2024
SmallWorks: Annual Open Call
February 17th - April 30th, 2023
We had a blast at Smallworks 2024!! Thank you to our participating artists!
Best in Show
Congratulations to Callie Avellino for winning Best in Show with her piece “Lemon Zest”
2023
William Whiting - Paris with Ennui
May 13th - September 15th, 2023
"Paris with Ennui" presented a captivating collection of new works by renowned Philadelphia artist Bill Whiting, painted amidst the vibrant atmosphere of Paris.
SmallWorks: Annual Open Call
February 18th - April 22nd, 2023
Smallworks 2023 was a success as always!! Thank you to our participating artists:
Violet Alexandre, Shawn Beeks, Matthew Beniamino, Jordan Cameron, Alisa Dietz, Jennifer Eubanks, Rudy Gerson, Sue Gettlin, Barbara Goldenberg, Katharine Goodall, Kylie P. Grant, Max Keller, Mae Krasniewicz, Tom McGinley, Casey Meyers, Joseph Opshinsky, Bailey Roper, Tom Roach, Marsha Reid, Judith Schermer, Luvleen Singh, Ingrid Spangler, Nell Stifel, Xavier Stokes, Zayden Stokes, Joe Winkler, and Ron York.
Click here for more information on participating in our next open call!
2020
William Whiting - Cityscapes: Night & Day
June 14th - August 27th, 2020
Long-time Philadelphia artist Bill Whiting is a vision-impaired artist, designer, and craftsman who produces intricately detailed artwork in spite of the challenges he faces with his eyesight. Bill has designed and executed large-scale murals for several hospitals, including Shriners Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, which landed him an appearance on the TODAY Show.
Bill has illustrated a children’s book, Wings of Love, (Green Tiger Press / Simon & Schuster) and his artwork has appeared in a variety of publications, including the New York Times and Architectural Digest.
Bill is best known for his presentation portraits of notable Philadelphians, many of which hang in historic buildings throughout the city, including America’s first hospital, Pennsylvania Hospital.
Big Rube’s Avant-Garde Photo Exhibition
February 22nd - March 30th, 2020
More info on his Instagram page!
SmallWorks: Annual Open Call
December 7th, 2019 - February 14th, 2020
2019
Shawn Beeks - Cat News: Domestic Terror
October 12th - November 27th, 2019
Created by the movement of a medium with hands or machine, art can be a visual voice used to shout the unspeakable or whisper the unforgiving truth. This physical act of manipulation can disarm an audience of their fears, anger and guilt with humor and empathy to see things in a new way. This is not a trick, but the definition of a $70,000 artist statement.
Shawn Beeks received his M.F.A. from UArts using a fine art approach to illustrate themes of human behavior with an unconventional sense of humor. Working in a variety of fields including skateboarding, fine art galleries and institutions, as well as social services and education, Shawn has always found the time to create work drawing attention to the marginalized, exploited, and sometimes plain silly.
Mark Price: Imageability
July 27th - September 7th, 2019
“At every instant, there is more than the eye can see…” *
How one may image today, taking in all that is both in front and behind the eyes, is akin to the process which Kevin Lynch describes as “imageability” in his 1960 book on architecture and urban planning The Image of the City. He writes of a process referred to as “imageability” that in the context of traversing and experiencing cities one may reach an internalized image that understands vast and shifting complex space. These spaces are not immediately understandable yet may be over time as they expand out past what our senses experience.
*Kevin Lynch, The Image Of The City, The M.I.T. Press: Cambridge, 1960
Benjamin Passione: Works on Paper
April 6th - May 30th, 2019
My pictures are the result of study and labor with the attachment of medium. The paintings are the curious example of an attempt at sincerity, a rendered quality describing a condition. While these sources may be awkward, with time the pictures maybe seen as varying levels of a realization. In the search of the present, many emotions will result within the product. And although the process to capture the feeling is inadequate, the attempt remains.
Black Ink: Lukewarm Leftovers
January 19th - March 23rd, 2019
The hardest things to describe with words are the emotional states we all experience throughout our lives. We are curious about all the other living things on this planet, and what their perspectives could be. We like to think of ourselves as translators for that part of the world that can be felt, but not seen. When we create art, curiosity pushes us to try new things. We work with acrylics, enamel, spray paint, collage, found objects, watercolors, pen, and wax pencil to create layered paintings that evoke curiosity in the viewer.
Black Ink is the partnership between Philly-based artists Jon and David swartz. The name “Black Ink” was thought up to pay homage to the family name Swartz. The name can be traced back to German roots, and when translated it means “black.” Black Ink is the Swartz brothers' work incorporated into a whole.
The brothers have always been drawing and painting. Both went to the Creative and Performing Arts high school in Philadelphia, and went on to graduate from Tyler School of Art with degrees in Graphic Design. After college they began to sell their work at music and art festivals across the country, turning their love for art, music, and travel into a career.
SmallWorks: Annual Open Call
December 1st, 2018 - january 15th, 2019
2018
Alexis Thompson: The End
September 8th - November 25th, 2018
Julia Clift: Real Woman
April 14th - May 28th, 2018
Over five years in the making, Julia Clift's Woman Drawings strive toward an honest and inclusive representation of women today. In the portraits, diverse subjects confront the viewer naked and self-possessed, their bodies honored by Clift's painstaking process of pencil drawing.The series challenges conventional definitions of womanhood and raises questions about our mainstream visual culture.
Julia Clift’s paintings and drawings have been exhibited in numerous locations, including Arnot Art Museum, Gross McCleaf Gallery, and Fleisher Art Memorial, and are held in the permanent collection of Wythe Hotel (Brooklyn, NY). In 2016, she received a Barbara Deming Memorial Fund Grant for her Woman Drawings series. Julia is an Adjunct Professor at Maryland Institute College of Art. Her essays and exhibition reviews can be found in Hyperallergic, Title Magazine, and The Huffington Post.
James Singewald: Old Town, East Baltimore
March 3rd - April 9th, 2018
For the past ten years James Singewald has been living and working in Baltimore, MD. This body of work and self published book titled Old Town, East Baltimore focuses on the failed urban renewal project in East Baltimore known as Old Town Mall, formerly Gay Street, now a desolate two block pedestrian mall just east of the downtown area. James spent years studying the city’s history and speaking with life-long residents and business owners, getting a sense of what the mall used to be and the current resident's hopes for its future. His work questions why so much of the neighborhood is in poor condition and explores possibilities for it's improvement. James has photographed each of the buildings on the mall, creating a historical document of a neighborhood left to ruin.
SmallWorks: Annual open Call
December 9th, 2017 - february 15th, 2018
2017
William Thomas Whiting: Philadelphia Cityscapes
October 7th - December 6th 2017
Aquemini Dreams is the artistic collaboration of husband and wife team, Raeann and Kaheem Thomas. Their work is inspired by Cult Films, Classic movie posters, Art Nouveau and Graffiti to create a Film Noir style soaked in 90's graphic design. Their process is guided by emotions; playing off each other's strengths, taking guidance from both their lives, past and present.
www.aqueminidreams.wixsite.com
Jombi Supastar: Jombi
April 1st - may 20th, 2017
Using paint and collage Jombi’s work brings to light a world peopled by mythic, creatures, ecstatic monsters and demonic angels. His scenes tell a story of a complicated universe that exists in a state of constant creation; each garden of cosmic delights offers new surprises upon viewing. These mythic narratives tell a familiar story with no specific end, and no moral or judgment. Jombi’s work investigates the subconscious, the realms of the nether world and nature spirits. He thinks of his works as “an expression of the multi-dimensionality of perception, and the many layered nature of my spirituality and sexuality.” These works are used as a method to ground the artist, through his love of painting, and to share that joy with viewers. They encourage us to experience the world with wonder.
His work uses play to delight with modernist forms and intense color. He employs the use of objects from the everyday, brightly colored packaging and glittery trinkets, which both ground the work and give it levity. Inspired at a young age by the works of Matisse, and later by Bosch, Blake, Haring, and Basquait; Jombi, a self-taught artist, makes dense works that combine styles informed by a history of artful pranksters. He has insisted that experiencing the works of these artists in person inspired and informs his process, to receive the artworks energy in person. That energy is both amplified and renewed in his spectacular collages.
2014
II WAYS: New Works in Paper
Mark Price | Joseph Opshinsky
May - September 2014
Press Release: II WAYS at FrameWorks Studio & Gallery
Reviews: ArtBlog | Metro | Philly.com
Third Annual Small Works Exhibition
December 2014 - February 2015
2013
From Paradise to Pavement
September - November 2013
Second Annual Small Works Exhibition
December 2013 - February 2014
2012
Find Your Animal Spirit
August - December 2012
Think Small - First Annual Small Works Exhibition
December 2012 - February 2013