April 22-28, 2004

art

Rebirth of a Notion

The eyes have it: Carol Shields (left) and Julia Zagar of Eyes Gallery, along with Copabanana owner Bill Curry (not pictured), have launched South Street Art, an exhibition space for emerging artists.

South Street business owners say home is where the art is.

by A.D. Amorosi

A wildly bleak Fishtown. A fancifully fractured Fairmount area. An elegantly eerie Washington Square: Every once-tattered inch of Philadelphia is being hailed as the next boom spot for housing, restaurants and artisans.

If you were Julia Zagar and Bill Curry you'd be pissed off.

With "renaissances" hyped in every part of town but their own, the owners of South Street's Eyes Gallery and Copabanana, respectively, got mad enough to do something to remind locals of their own renaissance in the '70s.

They opened a freeform gallery space, South Street Art.

This second-floor walkup (also currently warehousing Book Trader stock) run by Zagar with Eyes manager Carol Shields, has become a haven for artists not big enough to get into Old City galleries or for those who don't care for big-gallery gouging.

"When we opened Eyes Gallery, 36 years ago, art was still available," says Zagar, who bought the 402 South property with her mosaic-muralist husband, Isaiah, after they returned from a stint in the Peace Corps in South America. "South Street was still available. It was a community as well as a counterculture."

"There were countless artists and art galleries here. The Snydermans' Works Gallery and the Gazoo. I could tell you stories about the Gazoo guys not for print," she laughs, pointing out that many more galleries in storefronts would close before they were even open.

The Zagars and Curry formed the South Street Renaissance Organization in order to secure nonprofit arts organization status and gain grants for the area's artists. They did shows, put on block parties. But the Works Gallery moved to Cherry Street in 1996, the artists took off for Old City's wine-in-paper-cup parties on First Fridays, and the Renaissance grew bored with itself. Gazoo? Best left a mystery.

Carol Shields came to Eyes in 1996. She witnessed a wealth of new, frustrated artists who couldn't get a foot in the door at Old City's galleries. She met students who shopped at both Eyes and the neighboring art supply store, Pearl, with the same complaint.

"Nothing against Old City, but theirs is not an accepting nature," says Shields.

The Renaissance's primary cause -- to find a permanent gallery space -- took on a life of its own. Former Head House Square administrator Barry Cassidy and rock clothier Warrior's Noah Webster joined Curry in the search for a most beneficent friend. That quickly became South Street property owner Michael Axelrod and his realtor at Triad, Steve Giannascoli, who donated the second floor of 427 South St. above Bare Feet Shoes to them rent-free.

"Bill Curry really spurred us on," says Giannascoli, who gave SSA all 5,000 square feet, with an indefinite amount of time in which to create a public gallery. "We thought it would be a good thing for the space and for the street."

After testing the waters with a Day of the Dead exhibition of local artisans in 2002 and an off-South second Sunday summer Renaissance event in 2003, the trio (Zagar, Curry and Shields) opened South Street Art in October.

Throughout several themed events local luminaries like Warren Muller and Isaiah Zagar joined novices in several quietly promoted showcases. For those who hadn't shown previously, the criterion was and is simple: Art must pertain to a show's theme and a $10 entry fee (or time volunteered) is required to help cover advertising. If something sells -- works range from $25 to $4,000 -- it's the artist who gets all the money. No commission goes to the gallery.

Currently, their show "Rebirth" features a video installation by Jason Sokol, a metal garden gate by Jennifer Lipman and more. They’re currently accepting works for themed shows, "Mother" (in May), "Seaworthy" (in June) and a tie-in with Dumpster Divers (in early fall). Plans are afoot to make SSA into a multipurpose venue for sculpture, dance, theater and film screenings as well as to rent the space (to yoga teachers, etc.) to raise money for insurance and necessities. "Not only would I like to see Book Trader keep some shelves there, I’d like to bring in arts magazines and books of all nature -- from computers to cooking -- in which to make it a resource lending library for local artists," says Curry.

At first, says Shields, the idea was to merely bring back to South Street a sense of bohemian esprit. "We do it for the arrrrt," she teases. Then, she turns serious. "Really. We do it for them. We don't get paid. We don't turn anyone away. If people bring in work and it's hang-able, mountable or stand-able, we use it. And we've sold."

Their hope is that South Street Art brings other galleries to the block. "I think our sign says it all," notes Shields. "Artists wanted."

South Street Art, 427 South St., second floor, 215-500-6299, southstreetart@aol.com.