MUSEUM / WATERFRONT
At the Seaport: read a vessel as a working system
A waterfront visit can connect an object, a human task and the river beyond the window.
Explore →MUSEUMS / PERFORMANCE / IDEAS
More ways into Old City.
Go beyond the gallery list: museums, performance planning, recovered programmes and useful ways to read a neighbourhood.
MUSEUM / CIVIC IDEAS
National Liberty Museum: an object, a value, a question
Look at how an exhibition turns an idea into something you can see and discuss.
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MUSEUM / EVIDENCE
American Philosophical Society: how to read an exhibition document
A document has a maker, a purpose and a point of view. Start with those three things.
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MUSEUM / EVERYDAY LIFE
Elfreth’s Alley: a museum on a street where people live
Read a streetscape closely while respecting the boundary between public space and a private home.
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MUSEUM / INTERPRETATION
National Constitution Center: turn an exhibit into a better question
A useful civic visit distinguishes a constitutional text, its interpretation and a question for discussion.
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MUSEUM / MATERIALS
Science History Institute: follow the life of a material
Connect a material’s properties to its use, its production and the people involved.
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PERFORMANCE / PLANNING
Arden Theatre: fit a performance into an Old City visit
A performance has a fixed start. Build the rest of your evening around it.
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PERFORMANCE / FORMAT
A Fringe visit: choose the event before choosing the route
Different performance formats need different plans. Read the event page first.
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MATERIAL / GLASS
Glass and light: a looking exercise from Hot Soup’s programme
Transparency is only one part of a glass object. Follow an edge, a reflection and a join.
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NEIGHBOURHOOD / LEARNING
Four materials, four ways to learn: Family Day on 6 March 2004
A recovered programme shows how clay, masks, glass and puppets could become a family arts visit.
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EXHIBITION / COLLABORATION
Philly vs NYC at 222gallery: twelve shared canvases
The 2003 exhibition used a two-city title for a collaborative idea, not a contest.
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RESEARCH / CITY LIFE
Arts in Place: read Old City as a neighbourhood, not just a list
A 2005 study connects artistic spaces, collective promotion and the way people use a district.
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EXHIBITION / DESIGN
Graphic history at 222gallery: how to read music through design
A 2002 notice points to an exhibition at the meeting of graphics, music and everyday culture.
Explore →READ THE RECORD / USE THE IDEA
Useful ideas
from the documents.
RESEARCH / PRACTICE
Public art and public records: read the decision, not just the debate
A practical method for following a cultural place through an agenda, a hearing and a recorded vote.
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Read an arts report without turning attendance into people
Keep the geography, sample, year and unit attached to every cultural statistic.
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Read a stagebill: the people and decisions behind a performance
Follow the credits from a written work to an adaptation, a production and the technical choices you can notice.
Explore →RESEARCH / PRACTICE
From a cultural plan to one useful local action
Translate a big discussion about Philadelphia’s creative future into a small, accountable project brief.
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