Metropolitan Bakery 4013 Walnut St.
To add to its cozy ambience, Metro's featuring quilts on their orange walls. These fabric collages experiment with color, texture and pattern. They're the works of 8–year–old Iris Kim, 4–year–old Lily Dominus and their mother Lorrie Kim. The two girls' designs are different from their mother's. Iris’s works are a kaleidoscope of vibrant colors and shapes. Meanwhile, Lily uses the quilts as a storytelling medium. The talented and artistic four–year–old, characterized by her dyed hair, told us that her favorite quilt was her self–portrait as the princess of butterflies and color. The works are remarkable considering how young their artists are—these kids are doing way more than coloring in the lines.
-— Ciara Stein
Green Line Cafe 4239 Baltimore Ave.
The drawings of local artist Nile Livingston brighten up the walls of Green Line's Baltimore location. The shop has chosen everything from her portraits of historical figures and performers like Frank Sinatra to her depictions of daily life. The drawings-—created with colored sharpie paint markers—depict social changes Livingston sees in the community. The artwork is a byproduct of her own experiences growing up and living in West Philadelphia. Livingston is experimental. She employs splashes of color, scribbled marks and dots, all of which evoke childhood innocence executed with adult precision.
— Ciara Stein
Lovers and Madmen 28 S. 40th St.
Italy and espresso are best friends. Obviously. On 40th Street, Lovers and Madmen is toying with that tie: photos of Venice by Lindsay Browning help set the scene. Surrounded by images of orangey sunsets and blue boats docked under a clear sky, it's like you’re steps from the River Piave and not a mile from the Schuylkill. Browning, who grew up dancing, has also done a series of dancer photos hung grid-style on one wall. This clean presentation puts the focus on the progression of motion from photo to photo.
— Alina Grabowski
