October 21-23: see here., tour gardens, plant orchards, curated street art, talk cities in image/imagination

here. @ Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts

Friday, October 21 opening, 6:30-8:30pm, PAFA, 128 N. Broad Street. PAFA’s fall exhibition, here., highlights how the power of place comes into play in the work of 25 artists from cities all over the country, including Philadelphia. The exhibit will run from October 22-December 31. For a full list of artists, look at PAFA’s website. $10 for opening reception, buy advance tickets online; $15 general admission.

West Philadelphia Garden Tour

Saturday, October 22, Noon-5pm. Starts at Clark Park ( 43rd and Baltimore). Bike and walk through 18 urban gardens in West Philly with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and the Franklin Institute. The tour is meant to stimulate a conversation about food systems and sustainability in anticipation of National Food Day (Monday, October 24), and is part of a larger project called the Climate & Urban Systems Partnership (CUSP) geared at climate change education.

Orchard Day

Saturday, October 22. The Philadelphia Orchard Project is hosting its first Orchard Day with eight events throughout the city: ranging from plantings, tastings, tours and workshops. Check the POP website to see where volunteers are needed and get more information on Orchard Day events.

Streets Dept Presents @ PhilaMOCA

Saturday, October 22, 7-11pm. PhilaMOCA, 531 N 12th Street at Spring Garden. Streets Dept is a blog documenting street art in Philly, and is curating a one-night show of some of favorite artists including: Joe Boruchow, Kristin Smith, Nom Now, Jessie Hemmons (Ishknits), Get Up, Amber Lynn (Project Gastric), and a new mural from Yis Goodwin (NoseGo).  Free posters for the first to arrive from Joe Boruchow.

Symposium: Imaging and Imagining Our Cities

Sunday, October 23, 3pm-5pm. The Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad Street. As part of DesignPhiladelphia, the Gershman Y is hosting a symposium to examine how we image and imagine our cities and what our documentation and shaping of our cities means for urban futures. Panelists include Elijah Anderson, author and urbanist; Stephen Perloff and Matthew Christopher Murray of abandonedamerica.us. The symposium is held in conjunction with the Open Lens Gallery exhibition, Before and After Utopia: Images of Abandonment, Absence, and Aspiration. Free.