Tagged art
Artist Talks Hosted by the Free Library's Art Department
Earlier this summer, we kicked off an exciting new series in collaboration with Mural Arts Philadelphia . Each Artists in Conversation event brought two artists to the library, where they discussed their work,…
Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month with the Free Library! ¡Celebre el Mes de la Herencia Hispana con la Biblioteca Pública!
For over 40 years, our nation has celebrated the history, culture, and contributions of Hispanic and Latinx peoples living in the United States. Durante más de 40 años, nuestra nación ha celebrado la historia, la…
Happy National Selfie Day!
You heard right! Today is National Selfie Day, an excuse to snap a photo of yourself in the name of this glorious (fake) holiday! Looking for the perfect place to take it? How about heading to your nearest Free Library location ?…
Congratulations to Artist Benjamin Volta on Award-Winning Mural at Tacony Library!
It is the absolute pleasure of the Free Library of Philadelphia to add our congratulations to Benjamin Volta . His work Diligence was recently recognized by the Americans for the Arts as one of 50 outstanding public arts projects from…
21st Century Books for a 21st Century Library
It’s safe to say that Parkway Central Library is not your grandmother’s library. It’s equally safe to say that some special new books gracing the shelves of The Heim Center and BRIC are not your grandmother’s…
Strange Statues and a Discovery in Parkway Central Library's Art Department
While riding on the El one afternoon, as the train wobbily drifted into 46th Street Station, I noticed a handful of people standing around in a vacant lot off to the side of the tracks and then I actually gasped when I realized that the…
Through This Lens: African American Photographers
Through This Lens , an exhibit of library materials that illustrates and discusses the camera work of African American photographers can be viewed on the 2nd floor landing of Parkway Central Library until mid-March. Some of the…
Free Tours of Philadelphia: The Changing City Exhibition
Come and learn about Philadelphia's exciting, dynamic, and often forgotten history with a free guided tour of the Philadelphia: The Changing City exhibition. The tour will be led by an exhibition curator in the Dietrich…
Herbert Crowley: A Visionary Artist Rediscovered
Who was Herbert Crowley? And why did he almost fade into obscurity after exhibiting critically acclaimed work at the start of the 20th century? Crowley was part of the very influential 1913 New York Armory Show and he went on…
So You Want To Draw Comics...
Have you ever read a graphic novel or a comic strip and thought, "I would love to make my own comic... but I don’t know how!" Well, good news! The Free Library has tremendous resources about how to create comics, and…
Philadelphia City Institute Library Welcomes Billy the Goat!
"Meet you at the goat!" This common refrain can be heard from parents and caregivers all around the Rittenhouse Square neighborhood. Billy the Goat, a statue in Rittenhouse Square, has been the centerpiece of a…
Philadelphia's Centaur Book Shop and Press, 1921-1942
The Centaur Book Shop was opened on 1224 Chancellor Street in Philadelphia by Harold Mason. Initial funding was partially supplied by John Frederick Lewis, the Philadelphia bibliophile and philantrophist whose important contributions to…
Get Ready for ... Cartoonapalooza!
Now that the Free Library has wrapped up its annual Comic Con , we're proud to offer fans of serial art an additional chance to meet some of their favorite artists. The cartoonists of the National Cartoonists Society are gathering…
Napoleon's Return (to the Children's Department at Parkway Central Library)
As you walk through the Children’s Department at Parkway Central Library , we hope you’ll stop and admire our newly-returned statue, The Young Bonaparte . We’re happy to have Napoleon back, inspiring our visitors to…
Embrace the Sacred and Interstellar Through the Art and Poetry of Stellar Masses
Yolanda Wisher is back! She left us in 2017 as the first Poet Laureate since the Free Library assumed responsibility for nurturing our city's chief word smith. On May 9, 2018 at 6:30 p.m., she's returning as curator with…
The Return of the Free Library of Comic Con!
The 4th annual Free Library of Comic Con will descend upon the Parkway Central Library on May 12, 2018! There’s so much going on at this year’s event that we don’t even know if we can fit all of our excitement into one…
Black Artists from the Stacks: The Libraries Are Appreciated
Take a deep dive into the Free Library’s resources on African American artists at The Libraries Are Appreciated , an exhibition from the Parkway Central’s Art Department . Borrowing its name from the 1943 painting by Jacob…
The City of Arborly Love: Flora, Fauna, and Free Trees at Parkway Central Library!
Throughout Spring and Summer, every corner of the Free Library of Philadelphia will be taking inspiration from In Our Nature: Flora and Fauna of the Americas - an exhibition taking place in our Rare Book Department's Dietrich…
Free Library of Comic Con Returns to Parkway Central Library on May 12, 2018!
For the fourth year in a row, the Free Library of Philadelphia will be hosting our very own Comic Con ! If you’re not sure what a “comic con” is, just imagine all of the amazing nerdy things you love balled up into one…
Celebrating History's Unsung Creative Couples
On February 7, we opened a new exhibition celebrating the art and achievements of romantic couples, from the powerful royalty of the 16th century to cinema stars of Old Hollywood to local artists creating together today. Of Two…
Book Arts Workshop: Building with the Map Fold
Starting with the classic map fold, we will build a variety of book or zine structures. Bring your prints, drawings, altered pages, or decorative papers to combine into stars, extend into chains, or create pop-up elements. …
Book Arts Workshop: Basic stab binding
Stab binding is a family of book binding techniques used for over two thousand years in Japan, China, and Korea. Both cathartic and simple, stab bindings are an efficient way to produce elegant books. Using thread to wrap around the…
Book Arts Workshop: Color-Compose-Construct
Discover a new three-part approach to the marvelous map book fold. First, simple painting techniques are explored to provide colorful content. Then, artwork is cut and collaged as design elements. Lastly, the structure is…
Charles Dickens: Part of the Hands-on History Series at The Free Library, Parkway Central
Charles Dickens: Part of the Hands-on History at The Free Library, Parkway Central Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was one of the most successful writers of the nineteenth century, achieving international fame during his own lifetime. The…
Book Arts Workshop: Origami and Non-Traditional Books
Books can be a lot of things: a sheet of folded paper, a book of matches, a collection of bound photographs, the list can go on. This workshop is going to expand the idea of what a book is or can be, by the use of origami as…
Book Paper Scissors
Book Paper Scissors is an artists’ book fair, free and open to the public. 2019 marks the 12th consecutive year of the fair held at the library in collaboration with the Philadelphia Center for the Book . This festive event…
PAFA Children’s Art Class – Winter Art Show
PAFA art teachers will lead children creating art and displays to recognize our community artists.
First Monday Writer's Group
Are you a writer who needs some motivation and encouragement? We can provide this, as well as technical skills and information that can direct you towards completing tasks for publication and discovery. A great…
The Book as Art: Highlights from the Book Arts Collection
While artists have illustrated books for centuries, an artists’ books is a medium unto itself. Artists’ books draw inspiration from the form or the function of a book to create a piece of artwork. Depending on the…
Once Upon a Book
Who doesn’t love children’s books? We all have a favorite book that was read to us as a child or one that we read to our own children, or even grandchildren. For some of us, it was the start of a passion for all…
Love Is All Around
The Delaware Valley Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers celebrates love each February with a member-to-member Valentines Day card exchange. Members send handmade cards that show off their artistic skills. This min-exhibition…
Thesaurus: A Book Exchange between Graduates and Faculty of the University of the Arts Book Arts & Printmaking Program
In 2004, students and faculty of the University of the Arts embarked on an ambitious collaborative project to create a thirty-run edition of books uniformly sized by height and width. The depth, breadth, form, and subject of each…
Artist talk: Gail Gaines
The Art Department is home to a monumental boot-shaped sculpture entitled Every Little Detail , created by local fashion designer, couturiere and educator Gail Gaines for the 160th anniversary of Moore College of Art…
The Art of Suggestion: American Propaganda in Times of War and Peace. Part of the Hands-on History Series at The Free Library Parkway, Central
The Art of Suggestion: American Propaganda in Times of War and Peace Published as a method to inform the public, propaganda can be used as a tool—either intentionally or unintentionally—to influence public opinion,…
PAFA Children’s Art Class – Thanksgiving/Harvest
PAFA art teachers will lead children in creating art to express gratitude and our harvest traditions.
First Monday Writers Group
Are you a writer who needs some motivation and encouragement? We can provide this, as well as technical skills and information that can direct you towards completing tasks for publication and discovery. A great…
Crafternoons
Join us in creating fun crafts and doing art projects.
Art Club celebrates Inktober
Everyday of October our Art Club is participating in Inktober. We draw sketch in ink relating to a daily theme. Come join us.
Wooden Block Party
Join us in the Story Hour Room for fun with big wooden blocks. What will you build?
Music and Movement
Join us for songs, dance, and fun excploring rhythm and movement! Children ages 11 and under. Children ages 6 & under must be accompanied by a caregiver.
Anime and Manga - Manga for You and Me
Learn the techniques behind the creation of anime.
Anime and Manga - Hot Manga
Get your hands on the newest manga we have.
NewsBank Hot Topics
Trending news and hot topics for your next assignment! Hot topics covers Current Events, Business & Economics, Civics, Government, & Politics, Social Issues, Science, Technology & Health, Sports, Arts & Literature, and People in the News.
Gordon's Art Datastore
AskART
Art Sales Index Database
Over the years more fields and more categories have been added to satisfy the art market. Estimates in currency of the sale added 1997 Provenance, literature and exhibition details added 1999 Miniatures 1991 Prints 1995 Photographs…
Art Full Text
Art Full Text™ is a comprehensive resource for art information featuring full-text articles from more than 300 periodicals dating back to 1995, high-quality indexing and abstracting of over 600 periodicals dating as far back as 1984,…
Academic OneFile *
More than 18,000 peer-reviewed journals and more than 9,200 in full text Full text of The Economist ranging from 1988 to the present, with no embargo Full text of The New York Times from 1985 to present, updated daily Full text of The…
Jed Perl | Calder: The Conquest of Time: The Early Years: 1898-1940
Watch the video here . “Few people write about art as beautifully” ( Wall Street Journal ) as Jed Perl, a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books and the former 20-year art critic for The New Republic . A longtime…
Walter Isaacson | Leonardo da Vinci
Watch the video here . Released just weeks after the tech guru’s death, Walter Isaacson’s “staggering” ( The New York Times ) portrait of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs instantly became an international bestseller. Isaacson has also penned…
Christina Baker Kline | A Piece of the World
Watch the video here . Christina Baker Kline is the author of The Orphan Train , the no. 1 New York Times bestseller and 2015 One Book, One Philadelphia selection. Her other novels include Bird in Hand, The Way Life Should Be , and…
Ross King | Mad Enchantment: Claude Monet and the Painting of the Water Lilies
“With a fiction writer’s feel for character” (Philadelphia Inquirer ), Ross King is the author of several nonfiction works that situate art within the context of the history in which it was born, including the New York Times bestsellers…
Edward Sorel | Mary Astor's Purple Diary: The Great American Sex Scandal of 1936 with Jules Feiffer | Cousin Joseph
“One of America’s foremost political satirists” ( New York Times ), illustrator, caricaturist, and cartoonist Edward Sorel has illustrated 41 covers for The New Yorker and has published pictorial essays and features in The Nation ,…
David Salle | How to See: Looking, Talking, and Thinking about Art
One of the principal definers of postmodern art, painter David Salle is one of the last four decades’ most celebrated artists. Known for paintings and prints of what seem to be indiscriminately overlaid found images from a variety of…