by Meaghan Paulosky
Arts Garage (credit Meaghan Paulosky)
How many times have you heard the phrase, “You’re going to love the arts in Philadelphia”? Now, how many local artists can you actually name? Do the numbers align? If you’re like most other Philadelphians, the ratio is a little top-heavy.
Local awareness of art and culture is overwhelmingly low, and for the second largest city on the East Coast. this means that there are thousands of overlooked and under appreciated artists ready to prove just how good they are. Timmery Turner paid Philadelphia a visit Friday, July 12th, to demonstrate that this abundant talent simply cannot go unnoticed any longer.
Timmery Turner (credit Meaghan Paulosky)
Timmery Turner is a quirky and animated jewelry designer who turned her passion for fashion, art, and expression into the ‘Sugar Art and Fashion Show’ in 2009. Timmery and Mad Girl Productions grew the show to a national level in 2011, and fortunately included Philadelphia on their second national tour this past Friday.
The mission of the Sugar Art and Fashion show is “To create an innovative and attainable platform for emerging female artists and designers to network and market themselves.” (Not to mention the fact that they’re also competing for editorial spreads and contracts.)
Emily Ryan art (credit Meaghan Paulosky)
Timmery and her own talented crew manage to ensure that both the interests of the artists and the show attendees are a priority. When guests arrived at the Arts Garage on Friday, they were greeted with ten ‘pop-up shops’ featuring jewelry designers and artists right at the door. The creativity was overpowering.
Take, for example, jewelry designer Jaclyn English of Clash Coordinate and her “playful pieces”. Available on Etsy, these earrings and necklaces incorporate the very best of childhood: Trivial Pursuit, Lite Brite components, even Legos. ($5.50-$29.99)
And English was not alone. Go Light Designs, also on Etsy, custom makes feather earrings, but does so without feathers. Creator, Jesse, uses repurposed bicycle tires to make these stylish and uncommon pieces for alarmingly affordable prices. ($12-$20)
Moving through the Garage, painters came into the picture, so to speak. One such artist was Julia Ponzek of Dad’s Barn Studio. Ponzek’s talent is nothing short of enviable. Available by commission, her pieces are riddled with heavy amounts of color and peculiar interpretations of the human likeness.
Not to exclude any medium of art, Timmery’s show included photographers taking guests’ photos, DJ Kira provoking a few bold dancers, and a few games, necessitating the creativity of the crowd.
Mollipop Glow (credit Meaghan Paulosky)
Eventually, Timmery called the band to the stage, introducing yet another form of art, and shortly began the fashion show. The fashion show was the culmination of the night, featuring designers, makeup artists, and models that lit up the venue. Some of them, namely Mollipop Glow, did so quite literally.
For a full list of these amazing artists and designers visit the show’s website. In a place as eclectic and varied as Philadelphia, our local talent is no different. They all have something unique and profound to offer so keep your eyes and ears out to show your talented neighbors some of that famous Brotherly Love!
