On one of many busiest avenues in West Philly, at 4522 Baltimore Avenue, there’s a brown door with the quantity 34 above it.
While you open it and climb a tall flight of stairs, you’ll end up on a vibrant, open ground — with a spacious lounge space on the left and a number of rooms on the suitable, providing calm and quiet in the course of a full of life, generally noisy avenue.
That is Studio 34, a welcoming middle for wellness and group.
In the event you head up these stairs any day in April or Could this spring, previous flyers promoting new yoga lessons, meditation circles and craft nights, the very first thing you’ll see is a brand new exhibition by Lebanese multidisciplinary artist Tracy Chahwan.
This marks Chahwan’s first solo present — up via the tip of Could — titled “Alien of Extraordinary Talents,” which brings collectively over a decade of her work in numerous mediums, resembling posters, textiles and comics. The exhibition traces her journey from designing posters for Beirut’s music scene in her nation of origin to arriving in Philadelphia on the top of the pandemic.
In Lebanon, Chahwan collaborated with the famend Samandal and Zeez comics collectives, publishing experimental comics and anthologies. Though she had deliberate to maneuver to France to proceed her profession, a visit to the U.S. in March 2020 — to go to her now husband — left her stranded in Philly as international lockdowns started.
What was meant to be a brief go to changed into an extended keep, in a rustic and metropolis she hadn’t anticipated to reside in, whereas her dwelling nation was nonetheless reeling from the 2019 protests.
“I had this life plan to go to France as a result of I obtained an artwork residency there,” Chahwan mentioned. “I came visiting after which COVID occurred, and all the pieces obtained cancelled … On this continent, there may be this relationship with the U.S. that it’s the place you go to make more cash or have a greater future. For us, within the Center East, normally everybody goes to Europe, in order that’s why I at all times thought I might find yourself in Europe somewhat than the U.S.”
Touchdown in Philly meant greater than a change of tackle. It meant adjusting to a special tradition, a brand new tempo of life and a brand new approach of connecting with different artists.
“It’s been 5 years. It took me some time to make my very own connections,” Chahwan mentioned. “Now I prefer it as a result of, in comparison with different cities, there may be extra of a group environment [in Philadelphia]. However it’s a must to make stuff occur loads by yourself. It’s not like in New York, the place there’s a ton of stuff on a regular basis. Right here there’s a lot taking place, however it’s extra underground, actually underground. It’s onerous to determine it out.”
Within the exhibit, you may really feel how Chahwan processes that cultural shock — along with her signature daring, darkish strains, vibrant colours and sharp, darkish humorousness. The piece selling the present, for instance, displays on what the U.S. seemed like in 2020, the 12 months she arrived.
“It’s very cartoonish and exaggerated, however I used to be out to go scan my drawing [for a commission project] after which I see all of the damaged store home windows and it wasn’t as psychotic as this,” she mentioned. “I drew a humorous factor the place I’m right here ready for my inexperienced card, and the riots [the George Floyd protests] jogged my memory of the riots in Lebanon earlier than I left. So, I simply thought it was humorous that I’m in the course of this stuff all over the place I’m going.”
The title of the exhibition is a nod to the nonimmigrant O-1 visa for “People with Extraordinary Capability or Achievement,” one which many artists like Chahwan typically pursue, although she herself doesn’t maintain it. The visa utility course of calls for not solely proving your expertise, but additionally navigating excessive prices and forms.
“I feel it’s a really humorous title. ‘Alien’ is already sort of a dehumanizing phrase, however if you add ‘extraordinary’ subsequent to it … I simply thought it was good for a comic book e book title,” she mentioned. A 12 months in the past, Chahwan took half in a collective comedian sequence centered across the theme of disaster. For it, she created a brief comedian about her arrival within the U.S. and the cultural conflict she skilled, which she titled “Alien of Catastrophic Talents.” The piece is included within the present exhibition.
Wanting again on the life she began on one other continent, now snarled with this nation, has additionally given Chahwan house to mirror on her inventive path. “It was very intense. I went in my previous laptop computer! However I feel it’s good to revisit and see what you’ve achieved, the place you are actually, how your type developed,” she mentioned.
As she gave us a tour of the exhibit this week, Chahwan identified a number of the variations in her earlier work. “After I was a lot youthful, I used so as to add so many extra particulars and hatching,” she mentioned. “And now, I simply can’t be bothered.”
In some ways, Chahwan’s story is one acquainted to many immigrants: it takes time to seek out your house in a brand new nation and a brand new metropolis. For now, that place is Philadelphia — extra particularly, West Philly, the neighborhood she landed in again in 2020 and the place she nonetheless lives at the moment.
“Morgan [Andrews], the supervisor of the place, he reached out as a result of he noticed a poster I did for the Peoplehood parade,” Chahwan mentioned. “He knew individuals at Fireball Printing, they usually determined to print my posters without cost as a donation. That was very nice as a result of I had this imaginative and prescient to have the large wall, however I used to be like ‘It’s going to price me $1,000.’ ”
Studio 34 takes delight in being an area the place each Philly-based and worldwide artists like Chahwan can come collectively to share, join and create.
A West Philly Therapeutic Hub
Stephen Fisher, Angela Norris and James Peniston based Studio 34 in 2008. Other than a quick pause between 2020 and late 2021, through the top of the pandemic, the house has remained an energetic hub in West Philly — providing yoga lessons, workshops, arts and cultural actions, and gathering circles, all centered round one concept: wellness.
“The thought of wellness and therapeutic isn’t just going to the physician. While you’re searching for different modalities of therapeutic, certain, yoga is a factor. We host wellness suppliers like therapeutic massage and discuss remedy and acupuncture, however the arts are additionally a therapeutic modality. We hearken to music or go to the theater, or we have a look at work to make sense of the world, whether or not that’s on an emotional, political or mental stage,” mentioned Andrews.
Andrews is the artwork curator behind Studio 34’s arts program, 34 Arts. He’s been concerned with the studio since its first 12 months — first as a scholar, then as a theater trainer, performer and yoga teacher, incomes his certification proper right here on the studio.
He sees wellness and therapeutic not simply as routine care or problem-solving, however as creating house for joyful, enriching experiences that nourish individuals emotionally and spiritually. If our physique was a home, he suggests as a metaphor, it wouldn’t simply want somebody to take out the trash each week or repair a leaky roof. “There’s a 3rd sort of upkeep, which is like, wouldn’t it’s good if I had a sizzling tub? It could be very nice to have a roof deck or plant a tree that has lovely flowers on it within the entrance yard,” he mentioned. “It’s additionally the issues that give us pleasure.”
Past its layered imaginative and prescient of wellness, what makes this house particular is its deliberately accessible pricing. “Studio 34 is an open, welcoming house, the place you may come and connect with group, the place price isn’t a barrier,” mentioned JJ Tiziou, an artist, therapeutic massage therapist and organizer of Stroll Round Philadelphia. He’s additionally a block captain in Spruce Hill, the neighborhood the place the studio is positioned.
“There’s a number of yoga studios that may lease you a mat, promote you a water bottle and cost you twice as a lot for a category. The place Studio 34 can have an reasonably priced price and a sliding scale membership charge and a work-trade choice, they usually’re going to mortgage you all their mats without cost, after which they’re going to allow you to fill your bottle from the water dispenser and give you a free cup of tea. And in reality, invite you to come back up into that lounge and have a free cup of tea and browse your e book on their sofa of their lovely, light-filled house with out giving them any cash,” he mentioned. “That is sort of a actual group service.”
That very same philosophy extends to the humanities. The studio presents open, free meetups within the lounge, drawing circles and poetry teams. “And you may pay one thing, or you may pay nothing. After which all our arts occasions are also ‘pay what you may.’” Andrews mentioned. “We’d by no means flip anybody away for an arts occasion.”
Andrews’ job is demanding. “I get so many emails on daily basis and it’s a number of work simply ensuring to answer everybody. Generally I’m having to say ‘no’ to individuals. Our calendar is full via Could and I’m beginning to e book the Fringe Competition in September,” he mentioned.
The West Philly group advantages from this regular movement of artists. Past Chahwan’s exhibit, latest months have featured the famend performer Jungwoong Kim, who’s presently in residence providing performances and workshops for the group. There’s additionally the present Philadelphia Youth Poet Laureate, Malaya Ulan, who has already held two performances on the studio as a part of Philly Theatre Week and can lead poetry workshops twice a month on Wednesday evenings.
A Neighborhood’s Third Area
The regular presence of Studio 34 within the neighborhood has sparked conversations in regards to the significance of third areas.
“What I’m listening to from individuals, as a result of they inform me instantly, is, ‘That is actually a 3rd house that you just’ve created,’ ” mentioned Andrews.
“The primary house is your own home. It’s the place you reside. It’s the place you return to, the place you sleep. It’s in all probability the place you eat most of your meals. It’s the place it’s a must to keep.
“Then, your second place is your workplace. It’s the place the place it’s a must to go. Perhaps you wish to, possibly you don’t wish to, however it’s the place the place you interact in commerce, a approach that you just maintain what you may keep …
“However then a 3rd house is neither of these issues. It’s the place to be that’s further, that sustains you in one other approach, that may be simply as necessary,” he defined.
Tiziou additionally refers to Studio 34 as a 3rd house, and emphasised its significance.
“We want areas for social companies, and we want house for group connection. We want a spot to have a gathering, to get out of the home and never be a business house the place it’s a must to pay cash. A espresso store is one factor, however you shouldn’t must spend cash, as a result of then not everybody will be a part of it after which we’re nonetheless doing extra class divides.”
At Studio 34, a various group of individuals gathers each week and everybody has their very own hope for what the house will be. Andrews invitations individuals to maintain coming again.
“I’m at all times making an attempt to get extra individuals to come back. We’re known as Studio 34 as a result of we’re named for the 34 trolley,” he mentioned. “The thought of that and the individuals [who] created Studio 34 was, ‘Come, take the 34 trolley right down to our house.’ ”
And for some — like Tiziou — this sort of place opens to a bigger invitation. “I feel that each neighborhood ought to have a spot like Studio 34,” he mentioned. “If there’s a takeaway on your readers, it’s not ‘Let’s all go to Studio 34!’ if we reside on the far facet of city. It’s ‘How can we make an area like this proper the place we’re at?’ ”
- Studio 34 is positioned at 4522 Baltimore Avenue. It’s normally open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Accessibility observe: The doorway entails a steep flight of stairs and isn’t wheelchair accessible.)
- Posters from Tracy Chahwan’s exhibit can be found for buy. To inquire or place an order, e mail her at chahwanov@gmail.com
- On Could 1, Studio 34 will launch a fundraising marketing campaign. Particulars shall be shared quickly on their web site.