Percent for Art Program Unveils Suikang Zhao's Project at New Fire Station Tonight

The Percent for Art Program of the City's Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy invites you to join us tonight, January 8th at 11am for the dedication of Engine 38, the City's new Fire Station in the Tacony neighborhood, and the percent for art project by Suikang Zhao.

The multiple two and three-dimensional works represent and celebrate the history of the Philadelphia Fire Department, as well as the history of the Tacony neighborhood and the Disston Saw Works. Zhao worked with the community and the Fire Department to inform the content of this work. For the artist, it was important that the different bronze and stainless steel sculptures placed throughout the landscape are not in a museum setting, but are integrated into this everyday landscape, and will continue to surprise and inform park users.

For this Percent for Art opportunity, a regional call for artists was announced in December 2010. 6 semi-finalists were selected to present proposals. An independent jury, as well as members of the fire department and Tacony community, recommended Suikang Zhao's proposal for the new site.

Engine 38, Keystone Street and Magee Avenue
Tonight, January 8th, 11am

The Percent for Art Program of the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy commissions exceptional and enduring works of site-specific public art by renowned and emerging artists for City buildings. Philadelphia's public art collection is recognized as the largest and most remarkable in the world. Since 1959, more than 300 works of art have been commissioned through the City of Philadelphia's Percent for Art Ordinance. For additional information on Percent for Art commissions, contact Margot Berg, Public Art Director, or Dave Kyu, Percent for Art Project Manager, or visit http://creativephl.org.

Photos: Suikang Zhao, selected images from Taokonick, 2012. A series of two and three-dimensional objects in bronze and stainless steel, and recovered artifacts placed throughout the landscape to convey the rich and varied histories of Tacony, the Disston Saw Works and the Philadelphia Fire Department.

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