Painted Bride Art Center

Gerry Givnish and a group of visual artist colleagues, graduates of what is now the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, including Sylvia and Larry Konigsberg,[15] Frank Vavricka,[15] A. John Kammer,[15] and Deryl Mackie,[15] founded the Bride as a gallery space in a former bridal shop on Philadelphia's South Street in 1969.[1] The Bride emerged as part of the Alternative Spaces Movement, a genre of cultural organization that developed in the 1960s and 1970s determined to create opportunities for underrepresented artists, including women, people of color, gays and lesbians, and the disabled to gain greater control over the presentation of their work.

A mannequin placed in the Bride's storefront window became a local attraction, as people came by to see what provocative outfit it was wearing, or what lewd position it was placed in.[1] Soon after opening, other visual artists, musicians, dancers, and poets flocked to the Bride to share their work, and the organization evolved organically, to meet the needs of artists, audiences and communities.

In 1971 Gerry Givnish became the first Executive Director[16] and the Bride began actively fundraising. He led the Bride for 30 years and was a much beloved and valued leader.[17] In 1973, the Bride's participating artists created the Painted Bride Quarterly, a poetry and literary journal. In 1977, funding from the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), enabled the Bride to hire its first staff. With CETA support the Bride hired 6 people[18].[19] The Philadelphia Foundation awarded the Bride its first grant, enabling the Bride to purchase a Steinway piano that over the ensuing decades has been played by legendary composers and musicians, including: Sun Ra,[20] Cecil Taylor,[21] Elio Vlllafranca,[22] Muhall Richard Abrams,[23] Uri Caine,[24] Eddie Palmieri,[25] Vijay Iyer, Danilo Perez, Tom Lawton,[26] Michele Rosewoman,[27] Andrew Hill, Orrin Evans,[28] Arturo O'Farrill,[29] Osmany Paredes,[30] Abdullah Ibrahim, Zaccai Curtis,[31] Dave Burrell,[32] George Cables,[33] Fred Hersch,[34] Yoichi Uzeki,[35] and John Medeski.[36]

The sale of the former bridal salon on South Street in 1982 forced the Bride to move.[37] A colleague had a space for rent at 146 Bread Street.[38] In 1982, a parade down Third Street brought the Bride from South Street to its next home on Bread Street in Philadelphia's Old City neighborhood. At that time, abandoned warehouses[39] and DIY gallery spaces filled Old City and artists used the area's abundant and relatively inexpensive real estate for living and working spaces. Soon after moving to Bread Street, the Bride purchased a group of properties at 230 Vine Street at a relatively low cost.[40] As resources became available, it began a piecemeal consolidation and transformation of the properties.  

The Vine Street location included a 225-seat performance space – the Gerry Givnish Theatre[41] – and had several spaces where visual artists could show their work and audiences and artists could come together to share food, drink, and conversation. The New York Times[42] referred to the Bride as a "wonderful, welcoming, and often edgy" venue which "set the trend of cultural activity in Old City".  The Bride remained at that location for 40 years.

In 1984, the Bride convened an advisory committee to help diversify their programming.  This included Joan Myers Brown[43] of Philadanco, John Allen of Freedom Theater, Johnny Irizzary[44] of Taller Puertorriqueno, and Jesse Bermudez[45] of Asociacion de Musicos Latinoamericanos among others.  The Advisory Committee[2] met to discuss potential programming that would be attractive to their communities. The Bride forged partnerships with all these organizations and co-presented countless programs in the years following.

Over the ensuing years, the Bride continued to support, produce and present a wide range of visual and performing artists, drawing audiences from all across the city and the surrounding region.  The Bride fostered an ever more vibrant arts and cultural scene in Philadelphia, incubating organizations such as the Fringe Festival,[46] the Asian Arts Initiative,[47] and PhillyCAM,[48] each of which went on to become independent arts venues and presenters as they grew.

In 1985, the Bride[49] was invited to a meeting that would launch the National Performance Network (NPN) whose purpose was to create ways to bring new performance to communities across the country.  At the time, most new work was being presented in New York and Los Angeles.[50] A group of 14 artist-centered organizations from across the country gathered to discuss geographic isolation, the economic challenges of touring work outside of local communities, and how artists could engage with communities.  With support from NPN, the Bride presented artists such as Rhodessa Jones,[51] Marc Bamuthi Joseph,[52] Marty Pottenger,[53] Jumatatu Poe,[54] and Roger Guenveur Smith.[55]

As time went on, the Bride became purposeful about a social change mission. Gil Ott,[56] a leader at the Bride for over 20 years, was the catalyst for this evolution. He developed the Philadelphia Community Arts Network (P-CAN.) The vision for this program was to connect with community organizations to bring arts to under-resourced neighborhoods. Partners included the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance and the Point Breeze Performing Arts Center. The Bride also hosted the first national festival on AIDS,[57] Our Living Legacy, and a citywide festival. In 1987, the Bride hosted a project called “VOICES OF DISSENT[58],” an “alternative” celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Constitution.[59] The project incorporated contributions from artists and arts organizations from around the city who were dubbed “progressive cultural organizers.”

Funding resources available in the 1990s allowed the Bride to hire a diverse curatorial team[60] that brought nationally and internationally renowned artists in dance, theater, jazz, performance art, poetry and visual art to its stage and gallery space, while also nurturing and promoting the work of new and emerging Philadelphia artists. With a very limited number of other performance venues in the city, the Bride's densely-packed programming attracted diverse audiences from across the city and around the region.

As a result of its commitment to virtually every genre of dance, the Painted Bride has developed a reputation locally and nationally as a venue at which to see works created by the best of both established and emerging dancemakers including Urban Bush Women,[61] Eiko & Koma, David Gordon Pick-Up Company,[62] Contraband, LaVaughn Robinson, HT Chen & Dancers,[63] Steve Krieckhaus,[64] Chinese Folk Dance Company,[65] Yoshiko Chuma,[66] Pat Graney Company,[67] and the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange,[68] among many others.

In the early 90's, the Bride was one of the first places to bring hip hop to the stage,[69] launching choreographer Rennie Harris’ Puremovement[2] and a decade long spoken word series, Day of the Poet[70] that was hosted by Kevin O’Neill[71] and featured poets such as Jill Scott, Ursula Rucker, Trapeta Mayson, and Yolanda Wisher. Day of the Poet attracted large audiences and included an open mic. The Bride also presented two Hip Hop 2da Head festivals which featured internationally recognized artists such as Danny Hoch,[72] Sarah Jones[73] and Jonzi D. alongside Philadelphia based poets, dj's and graffiti writers.

In 1992, a group of artists approached the Bride to address tensions between Black and Asian communities. In response, the Bride launched the Asian Arts Initiative[74] with a festival that included folkloric, community and contemporary work by Asian Americans. The Bride continued to partner with the Asian Arts Initiative to co-present artists such as Kristina Wong[75] and Ananya Dance.[76]

In 1999, Gerry Givnish, founder of the Bride, retired. After a national search, the Bride's Board of Directors appointed former Program Director Laurel Raczka as Executive Director.

In the 1990s and the decades that followed, Old City increasingly gentrified. During this time Isaiah Zagar created the Skin of the Bride[77] mosaic mural covering the Painted Bride Art Center between 1991 and 2001. In addition to the changes in the neighborhood, the Bride building at 230 Vine Street and the Isaiah Zagar mosaic mural that enveloped it needed millions of dollars of repairs, renovations, and ongoing maintenance.

In 2014, the Bride launched “Re-PLACE-ing Philadelphia” (RPP)[78] in response to evolving forms of artistic process and to examine the history of Philadelphia from the perspective of the people who live here. This project was funded by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. RPP expanded the Bride's programming beyond its Old City location through workshops, performances, and other community events in parks, community centers, and venues throughout the city. This project helped to inform their transition from owning a building to bringing programming into neighborhoods across Philadelphia.

The Painted Bride leadership determined that sustaining the mission of the Bride, as a living and evolving organization able to respond to changes in the arts and culture environment, was incompatible with maintaining their building. The leadership team decided to sell the Bride building in 2017,[79] after several years of research and consultation with financial, real estate, strategic planning, and arts and culture experts, as well as discussions with funders, donors, audience members and local artists.

Selling the building for full market value, investing the proceeds, and using the interest from the investment to support basic operations would free the Bride from the challenges of owning, upgrading, maintaining and regularly filling a 225-seat performance venue. The Bride's new business model would protect its mission and its capacity to innovate, and promote its vision of bringing arts and culture resources to neighborhoods throughout Philadelphia, especially those low-income, majority black and brown communities with less access to arts and culture resources.[80]

The fate of the Zagar mosaic mural became a point of contention when the Bride announced its intention to sell the building.[81] This led to a four-year legal battle[82] that was ultimately resolved and on March 31, 2022,[83] the Bride closed on the sale of its building at 230 Vine Street to Groom Investments LLC.[84]

The Bride continued to support new and emerging artists and explore new partnerships during the time that legal challenges made the fate of the building sale uncertain. In December 2019, the Bride provided free rental space in its building to over 100 artists, enabling them to formulate, develop, and present new works in the SOLSTICE SERIES: Fresh Work, Fresh Faces.[85] This four-night new works festival focused on the process of creation and on showcasing the emerging voices of young student artists and recent graduates.

The Bride launched Building Bridges: On the Rise[86] in February 2020, bringing together a cohort of five local artists from various disciplines (Ursula Rucker, James Allistar Sprang, Anthony Carlos Molden,[87] Caitlin Green,[88] and Anito Gavino[88]) to develop and produce prototypes and pilot projects informed by place, collaboration, and a culture of equity.

The March 2020 lockdown and the social distancing and other public health precautions the Covid pandemic created forced the Building Bridges artists to adjust how they collaborated and shared their work with each other and with audiences. In December 2020, the Building Bridges cohort began work on Grace Period, A Community Ritual for Collective Healing[89] and in May 2021 the artists presented a live performance on Maplewood Mall in Germantown[90] with meditative music mixes, song, poetry, dance, and a Spirit Lighthouse sculpture. A second performance at the North Philly Peace Park called Grace Period: A Celebration of Living[91] included contributions from each of the artists as well as collaborative works.  

With support from the Arthur Judson Foundation, the Bride awarded grants in June 2020 to 14 Philadelphia jazz composers,[92] supporting their work creating new music during a time when artists and audiences had profoundly limited opportunities to occupy the same physical space. The composers funded included: Arnetta Johnson, Brent White, Jack Saint Clair, Tom Lawton, Jason Fraticelli, Monnette Sudler, Marcell Bellinger, Bobby Zankel, Jake Kaplan, Craig McIver, Luke Carlos O’Reilly, Jamal Jones, Will Echevarria Jr., and Sumi Tonooka.

The Bride launched its Deep Roots. Bold Future[93] Project in July 2020, bringing together two intergenerational artists in conversation over Zoom. The Zoom conversations were later broadcast on PhillyCam's Public Access television channel.[94] Conversations included: Brenda Dixon-Gottschild and Lela Aisha Jones; Greg Giovanni and Eric Jaffe; Sumi Tonooka and Arnetta Johnson; Ozzie Jones and Cheyenne Barboza; Ursula Rucker and Sudan Green; and Vashti Dubois and Blew Kind.

In November 2020, the Bride formed a Program Committee of artists, thinkers, culture workers, and community members.[2] Designed to give artists authentic and meaningful decision-making power, the group meets weekly to design programs relevant and responsive to both artists and communities.

The Committee assesses program proposals and evaluates completed projects with respect to the Bride's programming goals:[2]

• To develop new artistic programming that engages with and responds to the needs and strengths of specific communities and our city overall, with the goal of helping to address the challenges our city and its neighborhoods face.
• To build new networks and partnerships beyond arts and culture organizations to facilitate cross-disciplinary collective thinking and sharing of resources.
• To identify and support new and emerging artists, as well as established artists creating new work, in the greater Philadelphia area.

The Program Committee launched its first program, Power to the Prompt,[95] in February 2021. The program asked people throughout Philadelphia to respond to the prompt, “If you had a magic wand, what would you change in your neighborhood?” Over 200 people from across the city responded. The Committee selected three artists groups to create a performance or installation highlighting the responses, and the Bride presented these three new works in the Fall of 2021.  Selected artist projects included: Mehgan Abdel-Moneim's multidisciplinary, site-specific street performance project, Heard That![96], at the Singing Fountain at 11th and Tasker Streets; Community Capital: a South Philly Afrofuturist Walking Experience,[97] created by playwright TS Hawkins in collaboration with poet Lois Moses; and Terrell Halsey and Nina “Lyrispect” Ball's photography and poetry collaboration, Call Home: Voices of an Evolving Philadelphia[98] at Germantown's IMPeRFeCT Gallery.

Seeking to create gallery spaces that center human connection and radical joy, the Bride's Program Committee presented Off the Wall[99] in May 2022 at the Northern Liberties Neighborhood Association. The exhibition created “extroverted” environments designed to encourage conversations among strangers, artists, and people who feel excluded in traditional gallery spaces.  The Bride commissioned five Philadelphia-based artists to create new projects for the exhibition: Mehgan Abdel-Moneim, Severin Blake, Savannah Reich, Roopa Vasudevan, and interactive art collective Obvious Agency. All of their pieces were family-friendly and highly interactive and invited participants to engage in a variety of activities including creating plastic sculptures, playing collaborative games, engaging in musical meditation, and even starring in a play.

From November 2021 through June 2023 the Bride developed and presented Resistance Garden: Cultivating Abundance[100], a multi-faceted project across Philadelphia. The project emerged from the Program Committee's desire to re-examine relationships with nature, farming, food politics, and the historical use of plants/herbs across cultures, through the lens of art. This multi-year project also reflects the Bride's interest in non-traditional collaborations across disciplines. Partners include: Norris Square Neighborhood Project, Urban Creators, Lady Danni Landed Gentress, Truelove Seeds, Iglesias Garden, One Art, Girl's Justice League and Awbury Arboretum. Artistic projects include: four zines based on the phases of the moon; artist-in-residence programs at participating sites; a series of gardening how-to short videos; foraging walks with Lady Danni; and storytelling on the cultural significance of plants.

The Painted Bride's archive is housed at the University of Pennsylvania Library and can be accessed at https://findingaids.library.upenn.edu/records/UPENN_RBML_PUSP.MS.COLL.516