Hidden City Philadelphia 2009 Report

Founder’s Hall, Girard College“nothing but what is therein contained” by Steve Roden

2009a brief review

Armory of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, “Battle Hymns” by David Lang and Leah Stein with Mendelssohn

Club of Philadelphia and Leah Stein Dance Company

Overview

Hidden City Philadelphia was the recipient of a Philadelphia City

Paper Choice Award ’09.For the announcement featured in

City Paper’s “Big Vision Issue,” Shaun Brady wrote,

Whatever form it takes going forward, Hidden City will remain valuable for giving local and international artists a source of new inspiration, and the cobwebbed corners of Philly’s architecture orphans new life.

Hidden City Philadelphiawas presented by Peregrine Arts May 30 – June 28, 2009. The festival featured ten works

by leading local and international artists created for nine sites throughout the city.

Critical and visitor response was overwhelming, with all performances and tours sold out.

The locations selected for Hidden City Philadelphia are all important landmarks of the city’s

cultural history, but for various reasons, had become lesser known or forgotten. Each artist

work, whether it was a performance piece or visual installation, was inspired by a site and

created to animate and interpret its history for visitors.

Six of the sites were home to visual arts installations, which were free and open to the

public from 11am to 7pm on Saturdays and Sundays during the festival. Three locations

housed music and dance pieces and were accessible on performance days. Visitors

experienced the festival through bus tours, volunteer docents, an innovative card game

for children and families, a dynamic website, and portable fold-out map.

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Metropolitan Opera House, “Revival” by Wally Cardona and Phil Kline with Group Motion Dance Company

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…Hidden City…has produced a new monument on the Philadelphia

art scene, indeed, one that deserves credit on a far wider

scale…. It is hard to recall an artistic endeavor in Philadelphia that

has generated as much stimulation and buzz as Hidden City.

Peter Burwasser, Philadelphia City Paper

Stimulating the economy...

Expenditures by Organization & Attendees $1,228,400

Full-Time Equivalent Jobs 29.22

Resident Household Income $708,947

State & Local Government Revenue $115,860

Impact figures are estimated based on Hidden City project and attendee expenditures using the 2008 Economic Impact Calculator developed by the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

Developing new audiences for arts and heritage...Hidden City was envisioned from the beginning as an engagement tool for developing new

audiences for the contemporary arts. Most people were attracted to the adventure of exploring

new spaces. Along the way they also explored new art forms. Hidden City drew both arts and

history enthusiasts, as well as the purely curious urban adventurer.

ORGAnIzATIOn HIddEn CITy AVERAGE REGuLAR AudIEnCE AudIEnCE PER PROGRAM

Group Motion dance Company 1,210 200

Leah Stein dance Company 1,104 500

network for new Music 405 150

(Re)connecting people to place…Hidden City’s most touching legacy was its value as a connector

(or re-connector) of people and places. Jonathan Stein... writing

for The Broad Street Review noted that “... the final phase of an

artwork is the audience engagement, and indeed one of the most

exciting elements of these installations was the visitors’ interaction

with the sites and with each other…” He experienced...

Disston Saw Works, “Running True” by John Phillips and Carolyn Healy

Inspiring dialogue about new futures...Hidden City inspired much conversation about new uses and futures for some of its sites. Girard College is considering more programmatic use of the

third floor of Founder’s Hall. The drop forge building of disston Saw Works is no longer slated for demolition, and has found new use through an industrial

tenant. Hidden City fueled conversations at Shiloh Baptist Church about its future use as a community and cultural center.

at Shiloh, a nine-year-old tour guide who was baptized at the church a year before;

at disston… workers who could identify the sounds of their particular machines in the art;

visitors at the Royal Theater who remembered the “Tip-Top” talent show and

“Kiddie Hour” from more than four decades ago;

a volunteer, whose great grandfather was a lamp lighter at the Old Met; and

... retired Inquirer workers who came back to see a “new” part of their old workplace.

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Impact

Visual Installation Sites 95% adult and 5% children

82% from the City of Philadelphia

15% from Greater Philadelphia (Tri-State area)

3% from outside the united States

Top three visited sites were Founder’s Hall, disston Saw Works, and Mother Bethel AME Church

Performance Sites 100% sold out (or oversold)

Blend of partner core audiences (local) and visual installation site visitors

Largest performance work audience was the Old Metropolitan Opera

Visitor Behavior Peak visiting hours were 2 - 3pm

An average of 53% of audiences visited more than one site

Of these multi-site visitors, 25% visited ALL of the sites

Top three awareness drivers were The Philadelphia Inquirer, word of mouth, and chance encounter or radio

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Visitors

visitors came from New Jersey, Maryland,

Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, North Carolina,

Kansas, California, Florida, Delaware, Nevada,

Michigan, Minnesota, Indiana, Virginia, Washington,

Georgia, Connecticut, as well as Denmark, Canada,

England, Scotland, and Germany

There were a large number of highly local attendees, often within a four to five city block radius of each site. Many neighborhood visitors said they were visiting “their” site for the first time, indicating that there is a disconnect between local heritage assets and Philadelphia residents.

Top performing neighborhoods were Temple, Queen Village, Francisville, Girard, Graduate Hospital, and Center City, owing to the proximity of these neighborhoods to festival sites.

(These neighborhood designations do not represent official nomenclature. These terms were those consistently supplied by visitors during data collection.)

Founder’s Hall, Girard College“nothing but what is therein contained” by Steve Roden

naila Francis, Bucks County Courier Times

…the ghost of a glorious past lingers…

even as present and future possibilities

are pondered—and that’s precisely part

of the goals of Hidden City Philadelphia.

Engagement

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Press

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…maybe the quilts and celestial symbols used in…. artist

Sanford Biggers’ piece at Mother Bethel AME Church…

will inspire further research into one of Philadelphia’s most

famous stops on the Underground Railroad.

naila Francis, The Intelligencer

Mother Bethel AME Church, “Constellation” by Sanford Biggers

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German Society of Pennsylvania, “Der Sandman” by Stan Douglas

Education & Family: We hope to develop educational programs and partnerships with local K-12 schools and

institutions of higher education. Through such programs we will also be able to improve

our outreach families. Hidden City can be a powerful experiential education tool for young

people, as well as a reason for our college graduates to stay in Philadelphia.

Community:

Participation of local communities in the development of projects varied highly

from project to project in 2009. For the future we wish to develop a

more uniform approach to community engagement, so we can develop true

“neighborhood experiences.“

Local Economic Impact:

Through creating more in-depth neighborhood experiences, we want to be involved

in directly driving patrons to local businesses. In addition, we hope to develop a means

through which direct funds may be raised for participating sites.

Live Game:

Building on the positive reception of the Hidden City Philadelphia card game,

we plan to explore creating a “live” citywide game, marrying the best of education

and entertainment.

Pavilion:

The architecture firm of KieranTimberlake Associates designed a temporary

pavilion on Broad Street for the 2009 festival that could not be realized

owing to a reduced budget. For the future, we would like to realize the vision of a

central “hub” for disseminating information, offering programs, and

social interaction.

Future

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With the success of Hidden City Philadelphia 2009, we are looking forward to developing its scope and impact, as we start planning for 2012.

Specters seemed to loom everywhere; musicians,

warriors, poets, preachers, divas; they all floated in

and out of the myriad and varied presentation.

Peter Burwasser, Philadelphia City Paper

Shiloh Baptist Church, “Sonambulo” by Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle

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PRODuCtIOn Thaddeus Squire, President, Peregrine Arts

Jay Wahl, Managing Producer, Peregrine Arts

Becca Bernstein, director of development &

Administration, Peregrine Arts

Sarah L. Hunter, Samuel S. Fels Research

Intern & Research Coordinator

Jordan Rockford, Managing Curator (2006-2007)

Perry Fertig, Technical director

Josh Schulman, Lighting director

derek Hachkowski, Master Electrician

nick Kourtides, Sound Advisor

Rebecca Starr, Administrative Assistant

Victoria Lewis, Administrative Intern

Catherine Pidgeon, Production Assistant

Peter Escalada-Mastick, Electrician

Paul Moffitt, Electrician

Shelley Hicklin, Electrician

tOuR & GamE Kala Moses Baxter, Tour Actor

Jay Wahl & Andrew White, Script Writers

Lime Projects, Game Consultants

maRkEtInG & VISItOR SERVICES Amy Harting, Box Office Manager

Andrew White, Marketing Coordinator

Ed Tettemer, Messaging Consultant

Jesse Schlabach, design Intern

Tabula Studio, Website & Graphic design

Braithwaite Communications, Publicity

Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation

Fairmount Park Commission

dutch umbrella

Royal Theater, “Songs from the New Royality” by Todd Reynolds, Bill Morrison, and Laurie Olinder with Network for New Music

SItE CO-PRODuCInG PaRtnERS Armory of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry

disston Saw Works

Founder’s Hall, Girard College

German Society of Pennsylvania

Metropolitan Opera House

Mother Bethel AME Church

Royal Theater

Shiloh Baptist Church

The Philadelphia Inquirer

aRtIStIC aDVISORS Kathleen Forde

Terry Fox

Christian Marclay

Richard Torchia

Stephen Vitiello

DOCumEntatIOn Joseph E.B. Elliott, Architectural Site Photographer

Shari Goldenberg, Architectural Site Photographer

david Kessler, Videographer

J.J. Tiziou, Performance & neighborhood Photographer Ryan donnell, Textile Photographer

HIStORICaL aDVISORS Elizabeth Laurent

Bruce Laverty

Bryant Simon

aRCHItECtuRaL aDVISORS Atkin Olshin Schade Architects

KieranTimberlake Associates

MGA Partners Architects

aRtIStIC CO-PRODuCInG PaRtnERS Ars nova Workshop

Group Motion dance Company

Leah Stein dance Company

Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia

network for new Music

Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia

CHaRREttE PaRtICIPantS (JunE 2008) Robert Cheetham, Avencia Incorporated

Christopher dougherty, Fairmount Park Commission

Medard Gable, Big Picture Small World

John Andrew Gallery, Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia

Mark Gisi, Tabula Studio

Matty Hart, Solutions for Progress

daniel O. Kelly, FAIA, MGA Partners Architects

Laris Kreslins & Kendra Gaeta, Lime Projects

Bruce Laverty, The Athenaeum of Philadelphia

Jim McGorman, SBK Pictures

Roz McPherson, The Roz Group

Michael norris, ArtReach

derrick Pitts, The Franklin

Colin Ripley & Geoffrey Thün, RVTR

Michelle Schmitt, Metropolitan Philadelphia Indicators Project

Susan Seifert, Social Impact of the Arts Project

Harris Steinberg, AIA, Penn Praxis

CIty OF PHILaDELPHIa Gary Steuer, Chief Cultural Officer

John Higgins, department of Licenses & Inspections

Creators

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Foundations The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual ArtsThe Hess FoundationPennsylvania Humanities CouncilStockton Rush Bartol FoundationSamuel S. Fels Fund

individuals Lori AghazarianHeath AllenAndrea J. BraslovePeter and Miriam BurwasserGene Coleman

Visual installations by Sanford Biggers, Stan douglas, Iñigo Manglano-Ovalle, Aleksandra Mir, and Steve Roden were supported

through the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, through the Philadelphia Exhibitions

Initiative, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.

“Revival” by Wally Cardona and Phil Kline was supported through Group Motion dance Company by the Argosy Foundation, The Pew

Center for Arts & Heritage through dance Advance, the William Penn Foundation, Independence Foundation, and the Pennsylvania

Council on the Arts.

“Battle Hymns” by Leah Stein and david Lang was supported through the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia by the Presser

Foundation and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, and through Leah Stein dance Company through The Pew Center for Arts &

Heritage through dance Advance, and The William Penn Foundation.

“Songs for the new Royality” by Todd Reynolds, Bill Morrison, and Laurie Olinder was supported through network for new Music

by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage through the Philadelphia Music Project, The Argosy Contemporary Music Fund, The dietrich

Foundation, The Musical Fund Society, Presser Foundation, The William Penn Foundation, the Marshall Reynolds Trust, the Aaron

Copland Fund, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

c/o Peregrine artsCrane arts Building, Suite 412

1400 north american StreetPhiladelphia, Pa 19122-3803

[email protected]

t 267 597 3808 F 215 763 7140

The university of the ArtsAthenaeum of PhiladelphiaWalnut Street TheaterBlick Art MaterialsThe Prince Music Theateryoung Scholars Charter SchoolPhiladelphia Live Arts Festival & Philly FringeWest Chester university of Pennsylvania

GEnERaL SuPPORt FOR HIDDEn CIty PHILaDELPHIa waS PROVIDED By: In-kInD SuPPORt

Philadelphia Inquirer Building, “Newsroom 2009” by Aleksandra Mir

Shiloh Baptist Church, “Like Lambs” by Steven Earl Weber

Supporters

Penelope and Andrei ConstantinidiClare Cotugnodavid deeryAnthony deFlorio, IIIChristine deutschAllitia diBernardoRollo dilworthRobin Eatondavid ElderkinMike FelkerGraham FinneyMatthew FisherLeonard Frank

Aaron GoldblattMatthew GoldfineJoanne HarmelinAmy HartingLydia HunnJob ItzkowitzGay G. JohnsonLen KarpLorna KentMuriel KirkpatrickHarry KyriakodisElizabeth LaybergerElizabeth MainSherri Meade

Ross MitchellSue MooreGlenavie nortonChristopher PlantVanaja V. RagavanJeanne RuddyKim SajetEllen Beth SiegelVicki SquireAndre C. StephanoConstantine and Jan StephanoThomas TaggartSenator Constance WilliamsBarbara zalkind