Inside Out Art Comes To Town

The Philadelphia Museum of Art has decided to turn our 5-county region into a huge outdoor gallery and Norristown is part of it this fall. If you can't get to the museum, no problem. The museum has come to us.

The Inside Out program provides 60 high quality reproductions of classical works of art from the Museum’s collection to be displayed outdoors in certain communities throughout the area. Norristown has been selected to receive 11 of these works for the fall exhibition (now through November). You may have already seen some of them around town. I hope all of you realize how special this program is and how good it is for our town.

Here's the list of works and locations:

1. Painting No. 4 (A Black Horse) by Marsden Hartley (1915) at Norristown Municipal Hall (235 E Airy)
2. The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1898) at Theatre Horizon (410 Dekalb)
3. The Burning of the Houses of Lords and Commons by Joseph Mallord William Turner (1834-35) at the Old Montgomery County Prison (E Airy and Maris Sts)
4. Grand Canyon of the Colorado River by Thomas Moran (1892 and 1908) at the Courthouse (Airy and Swede)
5. Bust of Benjamin Franklin by Jean-Antoine Houdon (1779) at the Main St Parking Garage
6. Poplars on the Bank of the Epte River by Claude Monet (1891) at the Norristown Transportation Center.

7. Lotus by a Korean artist of the Joseon Dynasty (19th century) at the Montco Intermediate Unit (2 W. Lafayette)
8. The Kiss by Constantin Brancusi (1916) at Poley Park (W Marshall and Markley)
9. Portrait of Master Bunbury by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1780-81) at Selma Mansion (1301 W Airy)
10. Sugar Cane by Diego Rivera (1931) at Elmwood Park (near the bandshell)
11. Noah's Ark by Edward Hicks (1846) at Elmwood Park Zoo (right beside the entrance gate)

You can download the Norristown Inside Out map at this link.

As I said, the works of art will be on display until November, but don't wait. With the nice weather we've been having, this is the perfect time to go explore these works on your lunch hours or in the early evenings or on weekend afternoons. Take your time, examine them, enjoy them. Most important: BRING YOUR KIDS.

And hey, no admission fee, no trouble getting into the city or finding parking near the Art Museum, no having to climb a zillion steps to get inside (unless you LIKE pretending you're Rocky).

If you like what you see, the other communities this fall include Fishtown, Ambler, Wayne, and West Chester. You can download maps to all of them at this link. 

Music/Dance All Weekend, Famous Art Next Week

Tonight, 6-9 pm at Scag Cottman Park, Family Fun Friday, hosted by Buck Jones in association with Main St. Water Ice for all kids ages 6-13. Movies, food, games and entertainment. More info call 267-774-1694. Enjoy Family Fun Friday while the good summer weather lasts.

Tonight from 7 -11 pm at 216 Cherry St (the usual Jazz on Cherry venue), Strategic Wear is hosting "The Listening Party." Hip Hop, Spoken Word, R&B, featuring some of the area's hottest talent. $10 admission. BYOB set-ups. For more information, contact Jill Adelman, jadelman@vance.us.com or call 610-277-9125, ext 307.

Also tonight, same time (7-11 pm), same venue only upstairs (216 Cherry), Strategic Wear will also host Dance On Cherry, a light feet line dancing class. $10 admission. BYOB set-ups. For more information, contact Jill Adelman, jadelman@vance.us.com or call 610-277-9125, ext 307. Listen downstairs, dance upstairs, go back and forth between the two.

Saturday, 9-11 am, volunteers needed for an alley clean-up for the 200 block of East Fornance and Poplar Sts. Just show up.

Saturday, 3-6 pm at the Elmwood Park bandshell, gospel choir festival.

Saturday, 7-11 pm at Coffee Talk Artist's Coop, 507 W Marshall. Open Stage/Open Mic to celebrate the music of the Woodstock Era. $5 . Contact 610-272-4811 for info.

Sweet Loretta Fat

Sunday starting at 7 pm at the Elmwood Park bandshell, this week's free concert will feature the Sweet Loretta Fat band (known for their Beatles tributes). Bring a lawn chair or blanket. Refreshments will be available at the concession stand.

Tuesday from 6:30-7:30 pm at CADCOM, (113 E Main, 2nd floor). EDU19401 Educational Workshop Series. This Tuesday will focus on Parental Involvement. Free Monthly event on every 3rd Tuesday. Food, giveaways, activities, etc. Contact Xaras Collins for info at edu19401@gmail.com.

Tuesday starting at 7 pm, Zoning Board Hearing at Municipal Hall. The agenda is at this link.

Next Friday from 11 am to noon at the Courthouse, you're invited to the Kick Off Event for the Philadelphia Museum of Art Inside Out Program, followed by a walking tour of 5 of the exhibits. The Inside Out Program is placing reproductions of famous works of art around the Delaware Valley. Norristown has been selected to host 11 of these works, which is really exciting. I'll post more next week about the program, but you can read about it at this link.

Next Friday is also Fourth Friday. Jazz on Cherry and Salsa on Cherry will host events as usual (I'll post details next week), but as of this date, I haven't heard from any of the other venues. If you know of Fourth Friday events for next week, leave a comment below, or send it to me through Facebook and I'll publicize it. Otherwise, if no one shows up at your event, you've only got yourself to blame.