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For any organization to last 40 years these days, it has to be well-structured and innovative; run by people passionate about its work and provide an essential service to those who utilize it. The Brandywine Workshop, 730-32 S. Broad St., which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, is all of those things.
Since its 1972 founding, the workshop has been providing a place for artists of all ages, backgrounds and styles to participate in the fine art of offset lithography. Rather than a mere reproduction of an artist’s work, as is provided by modern digital methods, lithography allows for the creation of authentic versions of the original. The workshop will display its “Full Spectrum” exhibit at the
Philadelphia Art Museum, showcasing selections from the museum’s permanent collection of Brandywine prints, in September. If a grant from the Knight Foundation is received, that opening will be proximate to the workshop’s commissioning of 10 new, artists younger than 40 to complete printmaking fellowships.
“We want to build a bridge between young artists and making it as a professional,” Executive Director and President Allan L. Edmunds, who has been the engine that drives the workshop ever since its founding, said. “There is a generation of younger artists that is disappearing because people are not buying fine art.
“If I’m a young artist, I’ve got no gallery, no job, but I can go to Brandywine and create a version that I can sell for a lower price than my original, one-of-a-kind work. And just as important are the connections and opportunities that can arise while working here.”
In the competitive world of fine art, getting one’s work viewed by those who have already made it in the field is essential, Edmunds said. At Brandywine, emerging artists have that chance, despite not having access to a gallery or museum.
“We’re a long-term South Philadelphia organization that has grown internationally and represents outstanding diversity, but we need to stay relevant,” Edmunds said. “And if the younger generation doesn’t appreciate something, it has no value. Let’s celebrate our 40th anniversary by starting an initiative that helps young artists and continues our legacy going forward.”
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Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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