What's New
There's A Lot Happening in Our City
Barnes Foundation’s New Location to Open in 2012Construction is underway at the new downtown location on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway for the Barnes Foundation, the most comprehensive collection of Impressionist and Post Impressionist art in the world. The new structure will replicate the scale, proportion, and configuration of the original galleries in Merion, Pennsylvania and will include classrooms, a 150-seat café with a courtyard for outdoor dining, and a gift shop. With the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Barnes Foundation, the Rodin Museum, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts – all within walking distance of each other – the Benjamin Franklin Parkway will comprise one of the most comprehensive art collections in the world. (www.barnesfoundation.org)
Piazza at Schmidts, "the epicenter of the city's new nightlife, culture, and cool” (The Philadelphia Inquirer)
Mix and mingle with the locals at the Piazza at Schmidts in the city’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. The 2.7 square-meter, hand paved Italian-style courtyard, with its larger-than-life, high definition LED screen, serves as an outdoor social venue for festivals, concerts, dance performances, and live broadcasts of sporting events throughout the year. Surrounded by a seven-story luxury apartment and three buildings, the Piazza houses boutiques, art galleries, and a variety of restaurants. (www.atthepiazza.com)
www.TaxFreePhilly.com – Philadelphia’s Shopping website
With the U.S.A. still a great value for international travelers and no tax on clothing and shoes in Philadelphia (and the entire state of Pennsylvania), the Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau’s (PCVB) shopping website, www.taxfreephilly.com, is still THE place to go for the latest information on price comparisons for popular items, airline deals, and shopping promotions. The site also lists shopping travel packages with direct links to book a trip to Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, the “mural capital of the world” is continuing to add color throughout the city with a new 4.6-square meter mural, How Philly Moves. The enormous mural will grace the outside of the parking garages at Philadelphia International Airport and is scheduled for completion in June 2011. Designed by artist Jacques-Jean "JJ" Tiziou, the mural will be painted across the top decks of the airport parking garage and will honor Philadelphia's dance community through depictions of a diverse range of luminous dancing figures swirling against a black background. (www.muralarts.org)
New Site of the National Museum of American Jewish History
The first national museum devoted to American Jewry and the only museum dedicated to telling the story of Jewish participation in the growth and development of North and South America, will open a new 9.2-square-meter, five-story building directly across from the Liberty Bell, and just a few blocks from its original location (which is still open to the public). The core exhibition will trace the lives of American Jews from 1654 to the present and will encompass some 2.3 square meters of gallery space on three floors. Additional gallery space is provided for changing exhibitions. The ground floor will feature an evolving multimedia exhibition, the Only in America® Gallery/Hall of Fame, which will highlight the accomplishments of many Jewish Americans. (www.nmajh.org)
The President’s House Commemorative Site
Construction is continuing at this permanent outdoor installation, which tells the story of the nine enslaved Africans who lived and worked in the nation’s first White House when it was occupied by President George Washington. Located next to the Liberty Bell Center at Sixth and Market streets, the site was discovered in 2003 during excavation for the Center. The site will be open around the clock so that visitors can see the exposed underground remains of the home where presidents Washington and Adams lived during their terms. (www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse)
Philadelphia remains on the cutting-edge of the U.S. culinary scene with top restaurants featuring an endless variety of international cuisines. Called an “urban culinary mecca” by Bon Appétite Magazine (July 2009) the city is home to an abundance of new and local favorites. Philadelphia is also home to the Food Network’s newest Iron Chef: Jose Garces, one of only six chef’s in the U.S.A to hold this prestigious title. Garces owns and operates six popular restaurants in Philadelphia: Chifa, Amada, Tinto, Distrito, Village Whiskey, and Garces Trading Company. (www.PhiladelphiaUSA.travel/dining)
