The Birthplace of the Barnes Collection?

modern photo by Peter Woodall | archival photo courtesy of the Athenaeum of Philadelphia

In partnership with Hidden City, Plain Sights highlights historic buildings with compelling stories hiding in our midst.

This building at 40th and Filbert Streets in West Philadelphia is where Dr. Albert Barnes manufactured the wildly successful (read: lucrative) antiseptic Argyrol. It is also where he hung his paintings, which would become part of the regular seminars Barnes held for his employees on his theories of art and learning. For more on this story, visit Hidden City Daily, hiddencityphila.org.

National recognition for local "Young Food Leader"

 

Brianna Almaguer Sandoval at the National Resources Defense Council's Growing Green Award ceremony - photo by Orange PhotographyBrianna Almaguer Sandoval of The Food Trust’s Healthy Corner Store Initiative, was one of just four winners of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Growing Green Award. Almaguer Sandoval was chosen from among 200 candidates working in the field of sustainable food across the nation.

The 2013 Growing Green panel of judges, which included food scene heavyweights such as Michael Anthony (Executive Chef at Gramercy Tavern) and Nell Newman (Newman’s Organics), named Brianna as the winner of the “Young Food Leader” category for her work helping to bring healthier food options to over 680 corner stores in the Philadelphia region. She received the award on April 4 at the 2013 Growing Green Awards gala in San Francisco.

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A cleanup day to fit every schedule with Schuylkill Scrub

Throughout April and May, the Schuylkill Scrub will clean miles of road, stream and parkland to prevent trash from making its way into our drinking water sources and keep our land clean, litter-free and beautiful.

Earth Day only comes once a year. But for Pennsylvania residents who can’t attend a local cleanup event this Saturday, a group of activists are offering two months’ worth of opportunities to help beautify and purify the Schuylkill River Watershed.

From April 1 to May 31, any group wishing to organize a cleanup can register with the Schuylkill Scrub at SchuylkillScrub.org. Those registered can receive free gloves, trash bags and safety vests, as well as free garbage disposal at participating landfills during Pick It Up PA Days. Registered groups will also be eligible to win a free rain barrel or $100 toward the purchase of native plants.

All cleanup efforts will automatically be registered with both Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and Keep America Beautiful, adding to data collected by environmental leaders nationwide. The benefits of this partnership, says Schuylkill Action Network Coordinator Tom Davidock, are twofold: “It recognizes the wonderful work that people have already done, and it encourages new people to organize their own projects.”

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Small Businesses Meet a Big Idea: Co-working artisans share resources, experience and a vision of community

story by Emily Teel | photos by Albert Yee. Oley Valley Mushrooms is located just minutes from the Artisan Exchange and on Saturdays sets up shop at the indoor Artisan Market"She salvaged my sorbets,” says Marianne Cozzolino, owner of Jenny and Frank’s Artisan Gelato. “I was having texture problems and she said, ‘Why don’t you get a refractometer?’” Cozzolino’s savior, Brûlée Bakery owner Lila Colello, wasn’t lending her expertise as a consultant; she was just being a good neighbor. Independently, Colello and Cozzolino roll croissants and freeze sorbetto, but instead of taking turns in a rented commercial kitchen, they simultaneously work on their own equipment as members of a new entrepreneurial food community called the Artisan Exchange.

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Celebrate near completion of the Big Green Block by volunteering this weekend

Over the past four years, Sustainable 19125 has scored a series of eco-forward victories for the Kensington, Fishtown and Port Richmond communities. Founded in 2009 by the New Kensington Community Development Corporation (NKCDC), Sustainable 19125 is a coalition of residents, businesses, and institutional partners with the collective goal to create a more sustainable, safe and friendly neighborhood.

When NKCDC held a kick-off party for the group in January 2009, they discovered two things: one, that community members and local businesses were passionate about greening their neighborhood, and two, that vacant land could be an asset, not an eyesore. The result was the Big Green Block, a $44 million project with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Philadelphia Water Department to create a green infrastructure master plan for 20 acres between Frankford Avenue and Front, Norris and Palmer Streets. The blocks include the new LEED Platinum certified Kensington Creative and Performing Arts High School (the first public school in the U.S. to have this certification).

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