Portside’s Annual Art Festival To Span Two Days This Year

On Saturday, April 23 and Sunday, April 24, Portside Arts Center (2351 Lehigh Avenue) will be holding their 9th Annual Portside Community Arts Festival at Penn Treaty Park (1341 N Delaware Ave).

Attendees of the event can look forward to crafts for children and teens, face painting and a moon bounce. Crafts will also be sold by local vendors and food trucks will be available for some sustenance during the day.

“We wanted to have a family-picnic style day where people could come and hang out in the park, see the craft vendors and also get some food from the food trucks. We wanted them to be able to put a blanket out on the grass, relax and enjoy each other’s company,” said Jenna Wilchinsky, the assistant director of Portside Arts Center.

The 3rd Annual Philly Puff contest will take place on Saturday from 2-4 PM. The Philly Puff contest, which is sponsored by The Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, Dick Blick and the Resource Exchange, takes submissions of inflatable sculptures from any interested community members. Inflatable sculptures can be made of a variety of materials, like canvas or plastic, and its full form is taken when air is pumped into it.

All submissions will be judged by Darla Jackson, the founder of the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, and a surprise guest. The categories for the contest are Peoples’ Choice, Best in Show, Best in Motion, Best Craftsmanship, Best Use of Materials and a Young Artist award.

“We really wanted to engage local college students, local artists, families and really anybody to help to create and participate in this competition,” Wilchinsky said.

On Sunday, the Portside Arts Festival will also be holding their first Kan Jam Tournament. Each of the “kans” were decorated by kids from surrounding community schools to add an extra personal touch, like St. Laurentius School and Hackett Elementary School.

This is the first time the festival will span over two days. Wilchinsky said community interest has steadily increased and over 5,000 community members are expected to attend this year.

“I think it’s become so popular because it’s a great place for the community to come together and have fun,” Wilchinsky said. “There aren’t a lot of festivals in the city that aren’t just for kids. This festival is catered to families… We want families to come out and spend time together.”

The Portside Arts Center values community engagement as much as they encourage community engagement with the arts, especially for children.

“We believe art plays a big role in the academic success of a child’s life. When the center first opened, there was just nothing for the kids to do in the community,” Wilchinsky said.

Portside Arts Center provides the community with visual art, performance art and music programs for people of any age year-round, like an after-school arts program. To engage local artists, Portside Arts Center also offers a Young Artist Residency Program in which students volunteer once a week assisting teachers and then will be given a scholarship to attend one of their 6-week visual arts classes.

The price of the classes offered vary. To ensure local families with limited resources can also take part in Portside’s programs, an application to a scholarship fund is available for families.

Wilchinksy said the Portside Community Arts Festival is the biggest fundraising event of the year for the scholarship and necessary to ensure the children of the community receive the well-rounded education they deserve.

“It’s very important for kids to have that outlet of expression. Visual arts builds so many wonderful things for the children. It builds motor skills, their problem-solving skills, their vision-making skills. It gives them the freedom to create something and build on what they’re creating,” Wilchinsky said.