Thursday Art Alert! Sneak Peek at Conrad Street Gallery

February 2017 UPDATE:  Petrone Realty is now managing the property and seeking tenants for the art gallery and former pet store (corner property), as well as for Conrad Market in the same stretch.  

JAN 2016  UPDATE:  Owner Steve Carvelli has decided to pull all commercial public pursuits at the Gallery until otherwise notified. The former pet store is now advertising Pioneer Realty, but if often closed with no posted hours What’s up, dude? No one knows, he’s not talking. Hopefully everything’s OK and his businesses will be back on track soon. 

Original post July 21, 2015: Wow what a fun night on Conrad Street, big thanks to Street & Curb owner Steve Carvelli for putting such a fantastic event together, a sneak peek at how his “Art for Everyone” dreams are panning out.

The crowd started rolling in almost at 6:00 pm on the dot, and within an hour the joint was hopping with artists and neighbors appreciating free food & wine — LaNadia’s spread was once again banging, and the crowd enthusiastically tucked into fresh fruit & cheese, bbq pork sliders, tomato-mozz kebabs — and the cutest little mini cupcakes. 

Loved the music, too. The trio’s called “Visoon” and they seemed to be riffing on the crowd, speeding up as people poured in and then mellowing out while everyone settled, starting up again when featured artist Francis 2 Good worked on his Pope painting (which really was kinda fun to watch).

UPDATE 8-10-15:  That live painting Francis 2 Good did during the show? SOLD ALREADY! It’ll hang at the gallery another week or so for the duration of the exhibit, and then might be donated to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

By the way, Francis 2 Good’s not just fun to watch, he’s also a friendly, chatty guy — not a drop of “art snob” in him, from what we could tell. He draws his ideas pretty much on impulse: whatever catches his eye, really. Browsing dude’s Facebook images is like a psychedelic history lesson:  sports legends, pop stars, JFK, Billy the Kid, aliens…?? He’s ridiculously prolific, and seems to be offering prints for some of these, too. (!)

Hope you had a chance to come out! We’re looking forward to the gallery’s “official” Opening this October, celebrating art of all kinds in East Falls.

Open house at local gallery features wine, music, food, and live painting by featured artist.

Where: Street and Curb Art Gallery, Conrad Street and Sunnyside Ave

When: Thursday July 30, 6-9 PM

We’ve heard the question for months — what’s that Street and Curb place on Conrad? You’ve read some of the backstory here, but this Thursday night is your chance to see the place for yourself, with drinks and music to boot.

Owner Steve Carvelli is hosting an open house from 6-9 featuring a live band, catered food, and complimentary wine to show off the nearly completed gallery space.

If you think it sounds like a First Friday event in Old City, think again says Carvelli, who styles Street and Curb as the anti-Old City gallery. Nothing stuffy and standoffish about his gallery, whose name suggests Carvelli’s mission to engage with the neighborhood.

Thursday is another step toward that goal, with free admission, food, and drink. (He’s been offering yoga classes on Saturday morning that have been growing in popularity and hopes to include bingo nights soon during the week.)

The open house is a smaller, intimate version of the grand opening Carvelli envisions for later in the year, a  block party that will include multiple bands, a full bar, and plenty of other businesses participating all along Conrad Street.

For now, he’s slowly introducing his new space to the neighborhood. Thursday will feature several local artists, including Alfred Ortega (who will be showing his work at Street and Curb in the fall).

You’ll also get an up-close look at the work of pop artist Francis 2 Good, a grad of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and get a feel for his method as he’ll be doing a live painting of Pope Francis. Yeah, that Pope Francis.

Food, wine, music, and an artist at work? If you’re a fan of any (or all of ’em, like us) make some time Thursday night to see what the fuss is all about.

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