Allan Edmunds, Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and Signe Wilkinson to be honored at 2023 Founder’s Award Celebration
Fleisher Art Memorial will honor Brandywine Workshop and Archives founder Allan Edmunds, hip-hop artist and The Roots co-founder Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter, and Pulitzer-prize winning editorial cartoonist Signe Wilkinson with…
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The Fleisher Years Chapter 9: The Doors on Catharine Street (1916– )
In 1916, Fleisher Art Memorial, then the Graphic Sketch Club, moved into 713-715 Catharine Street after previously occupying several other buildings in the Queen Village and Bella Vista neighborhoods. The…
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The Fleisher Years Chapter 8: Form and Function: The Louis Kahn Lecture Room (1982–2022)
“Schools began with a man under a tree who did not know he was a teacher, sharing his realization with a few others who did not know they were students.”…
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The Fleisher Years Chapter 7: Dina Wind and the Wind Challenge (2005–)
Since the inception of the Challenge exhibition series in 1978, Fleisher Art Memorial has supported hundreds of emerging and mid-career artists in the region. Though the Challenge has now been…
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Chapter 6: Twenty Years of the Fleisher Challenge (1978–1998)
An integral part of Fleisher Art Memorial’s exhibitions and public programming—Fleisher Challenge, now known as the Wind Challenge—was established in 1978. This prestigious annual juried competition has long been committed…
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The Fleisher Years Chapter 5: The Graphic Sketch Club Becomes Fleisher Art Memorial (1944–)
In 1944, after almost 50 years of growth guided by an ambitious and dedicated founder, the Graphic Sketch Club would take on new leadership and a new name. After Samuel…
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The Fleisher Years Chapter 4: Art Sanctuary as Object Lesson (1886 – 1934)
The art and architecture of the Sanctuary has developed in three distinct periods: its initial building as The Church of the Evangelists; its reuse by Samuel Fleisher as the heart…
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The Fleisher Years Chapter 3: A Basilica on Catharine Street Becomes an Art Sanctuary (1886-1943)
The story of the Basilica—once Church of the Evangelists, later the Sanctuary of Fleisher Art Memorial—is a remarkable chapter in the dramatic story of South Philadelphia’s transformation by 20th-century immigration…
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The Fleisher Years Chapter 2: The Expansion of the Graphic Sketch Club
Before Fleisher Art Memorial, there was the Graphic Sketch Club. It was in the Jewish Union building at 422 Bainbridge Street— the center of the then-bustling Jewish Quarter of Philadelphia—…
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The Fleisher Years Chapter 1: Samuel S. Fleisher and the Origins of the Graphic Sketch Club (1871-1898)
Over the next twelve months, in honor of Fleisher Art Memorial’s 125th anniversary, we’ll be taking a deep dive into FAM’s archives and history. Starting with the birth of founder…
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