First Visit to Globe Dye Works

Yesterday was my first visit to the exhibition space at Globe Dye Works. Wow.  This place is huge, raw, and jam packed with possibility.  My walk through was with Leslie Kaufman (Director of Philadelphia Sculptors) and about ten artists who are planning to submit proposals for jury selection (five artists have been chosen to participate and another ten will be selected by our jury).

We walked through with slack jaws and cameras flashing.  Many of the artists were giddy - inspiration visible in their excited eyes and the air thick with ideas.

The space has intricate wooden rafters and the ground is strewn with abandoned equipment (this building was actively dying fabric until 2005).  Beams of light stream in through the roof; it feels like both an industrial wasteland and an enchanted playground.

I was struck by the contrast between vast open space and intimate niches - surely this show will invite artists to work both large and small.  The sheer largeness of the space is coupled by boundless details.  We all took a few minutes to run our hands through a vat of what looked like rusty sand - Leslie explained it was Zeolite, a water softener.  It felt like velvet.

I could go on to attempt to describe this place, but it really must be seen to be believed.  Leslie put it well when she said, "If you're into texture, than this is the place to be."

This is going to be a great show.