Off the Wall Gallery at Dirty Frank's

STILL MOURNING A HERO: It’s the second Tuesday in October guess we should have posted this eight days ago (if we had faith left in SCOTUS) and our feelings of deepest sadness at the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg have not subsided. For us and most likely for you, they’ve just been intermingled with dread, given the current proceedings on Capitol Hill. But the highest court in the land turning red cannot sway us from the legacy of a Brooklynite who changed the course of ju...dicial history and history itself especially for the disenfranchised and powerless, those whose voices are muted and whose rights are endangered. NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD’s new gold icon series features, among 10 such works, a sterner visage from a great leader who stood for, and argued for, the full gamut of the human rights agenda. It’s almost as if she knows this agenda will be burned to the ground at every possible turn over the next decade or two.... NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD RBG hand-drawn illustration ink and paint on acid-free paper 125. framed multiple unique originals available

THE YEAR THAT CANCELED ON US: We’ve been promising an official posting for a while: yes, we have NO YEAR-ENDING JURIED EXHIBITION in 2020. It’s still worth sharing today, which would have marked our original deadline for submissions. And true to our dedicated community, in the past 24 hours, we have received a handful of entries from individuals who didn’t get word through the grapevine. We cannot wait to get back to this important part of our mission in 2021, and we fully expect to have two juried shows undoubtedly introducing us to many new artists, while reminding us of the abundant talent already present in our resilient community. Now, please do your part to get us there: wear your mask...and VOTE!

INTRODUCING OFFTHEWALLGALLERY.ORG: We have long considered creating a website that would add a digital platform to our shows, beyond Off the Wall's social media venues a way to take our popular printed programs online. Little did anyone suspect we’d be practically **shoved** into doing so by the requirements of re-opening Dirty Frank’s during COVID-19. While we can now allow a handful of customers to sit inside our front door during our 3-11 PM/WED-SUN business hours, every...one still must order at the back door, standing and milling about are not allowed, and no one can get anywhere near our new show, ART IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS. True to its name, the show is all about how we encounter and experience art right now. (In this sense, you might even say ATC, for short, boasts a truly immersive, interactive component!) It should come as no surprise then that we have officially launched offthewallgallery.org. Here you’ll find everything you would have normally found in the printed program: artist statements, images, titles, media, prices and where you can visit our artists online to see more of their work. Best of all, you have the option of purchasing online any piece from our show and having it either shipped to your home or ready for pickup at Dirty Frank’s. Yep, we've finally fully entered the 21st century! And what better artists to take us there than BOB GORCHOV and NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD. If we can credit a creative drive behind our move to a URL, uploading their 43 works as the first to be included in an online program was inspiration enough. Now, please VISIT OUR WEBSITE...and let’s get those analytics humming. Thank you in advance! See more

GOOD NEWS/EXPECTED NEWS: We have happily moved from one phenomenal marathon show right to the next. Coming out of MARY LIZ MEMORIAL MASTERS EXHIBITION 16, which enlivened our Wall from March to this month, we now embark upon ART IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS, set to elevate our sights until March 19, 2021. The inspiration comes thanks to the hand-drawn illustrations of NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD, tapping anew into icons and iconography, and the paintings of BOB GORCHOV, which never f...ail to intrigue, probe and spark our imagination. What we gain is a year of two of OFF THE WALL’s best shows ever! What we have sacrificed are important opportunities for others in our community to find their way to the Wall, including this year’s previously scheduled UNDER $100 juried exhibition. (We will post an official reminder tomorrow that the year-ending call for art is not going to happen.) But the most exciting news of all is that starting next Wednesday, September 30, this show’s official first day, we will be open to limited, spaced-out, shower-curtain-divided seating INSIDE. No, you can’t get near the art sorry but that’s why we're working on an online catalog! (probably coming the week of 10/5) and you still have to order outside at the back door, but we are ready for the change in seasons. Meanwhile, Bob and Natalie will be here to see us through fall, winter and to the doorstep of next spring! See more

ART IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS: That’s the theme of this pic, taken through our glassed DIRTY FRANK’S ordering window at the back door and together with the accoutrements of our new normal: bottles of hand sanitizer and a box of face masks showing two pieces we recently featured: JIM BIGLAN’s Enjoy Every Sandwich above LINDSEY WAVREK’s 100 Unsent Letters. AND it’s the title of our NEXT SHOW, coming soon, which will shine our spotlight on two of the most popular artist...s in our community: NATALIE HOPE MCDONALD and BOB GORCHOV. While you will not be able to come inside to see the work, it will again be visible from afar (and through this window) **and** we are working on making our printed catalog available ONLINE...for the first time! Sadly though, the art of our MARY LIZ FELLOWS (also including CAITLIN T. MCCORMACK and CARLA LIGUORI) part of the MARY LIZ MEMORIAL MASTERS EXHIBITION 16 (MLMME16), up since March 15 (!!) will be coming down THIS SATURDAY. So while your vantage point may not be optimal, to say the least, please stop by anytime tonight (until 1...YES, we’ve extended ONE HOUR!) ) or tomorrow and Friday, 3-11 PM, and check out the work of the longest running show in our history before it ends! See more

STICK-TO-ITIVENESS: Peering through the window where you can now order drinks every Wednesday through Sunday, 3-10 PM, to imbibe at our outdoor cafe, a lot comes into view. Much of the artwork from the 16th Annual MARY LIZ MEMORIAL MASTERS EXHIBITION extended through September 11 is in your line of sight, while our Dirty Frank’s interior remains under construction. Also easy to spot is the creative flair of co-owner and curator JODY SWEITZER, who has completely reimagined... our bartop, now richly adorned with the faces of hundreds of Frank’s regulars (and Off the Wall artists) from over the decades. A not-too-pleasant sideline of this particular renovation was the removal (by Jody’s hand) of countless wads of chewing gum from the underside of the bar. But rather than ponder the yuckiness, we’re reminded of a unique assemblage by current Mary Liz Fellow JIM BIGLAN, displayed in our 3D case six summers ago. This piece, made from 100 pieces of (used) gum and entitled Saliva, is the first of these images; the second is what you might have seen had you looked beneath our bar a few weeks ago. Did Jim’s creative...well, gumption...presage the future? That’s for you to chew on! See more

MEET US FOR A DRINK!: Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, we’re asking you to walk into ours. Well, not walk in...NOT YET. But do join us Wednesday afternoon or evening for a refreshing beverage on, shall we say, our terrace. You can probably choose between the Pine Street patio or the 13th Street veranda. Alas, this means OFF THE WALL and the 16th Annual MARY LIZ MEMORIAL MASTERS EXHIBITION featuring Jim Biglan, Carla Liguori, Caitlin T. McCormack and Lindsey Wavrek are still off limits. But you’ll be among friends, including many art lovers, and we shall count the days until we can gather (masked and six feet apart) inside and, at last, in front of the artwork.

MORE FIREWORKS STILL: Although it’s quite on the late side of the Fourth of July, we refuse to go to bed until we release, per tradition, our CALL FOR ENTRIES for the 16th Annual Juried Exhibition, which will stay open fo your artwork through Thursday, October 8. (And fear not, if you don't turn to your Google calendar right now...there will be reminders forthcoming once our day-to-day lives, probably masked, return to some semblance of normalcy.) The headline is that we are ...returning to our traditional UNDER $100 theme, which has set records for engagement and sales over the past few years. What could be more appropriate, given the vicissitudes of life since the pandemic hit in March? Once again, there is NO ENTRY FEE. In deference to the economic impact of COVID-19, our hanging fee assessed only on accepted pieces has been HALVED to $5 per work. And consequently our prize money is reduced to $400 (instead of the usual $500-600). No, we don’t expect to fit 80 works on our Wall, but we need to keep up our end of the bargain. We look forward to your entries and to a hanging date (11/7) and Opening Reception (11/15) that will follow closely on the heels of a history-making Election Day. Please enter this contest...and then exercise your sacred right to vote on November 3rd, by mail or in the booth. Heck, it’s exactly what those fireworks were all about! See more

A CALL TO ALL: This Saturday the Fourth of July, as is our custom we will announce our Call for Entries for OFF THE WALL’s 16th Annual Juried Exhibition. (Given our shared economic situation and the likelihood of curtailed foot traffic, some of you may have a strong inkling of what very popular theme we will again be unveiling.) But that deadline won’s arrive until October 8. On the other hand, precious time is ticking away to get in your submissions for PHILLY RISING, an... exciting virtual mural project to connect and represent people across Philadelphia from our friends at MURAL ARTS PHILADELPHIA. Jane Golden & Co. need your submissions actual photos or images of any creation of yours...a painting, a poem, a sculpture BEFORE SATURDAY via their website (https://www.muralarts.org/artworks/phillyrising/). After all, this public art event, which pastiches our images on top of a vibrant Nile Livingston artwork, is part of WAWA WELCOME AMERICA, the all-virtual edition of our city’s annual tradition. So what are you waiting for?!? See more