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Philadelphia Open Studio Tours

Self-guided tours, Sat.-Sun., Oct. 4-5 and 11-12 , noon-6 p.m., free, philaopenstudios.com; "Open Portfolio," Sat.-Sun, Oct. 11-12, noon-6 p.m., free, Crane Arts Building, 1400 N. American St., 215-735-6090, printcen


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Published: Sep 30, 2008

visual art

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Jacques-Jean Tiziou spent a lot of time last year going door-to-door during the Center for Emerging Visual Artists' Philadelphia Open Studio Tours (POST), the largest self-guided arts tour in the region. This year, he says, "I decided to participate myself." Along with performance and dance images from Tiziou's "How Philly Moves" photography project, visitors to his Osage Avenue work space will also have the opportunity to see portraits, lightbox installations and be able to poke around his complete computer archive.

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Tiziou is one of more than 300 painters, sculptors, photographers, printmakers, ceramists, furniture designers and other artists who will open their doors to the public for this eighth annual free event, which spans more than 16 neighborhoods, from West Philly to NoLibs. This year, in addition to individual artists, galleries, co-ops and workshops are also joining the fray, including Brandywine Workshop, Center City Artists Collaborative, Fleisher Art Memorial and many others.

For those without open studio space, Crane Arts will house "Open Portfolio," an exhibit of sorts co-hosted by the Print Center, InLiquid, Philadelphia Center for the Book and Philagrafika. "Last year was the first year we started this partnership," says Ashley Peel Pinkham, assistant director of the Print Center. "We have a total of 37 artist members participating," she says, including printmakers, photographers and book artists from the tri-state area.

Among its many POST outposts, the second floor of Germantown's Stenton Guild will be transformed into a group gallery. Laureen Griffin will showcase her photography series "Gender Portraiture Portraits" (pictured, detail), for which she borrows from colonial design and expectations of femininity. "I am beginning to design complementary textiles as I move the portraits into a series of installations," she says.

Self-guided tours, Sat.-Sun., Oct. 4-5 and 11-12 , noon-6 p.m., free, philaopenstudios.com; "Open Portfolio," Sat.-Sun, Oct. 11-12, noon-6 p.m., free, Crane Arts Building, 1400 N. American St., 215-735-6090, printcenter.org.