If you follow our Unexpected Philadelphia website, you’ve toured eight wildly creative homes and studios belonging to members of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers – that merry band of found-object artists who prove (in the words of co-founder Neil Benson) that “Trash is simply a failure of imagination.”
(Divers take to the walls of the Dupree Gallery.)
And now through January 30, you can experience their work firsthand at Philadelphia’s Dupree Gallery in Queen Village.
First, take famed architect R. Brognard Okie, who designed a Colonial Revival masterpiece for a young married couple in 1902. (Paid for by the groom’s father, of course….)
(This wonderfully inviting inglenook shows Okie’s love of woodwork and clever design. With those big windows on the landing, how did he hide the fireplace chimney?)
Next, take Ann and Ev Keech, who stumbled on the fixer-upper home just outside Philadelphia in 1977, and began administering tender loving care while raising three children there.
(Did we mention the elaborate woodwork? And, yes, Okie carefully designed the fireplace columns to match those seen outside on the porch.)
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If you follow Unexpected Philadelphia, our four-month-old website, you’ve toured six fabulous, art-filled homes belonging to our fellow Philadelphia Dumpster Divers – that eclectic band of found-object artists and collectors who exhibit, socialize and produce up-cycled art together.
Starting today, we invite you on a new tour, showcasing the inspiring home and garden of Michael Martin Mills and Randy Dalton.
INTRODUCING RANDY AND MICHAEL
Randy joined the Dumpster Divers at their second meeting in 1992. A found-object artist, gardener, and initiator of the “Do Blue” campaign to support arts funding, he has volunteered at Powelton Village’s Community Education Center since 1977, doing everything from serving on the board, to organizing exhibits, to stripping paint from yards and yards – and yards – of paneling.
(Randy makes lighted art installations that even passing airplanes can see.)
When we launched our Unexpected Philadelphia website this summer, we included behind-the-scenes tours of 5 wildly imaginative homes belonging to our fellow Dumpster Divers – that merry band of found-object artists and collectors who have exhibited, socialized and produced up-cycled art together since 1992.
Today, we’re adding a photo tour of the fun and fabulous home of George Felice, who joined the Divers in their very first year.
(The Divers’ 2014 annual awards banquet at Philly’s Famous 4th Street Deli – and, yes, that’s us at the far left and George at the top center. Photo by I. George Bilyk)
Richard Nixon and the MOVE conflagration. Miss America and Mick Jagger. Pope John II and Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt. Mayor Rizzo with Queen Elizabeth. (Huh?)
Before Philadelphia Dumpster Divers co-founder Neil Benson embarked on his full-time, found-object art career, he was a staff photographer for Philadelphia Magazine (1975-90), and his Philly-centric images appeared in Time, Life, Rolling Stone, The New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Early Benson: Spiro Agnew and Richard Nixon strike a pose at Independence Hall for the signing of the Manpower Revenue Sharing Act on October 20, 1972 Continue reading
What do you do if you’re browsing the Internet and read that July is National Hot Dog Month?
If you’re Philadelphia Dumpster Diver Joel Spivak, and you have a big heart and unlimited imagination (check out these photos of his home and handiwork), you stage pop-up exhibits and hand out free hot dogs – lots of them – everywhere from North Philly to South Street.
(Joel Spivak in his 2013 Philly Hot Dog Month t-shirt)
This year’s improbable celebration kicked-off Friday on Philadelphia’s Fabric Row, in front of Maxie’s Daughter Fabrics, where Joel and friends handed out 200 free hot dogs to confused-but-happy pedestrians….
Unexpected Philadelphia 