Vintage Indie Hot Spot – Mew Gallery Philadelphia PA
Welcome to another "Vintage Indie" Hot Spot. Not necessarily vintage, but completely indie! We hope you enjoy the tour and interview with Mew Gallery from Philadelphia PA.
(Click on photos to enlarge)
(photo left, storefront: front entrance of Mew Gallery! featuring "meat" prints by Mike Geno)
When did you open Mew Gallery?
We opened our doors October 2006.
(photo left,storelength: shot from front of store looking back (wall decals to the right by The Surface Store)
What kind of store is Mew Gallery?
Mew
Gallery is many things. is a gallery, a boutique, a community center.
in the past it’s been a workshop haven, an event location. currently
it’s host to a Philly Fringe Fest performance!
We’re mainly a gallery and boutique that houses the works of (mainly)
local artists and artisans. everything is hand-crafted by unique
individuals, and most items are completely one-of-a-kind. artists
either sell their wares on consignment or rent out a little spot in the
store and sell them that way.
(photo left, country bath: soap and body cream by Country Bath by Lue, and Scents
& Senses. candles by Wix Wax, wall art by Nicole Rae Styer, Alyssa
Grenning, Corinda Cook, & Christine Jones, photo right,curiousbird: baby tees & onesies by Curious Bird, Kinked Works,
& Rebelle Couture, sock doggie by Tiny Airplanes, horsey and baby
blocks by Goo Goo Designs, dollie pillows by Lucy’s Vintage, &
Eclectic Being Dolls by the Studio at Crow Haven Farm.)
What is your shop address?
906 Christian Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147
(photo left, hybird: various hand-made and vintage finds by Hybird)
What are your hours?
our normal store hours are:
Tues-Thurs 11ish(a)-6:30ish(p)
Fri: 11ish(a)-7ish(p)
Sat: 10ish(a)-7:30ish(p)
Sun: 10ish(a)-4ish(p)
Mon: CLOSED
When we have gallery openings (always a Saturday)- we are open until 9pm.
(photo left, tshirts: t-shirt display featuring designs by John Freeborn, Tymbal Art, Ken B. Miller, Rebelle Couture, Anoki Casey)
Do you hold any special events at your store?
As I started to mention above, we do hold different events.
Every 6 weeks we have gallery openings for the rotating exhibits that
we host. these are always on a Saturday evening from 5-9pm.
We hold monthly (3rd Friday) Philly Etsy Street Team
Meetings. We also hold a monthly event hosted by the Philly Etsy Street
Team called "Craftadelphia" that is like an indoor craft fair or trunk
show where Philly Etsy crafters sell their wares directly to the
customer- these events are always a lot of fun and bring the community
together in an intimate setting. We are currently hosting the
performance of "Gas" written by Georg Kaiser, directed by Thomas
Choinacky and performed by Anthology Project- a Philly Fringe Fest
event.
visit www.livearts-fringe.org and www.anthologyproject.org for more info.
In
the past we’ve also held workshops including our "Craft Night" which is
a crafting free-for-all, Buttons and Dice- a button-making, dice
rolling event, and more conventional type workshops including gouache
painting techniques, print-making, and a children art workshop.
(left ilikeittoo: various hand-made items(including the popular keyboard pouches) by I Like It Too Too,right,jimhorwat: various prints and paintings by Jim Horwat)
Is shopping indie and small businesses important to you? If so, why?
YES!
it’s important to support independently owned and small businesses.
being that we’re so immersed in it ourselves, we know how hard it is to
start up and maintain a business, so it’s really nice when people are
out there supporting each other. It’s really important for the economy
of the community to have these businesses too- and it makes the
community a more interesting place to live and hang out in. who wants
to be limited to shopping at Target and Wal-Mart?
We’re really just two girls who had a dream of making a
place like this happen- we were bored of our office jobs and through
doing our own artwork, were inspired and wanted to bring local artists
an opportunity and means for getting their work out there while
bettering the community and creating an accessible outlet for all of
this to happen. Bringing the arts to the consumer and the consumer into
the world of the artist- completing the circle in a sense.
Don’t live near Philadelphia PA? Visit Mew Gallery online!
(photo left,marleyandme: various jewelry, baby onesies and t-shirts, painted letters, by Marley and Me.)