The Artist in Focus campaign gives us a chance to shine a light on some of Philly’s great artists. Maybe you are already fans of some of the artists or maybe you’ll discover an artist that speaks to you.
Each artist will have their own limited edition cleaning cloth-you can choose one with the purchase of a pair of Philly Eyeworks glasses
James Dupree is a Philly-based American artist, educator, and activist. Dupree's works are included in the permanent collections of the Columbus Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art; the African American Museum in Philadelphia; the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania; the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York; and the National Museum of Art in Cardiff, Wales, among others. He has been active in the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, and was the artist for the mural in honor of poet and teacher Sonia Sanchez near Temple University.
There are No Lambs in the Jungle
Christopher Eads is a Philadelphia based designer-illustrator. He works most adeptly with a mechanical pencil and enjoys sketching, concepting and writing in a sketchbook regularly before hopping on to the computer to add finishing touches to work. He is interested and inspired by the rich and always evolving patchwork of cultures, histories and experiences that make up Philadelphia. A graduate of Tyler School of Art, he has been a collaborating artist with the Philadelphia Assembled Exhibition at the Philadelphia Art Museum, worked as a designer of children’s books for local publishing firm Running Press, has displayed work with Giovinetti Studios and designed materials for The Leukemia Lymphoma Society, The American Diabetes Association, grassroots organizations and musical artists among others.
Miriam Singer grew up in Buffalo, New York, In 2000 she received her BA in Sociology and Studio Art from Brandeis University, and in 2003 her MFA in Painting from Massachusetts College of Art. Since moving to Philadelphia in 2004; Miriam Singer has exhibited at LG Tripp Gallery, Woodmere Art Museum, Space 1026, Friends of the Print and Picture Collection, Art in the Airport, James Oliver Gallery, Gallery Siano, Inliquid at Painted Bride, Art in City Hall, Topstitch, Spector Gallery, Gallery at Minnow, and Padlock Gallery.Singer uses a combination of printmaking and drawing media to create her unique works on paper and designs for public art projects. Noted public art projects with The Philadelphia Mural Arts Program include; Southeast by Southeast, 2013, Under The Clothespin, 2012, and Take Me to the River, 2010. Singers accumulated imagery becomes layered and busy with impressions of the cityscape. Singer currently teaches printmaking part-time at Fleisher Art Memorial and is a member of the artist collective, Space 1026.
"From Cranbrook Academy of Art to a stint in Mexico, I have worked as a graphic designer, art instructor, master printer, and artist for over 20 years. I was a Master Printer and Project Manager at The Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia from 2009-2015 and he’s called Philly home ever since.
I spend most days working in my low-waste, sustainable studio bringing my vibrant designs to life in the form of bags and apparel.
My art is represented by Pentimenti Gallery in Old City, Philadelphia."
The Center for Creative Works is a unique art studio focusing on developing creative workplace potential and cultural identity for people with intellectual disabilities.
With an aesthetic that captures elements of mass-market horror and neo-expressionism, David Schmuckler’s work is uniquely accessible. Using source imagery culled from Google image searches for phrases like “Halloween Scary Mask Costume,” “Bloodscream,” and “Krampus Horror,” which yield images from the horror genre from around the world, Schmuckler develops singular characters using bold design elements and color schemes. Below the figure he incorporates the often-randomized text (sometimes in other languages, from Russian to Italian) from the search results into his compositions, supplying them with equally macabre captions.
Tamisha creates vibrant repeated patterns of natural motifs – leaves, owls, and flowers – in designs that communicate her love of color. She has been making art for a little less than a year at the Center for Creative Works.
Tamisha lives in Clifton Heights, Delaware County, and was born in 1973 in Norristown, PA. In the summertime, she likes to go to the beach and swim in the ocean. Tamisha describes herself as, “very clever, very cooperative, very curious, and a marvelous artist.”
Timothy O’Donovan (b. 1964, Cardiff, Wales) I like the idea of seeing nature by itself in its own form. I feel very comfortable with nature when I take hikes and walks wherever I am visiting or residing. I’ve been to a place that’s very similar to Venice, Italy, when I went on vacation with my mom in Las Vegas. Cardiff is where I was born, and I visited that place in the late 70’s, when my family was leaving South Africa. I feel more in control of my life and my emotions when I make a piece of artwork. If there is too much tension, I paint and draw while listening to natural music, sounds of the ocean, and Enya. I am a learning disabled individual and have been since birth. I’ve been independent since age 14, and have been a self advocate for 15 years. I have been coming to the Center for Creative Works for five years.
On any given day, Jenny Garrity (b. 1979) will invariably be found drawing, seated with her nose so close the surface of the page it seems as if she herself is emerging from it, part of the family of gnome-like figures she creates. With delicate, hair-thin lines, forms develop from the accumulation of mark, each topped with a domed, bald head and faint facial features, full of expressive force. In her own private, self-contained way, Garrity has conversations with these little communities she creates, often seeming to chat with them while they come to life, populating her page.
Choose one free limited edition Artist In Focus cleaning cloth with each purchase of a pair of Philly EyeWorks.
A new artist will be introduced every month or so