A major perk of belonging to the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers – that merry band of artists who have played, exhibited and produced witty, found-object art together since 1992 – is that we get to hang out in the area’s most creative homes.
Today our Unexpected Philadelphia website takes you on another Dumpster Diver photo tour – this time to the inspiring home, studio, and garden of Susan and Patrick Moloney.
Patrick and Susan Moloney with one of their ever-ready coffee makers
Linda Lou Horn always dreamed of becoming an artist.
So when the long-time nurse, elder care activist, and gestalt psychotherapist decided to radically change up her life at age 50, she marked the occasion with a two-mile free fall from an airplane.
Linda Lou with “Going Nowhere Fast” in her polka-dotted dining room.
Now the much-exhibited, found-object artist – whose art-and-imagination-filled home we profiled last summer – has landed in a one-woman show at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens through August 28. Continue reading
Ready for another great artist’s house tour? Today we’ll meet Philadelphian Len Davidson, owner of Davidson Neon, and his wife Judy.
Len is a neon artist and restorer, writer, collector, 20th-century cultural observer, and co-founder of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, that merry band of artists who have played, exhibited and produced witty, found-object art together since 1992.
(Always up for fun: Judy and Len Davidson)
Judy Davidson, his partner in adventure for 50 years, is a retired counselor familiar to 35 years of students at the Community College of Philadelphia. Continue reading
Last summer, Unexpected Philadelphia toured the home and studio of architect, artist, author and community activist Joel Spivak and his artist wife Diane Keller.
(Joel and Diane in their art-and-imagination-filled South Philadelphia home.)
Joel, a co-founder of that merry band of found-object artists known as the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, is also the inspired originator of Philadelphia’s National Hot Dog Month celebration, leading tours to classic hot dog stands and giving away hundreds of hot dogs each July to confused-but-happy pedestrians around the city.
INTRODUCING THE TROLLEY LAMA
But Joel has another avocation: Known among the Dumpster Divers as the “Trolley Lama”, Joel is the co-author of two photo-packed books on Philadelphia trolleys and trains:
(“Philadelphia Trolleys” and “Philadelphia Railroads” by Allen Meyers and Joel Spivak for Arcadia Publishing)
It’s tour time again!
Over the past 8 months, Unexpected Philadelphia has taken you to 8 inspiring, art-filled homes belonging to the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers – that warm and wacky band of artists and collectors who exhibit, socialize and produce witty, up-cycled art together.
Today we’re heading to the home and studio of Ellen Benson, sister of Divers’ co-founder Neil Benson, whose house we’ve already visited.
(Ellen in her living room with what she modestly calls “The Wall”.
About a third of the work is hers; the rest hails from around the globe.)
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.
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 