Category: events

Announcing Half and a Third Pop Up and Free Valentine Making Night

We are very excited to announce that our friends over at Half and a Third will be taking over our back gallery space from February 11th – March 19th. They will be creating their own shop within our space.

Half and a Third are local couple Ian Stafford and Katey Mangels. The pair combines their expertise in woodworking and graphic design to create quality goods for the home. Inspired by everything from sacred geometry, world cultures, and mid-century modern design; Half and a Third strive to make goods that have a simplistic beauty & modern charm. Their collection includes a wide selection of items. Shoppers can expect to find furniture, coasters, clocks, prints, trivets, cutting boards, art prints and more.

Please join us for an opening reception for the Pop Up on February 11th from 4-7pm. The event will also include a Free Valentine’s Day Card Making Workshop with Bonnie Kaye Studio. Bonnie will be bringing her beautiful hand screen printed wrapping papers for you to use to cut up and collage a special card for your valentine or galentine! All materials provided. Pop on in anytime during the event (no reservations required). Bring friends! 20% off all Bonnie Kaye Goods during the event.

Complimentary Snacks and Libations provided.
Visit our Facebook Invite and let us know if you can make it

February 2, 2017
Art Star CRAP Bazaar

Due to this event’s overwhelming success, we’ve decided to extend it through February 5th! Most artists have restocked so there are a ton of great finds still!

illustration by Andrew Zangerle

You read it right, we are hosting an Art Star CRAP Bazaar! It will be nothing like the Art Star Craft Bazaar, so you have been warned! A handful of our regular artists will be selling off their “Seconds” at huge discounts in our back gallery space for ONE WEEKEND ONLY. FREE TO ATTEND.

Saturday, January 28th, 11-7PM
Sunday, January 29th, 12-6pm
EXTENDED THROUGH FEB 5th!
in Art Star’s gallery space
623 N. 2nd Street

Participating Artists include:
BirdQueen Designs (jewelry)
Half and a Third (prints, wood, coasters, calendars, tees, etc)
Kasie Lyn Jewelry
Le Puppet Regime (Stained Glass Art)
On 3 Designs (bags)
Phea Jean (clothing and accessories)
Popped Stitches (Cross Stitch)
Stanley Chester & Albert (Pottery)
West Oak Design (Clothing, Home Goods, and Accessories)
Wrong World Ceramics (flasks, pottery)

No fancy booth displays and no frills! Just a few big tables in our back gallery space filled with stuff to rummage through! Artists will be selling items that didn’t quite make the cut, samples, one offs, items that are slighty “Off” but awesome all the same, items from past seasons or things they just flat out want to get rid of. Find a handmade treasure at A GREAT PRICE. This is a one time only event.

AND, the most important part: We will be donating 25% of our profits to the https://www.aclupa.org/

January 7, 2017
Events We Love: Still Divided, An Election Party and Exhibit

We are very excited about this event, which has been organized by our friend Hope Rovelto of Little Chair Printing. We hope to see you there!

Still DIVIDED: AN ELECTION PARTY AND EXHIBITION
Witness History Direct from Ringside at the Ice Box

November 8 – November 10, 2016
Opening Reception: November 8, 7-11pm
2^nd Thursday Opening: November 10, 6-9pm

(PHILADELPHIA – November 8, 2016) The ICEBOX at the Crane Arts Building will host a unique exhibition and election viewing party featuring the work of local, national and international artists. The main event will occur Tuesday, November 8, during one of the most highly anticipated Presidential elections of our time. Beginning at 7:00pm, live feeds of the election results from multiple news sources will be projected alongside an exhibition including politically themed broadsides, newspapers, ceramics, live screen printing of posters and t-shirts, an interactive map of the United States, Zine making with The Soap Box Community Print Shop & Zine Library, live post painting by Yomi and more. Dock St. Brewery will be debuting their newest brew: Pathological Lager.

The goal of the exhibition organizers is to capture and critique the spectacle of political discourse in our media landscape. The division of the gallery into blue and red spaces will mimic and call attention to the passionately divided supporters of Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. From the organizers: “The Still Divided exhibition and election party seeks to mimic the tension of our two party system. Even in the midst of a ‘united’ rhetoric, we remain a divided country.”

With an admission price of $25, Attendees will receive their choice of a handmade ceramic cup, beer, games, art, music, and a chance to watch history being made with artists and citizens from the Philadelphia area. Anyone who shows up with an “I voted” sticker receives a $5 discount. Students with a current ID get the “Debt Relief” $10 discount.

For more information about the exhibition, or to speak with the organizers, please contact Hope Rovelto by calling (585) 615-2184 or emailing at hope.rovelto@gmail.com.
Facebook Event Invite

October 26, 2016
Giving Back: Help us, Help Black Hound Studio!

A couple of years ago someone told Erin and I that there was a rumor going around that we are Electric Factory heiresses and that is how we were able to start Art Star. I thought that was so funny. It couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

an old photo of Erin + I in our gallery! Photo by Angie Mason

We opened Art Star in our mid 20s on a shoe string budget. We were both right out of art school and struggling to make ends meet. We wanted to be able to do what we loved and also pay the bills. Being young and naive was a good thing for us. I don’t know if we’d have had the courage to start Art Star if we had this idea now that we are both getting close to 40.

Since we aren’t Electric Factory heiresses (do they exist?!) and really had no money to speak of, we had to be creative about how we could afford to start our business. We found a space in a new development that was offering free rent for the first few months and we jumped on it. We priced every single thing out, down to the staples. We told people what we were going to do and though many thought we were crazy, others were so supportive and offered their services for super cheap (or free) to help us get started! A woman who i was friendly with at The Clay Studio (where I worked at the time) gave me a Home Depot Gift Card which ended up having $800 on it. I didn’t even know her that well, she just believed in what we were trying to do. One family friend who was a lawyer looked over our lease for free, another family friend did all of our construction work at cost, and the list goes on.

We also came up with the idea to host a Raffle party to raise money. Friends donated art work and we hosted the party at a friend’s house in an old gymnassium turned apartment. We made $1,000. It came together pretty magically and we are so grateful to all the people that helped us get started. We’ve been in business now for over 12 years!

The future home of Black Hound Clay Studio

When Bethany Rusen of Stanley Chester and Albert came to us with her idea to open a co-working ceramic space in West Philly, we wanted to do whatever we could do to help her achieve her dream! We told her about our raffle and offered to host one for her in our space. Small business is important to us and we want to see more women start them!

Please help us, help Bethany, achieve her goals of opening up Black Hound Clay Studio (click that link to learn more about it). We will be hosting the raffle at Art Star this Saturday from 6-8pm in conjunction with the Closing Reception for our Pop Ups, which features Bethany’s line Stanley Chester + Albert, Le Puppet Regime, Wild Hart Paper Company, and West Oak Design. There will be a slew of ridiculously awesome raffle prizes, donated by some really amazing artists and local businesses. Bethany is posting many of them on our Facebook event invite HERE. Raffle Tickets are just $5 each and if you buy 10, you get 2 FREE! We will be announcing the winners at the end of the night! All money raised will go towards Black Hound Clay Studios opening expenses. It is NOT CHEAP to start a business, especially one that requires pricey equipment like kilns.

We hope you will join us! Oh and there will be free beer. It’s the least we can do as rumored Electric Factory heiresses.

March 8, 2016
Announcing 4 Pop Ups at Art Star!

We will be hosting an in-store Pop Up with 4 of our local Art artists: Le Puppet Regime, Wild Hart Paper Co, Stanley Chester & Albert, and West Oak Design. These ladies will each be setting up mini shops in our back gallery space from January 23rd – March 13th. This is an excellent chance to shop each artists’ full collection of goods all in one place!

These mini shops will be set up by each individual artist, so you can expect a branded display that reflects each of their personal aesthetics. This gives us an oppurtunity to really spotlight these 4 customer favorites!

Le Puppet Regime: Stained Glass Marionettes and Jewelry
Wild Hart Paper Co: Stationary, Wrapping Paper, Prints and Home Goods
Stanley Chester & Albert: Pottery
West Oak Design: Clothing, Bags, Jewelry, and Home Goods

We will be hosting an opening reception to debut the Pop Ups on January 23rd from 5-8pm. Stop by to mingle with the artists, enjoy light refreshments and get first dibs on new products and designs!

Be sure to keep checking back in, as each artist will be restocking as their items sell!

January 11, 2016
Upcoming Exhibition + P.O.S.T Event!

We are excited to be participating in Philadelphia Open Studio Tours again this year! We have some fun things that we have cooked up for you on October 3rd all day at Art Star (11-7pm)

1. Opening of “Tastes Like Broken Dreams” a solo show by Brooklyn based painter, Mauro Baiocco.

Mauro’s first solo exhibition at Art Star will feature a charming array of “Naughty but Nice” animal portraits. Yeah they may look cute and innocent on the surface but these cuddly animals have issues. The show will feature an all new collection of acrylic and ink paintings of Mauro’s cynical and bitter cast of furry friends. We will be celebrating the opening all day long during shop hours. Come ready to day drink with us, as we’ll have a boozy beverage or two to offer guests! Can’t make the opening? No worries, the show will be up in our gallery space through November 22nd.

2. Trunk Show / Make + Take with Christie Sommers of West Oak Design

Art Star artist and regular blog contributor, Christie Sommers of West Oak Design will be set up with a collection of her latest designs for you to shop. She will also be providing a FREE DIY Stamp Make + Take all day long!

Guests can make a wood block stamp perfect for hand printing fabric, or creating your own stationary. Cut your desired shape out of foam sheets and mount to wood blocks. A variety of paper + stamp pads will be on hand for testing out your creation. Christie will provide instructions and everything you need to make your own one-of-a-kind stamp that you can take home for free!

No registration is required. Just come on by and get to craftin’! Did I mention boozy day drinks?

3. Pop Up Studio with illustrator, Julia Lemyre
If you have stopped by our shop on a Saturday this summer, chances are you met our employee, Julia! Well, she is not only a super awesome shop helper, she is also an incredibly talented illustrator. She will be bringing along a selection of her original works and prints for you to peruse and shop.

Like I said, all this is FREE to attend and no registration is required. Bring some friends and come hang out with us! We will be open from 11-7 and can’t wait to see you!

September 8, 2015
NoLibs Sidewalk Sale This Weekend!

It’s spring cleaning time so that means SALES SALES SALES! We need to make room for all the new items we are getting in. We got together with our neighborhood retailers to offer up a weekend of discounts. This is the best time to shop in Northern Liberties!

We will be sticking our clearance items out on the sidewalk for you to rummage through. Clearance stuff will be marked up to 80% off. All regular prices goods inside will be 20% off and we will take an additional 10% off indoor sale items.

Also participating are Agora, Bloom, City Planter, Once Worn Consignment, Ritual Ritual, and Swag. So grab your favorite shopping buddies and head over to Northern Liberties for a day of shopping this weekend! Visit our FB event invite to see the type of discounts each shop is offering.

Fuel up at our following faves:

Quick Bites/Coffee/Tea: Soy Cafe, Random Tea Room, One Shot Coffee
Breakfast/Brunch: Honey’s or Cafe La Maude
Good Beer or Cocktails: Abbaye, Jerry’s, 700 Club
Dinner/Lunchy Noms: Abbaye or Bourbon + Branch (good cocktails too)

March 25, 2015
Clover Winter Market 2015

We will be popping up our 10×10 shop at the upcoming Clover Winter Market! We hope you will come out to visit us + around 50 other vendors selling handmade, vintage, and antique goods.
The 23rd Street Armory is on 23rd Street between Market + Chestnut Streets. There is a $5 door fee (kids under 12 get in for free)…..But may we suggest you purchase a VIP Pass for $20? This gets you some awesome stuff including admission at 9am (a whole hour to shop before the general public arrives), and a swag bag of goodies + coupons donated by vendors! There is a coupon to use at our booth too!

Here are some of the goodies you will find in the VIP Swag Bag
Purchase VIP tickets OR 2 for 1 tickets HERE

Visit www.theclovermarket.com for more information

January 12, 2015
Upcoming Exhibition with Genevieve Geer of Le Puppet Regime

Le Puppet Regime by Genevieve Geer
Stained Glass Marionettes + Sculptures
“You Never Know Who’s Pulling The Strings”
February 13th – April 12th
Opening Reception: Friday, February 13th from 6-8pm

We are thrilled to announce a solo exhibition with Philadelphia artist, Genevieve Geer of Le Puppet Regime. Genevieve makes brilliant stained glass marionettes of tattooed showgirls, circus freaks, Siamese twins, mermaids, strong men, minotaurs and more. Each piece has movable limbs so you can contort and pose your puppet in any way you choose.

We first stumbled across Genevieve’s unique work after she applied for our 2014 May Art Star Craft Bazaar. We had never seen anything like it before and it isn’t often that we come across cool stained glass work! Her application definitely gave us goose bumps. We were even more smitten after checking out the work in person. Not only does she make marionettes, but she also makes larger sculptural wall pieces and a line of jewelry.

Her exhibition at Art Star will include her popular marionettes but also some more of her larger sculptural pieces. The show will differ a bit from our typical exhibition. Though the larger pieces will remain up throughout the duration of the show, the marionettes will be available to take home the day of purchase. We will have a back stock to replace pieces as they sell. The show will open the day before Valentine’s Day, so bring your date to check out the show, mix and mingle with the artist, enjoy a beer + snack and pick up a one-of-a-kind art piece for your special someone!

Artist Statement: Genevieve Geer’s stained glass characters are articulated, modern day people, captured in an ancient art. They are holy in their medium, hearkening back to saints and sinners in churches everywhere, but they are living contemporary tales. Instead of stained glass as static object, well placed, well lit, and coveted as an architectural asset, these pieces move themselves to center stage. By pulling the characters out of the allotted window frame, Geer begins to force a reassessment of this medium. Further, by articulating each creature and character, the audience can no longer dismiss the work as sparkly background noise. They must look at each piece and divine it’s story, what it is and where it comes from.

The Artist’s process is painstaking and involved. The first steps are drafting a basic line drawing on paper and transferring the cartoon to glass, using hand mixed powdered glass paint that is then kiln fired. Cutting the glass, coppering, soldering, drilling and piecing together the final figure allows for variations and deviations at every turn, often resulting in creatures that stray from the initial drawing by happy accident. “Powdered glass paint is a medium unlike any other–one can have a general idea of what it will do, but sometimes it’s better than me, it knows what will look best, and when that happens, if I am smart, I lift the brush quickly off the glass, let it dry and get it in the kiln.”

Geer is constantly feeding her work, researching embroidered textiles and antique dishware patterns, ukiyo-e woodblock prints, contemporary couture fashion, Russian movie propaganda posters, illuminated manuscripts, and contemporary illustrators like Yuko Shimizu.

ABOUT THE ARTIST Genevieve Geer is a Philadelphia based artist working in glass, metal, wood and textiles. Originally from Massachusetts, she attended Parsons School of Design for Illustration and The Museum School in Boston for Animation. She moved to NYC soon after graduating and worked as a freelance prop fabricator over the next few years. When she relocated to Philadelphia in 2007, she began to experiment with a new medium, hot glass. She started out as a manager of a local public access glass studio for a year before taking an apprenticeship at Wheaton Village in New Jersey. There she developed her blown glass skills, but was also introduced to casting, kiln forming and flat glass techniques. After two years she returned to Philly and she and her husband built a studio in their Kensington home. In 2012, after seeing a stained glass show by the artist Judith Schaecter in Philadelphia’s Eastern State Penitentiary, a spark was lit and Genevieve began to research and experiment with stained glass. In this one medium she found a meeting place for her training in illustration, animation and hot glass. Her company, Le Puppet Regime, came into being soon after, and features articulated, movable stained glass characters and scenes.

Visit http://www.genevievegeer.com/ for the artist’s full portfolio.
Find a selection of her work at our shop + on our website.

January 4, 2015
NoLibs + Fishtown Holiday Shopping Spree

The annual NoLibs Holiday Shopping Spree is back and this year we’ve expanded to include our friends in Fishtown! Mark your calendars for the largest Holiday Spree to date!

Art Star is pleased to present the annual Holiday Shopping Spree, which will be held on Saturday, December 6^th from 11-8pm and Sunday, December 7^th from 11-6pm. The spree will take place in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia and has expanded this year to include Fishtown shops as well. 16 retail shops will be participating in the spree. The more you shop at each location, the more you save!

Here is how the spree works:
1st Participating Store: Customer receives 10% off their purchase + a spree card w/ one sticker on it

2nd Store: Customer shows spree card w/ 1 sticker & gets 15% off their purchase + a 2nd sticker

3rd Store: Customer shows spree card w/ 2 stickers & gets 20% off their purchase + a 3rd sticker

Once the customer’s spree card has 3 stickers, they will receive 25% off at any additional participating store that they shop at throughout the event.

Participating Shops
NoLibs: City Planter, Philly Phaithful, Ritual Ritual, Art Star, Casa Papel, Once Worn Consignment, Bloom, Swag Boutique, Jinxed at The Piazza

Fishtown: The Art Dept, Adorn Boutique + Showroom, Toile, Catch & Release Merchants, Craft Foundry, Jinxed Fishtown, Two Percent To Glory

The spree was conceived in 2006 by local retailers Art Star, Arcadia Boutique, and Conspiracy Showroom as a way to encourage shoppers to support independent boutiques in the Northern Liberties neighborhood. Now in its 8^th year, the spree has become a shopping tradition for hundreds of Philadelphians looking for unique gifts to give for the holiday season!

Each shop will be serving up light refreshments and plenty of holiday cheer! Support your local independent retailers this holiday season!

Special thanks to friends + neighbors at Liberties Parcel for sponsoring this event!

November 18, 2014