHYY’s NewsWorks.org, Metro Newspaper.
