FunTimes Fun Events Education & Entertainment!
The stars come out in August. The movie stars, that is. Big screen free flicks to cool down your summer are calling to you. And there’s nothing like the magic of movies for escapism. So, when the sun sets, escape alfresco to a nearby park of preference. Get off the couch. Leave Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Apple TV home alone for the night. Through the fall, public parks are offering up outdoor movie nights for all ages on the silver screen across Philadelphia and in the surrounding suburbs. Here’s a look at film freebies, plus other events to keep it chill in the sweltering temperatures of the summer. Before participating in these activities, please respect the ongoing pandemic safety protocols, and check individual event-attending instructions with the organizers.
Photo by Ben Tran, for University City District
Clark Park
‘Tonight, Tonight’….at the movies
August 19 & 26, 2022. Clark Park hosts free outdoor screenings Friday nights in August, Soul is on tap for August 19 and Westside Story hits the streets August 26. See the 2020 Academy-Award-winning Soul chronicling the story of Joe, a middle-school band teacher whose life has taken a turn. His true passion is jazz. And after traveling to another realm to help someone find their passion, he realizes what it means to have real soul. Soul features the voices of Jamie Foxx, Tina Fey, Angela Bassett, Daveed Diggs, Richard Ayoade and Questlove. The film is 1 hour and 40 minutes of Soulful fun! In this Oscar-nominated remake by Steve Spielberg of the 1957 musical, two young lovers unite in the clash of two different ethnic worlds. Young American Tony (Ansel Elgort) falls in love-at-first-sight with Hispanic beauty Maria (Rachel Zegler) in gritty 1950s New York City. Their modern-day Romeo and Juliet romance leads to a pothole in a neighborhood turf war between rival gangs – the famous Jets and Sharks. This modernized version is 2 hours and 36 minutes of timeless love-drama. At sunset, free. 4300-4398 Baltimore Ave., email: info@friendsofclarkpark.org or friendsofclarkpark.org
Photo by the Mt. Airy CDC
Moonlight movies in Mt. Airy
August 26, 2022. Immerse yourself in a web of deception and drama with Spider-Man: No Way Home in the boundless Spidey series. Anywhere you go in the world, Spiderman is a fav — represented on the pajamas or book bags of children, from China to Chile. Spiderman now comes to you big time on the big screen in the Mt. Airy neighborhood, which hosts Moonlight Movies, movie screenings at various spots all summer. Along with the movies, enjoy storytelling and book swaps. 7:30 p.m., free. Pleasant Playground, 6757 Chew Ave, Mt. Airy, 215-685-2230 or 215-844-6021, www.mtairycdc.org, www.phila.gov.
For a complete list of movies – many of them hosted by the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation – check out “A Guide to 70+ Outdoor Movie Screenings in Philly This Summer” at visitphilly.com.
This is your jam!
August 20, 2022. The West Philly Arts Jamboree is the Arts League’s annual celebration for kids a 4 to 14. It features a vibrant mix of visual, performance and musical arts. It is promoted as “a joyful arts experience!” This event is presented in partnership with University City District, Spiral Q, Power of Paint, Keepers of the Culture and more. After the Jamboree, indulge in a big bowl of ice cream and other cool summer treats. Enjoy by student works created in a ceramics studio. 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., free, University City Arts League, 4226 Spruce St., 215-382-7811, http://www.ucartsleague.org.
The double lives of spies of the American Revolution
August 17, 2022. In a super-secret meeting, learn about the spies of the Revolution. They included shopkeepers, mystery women and enslaved men who served as double agents harboring many spy mysteries. The promotional material notes: “Solve some puzzles, uncover some secret messages, and discover why spies were an important part of the Continental Army’s victory.” Ideal for kids, K to 5th grades, and their supervising grown-ups.1 p.m., free. Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library, 125 South 52nd Street (52nd and Sansom streets), West Philadelphia, 215-685-7431, libwww.freelibrary.org.
Off the wall poetry slam
August 20, 2022. This event has walls yet no barriers. Are there any Walt Whitman lovers out there? Excellent! The Venice Island Performing Arts Recreation Center will combine parks, film and poetry in an exciting outdoor performances inspired by the works of the great American poet from New Jersey. Whitman on Walls is a composite of seven short films projected onto the walls of the performing arts center representing excerpts of Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” After each film, a local poet will respond to the prose in his or her own words. The poets include Sean Hanrahan, David Kozinski, Elijah Pringle, Alison Lubar, Margaret Stearns, Leah Jackson and third-grade students from Samuel Powell Elementary School in Philadelphia’s University City area. The event celebrates Whitman’s genius as well as the innovation of modern-day poetry. Recorded over three weeks, the films feature more than 50 performers from many countries. 8 p.m., free. Venice Island Performing Arts and Recreation Center, 7 Lock St., in Manayunk, 215-685-3583, www.phila.gov or www.veniceisland.org
Call for artists: Put your touch on Olney Recreation Center
If you are an artist, any day is a good day to create. Imagine making a sculptural or three-dimensional art installation for permanent viewing at a public recreation center for all of the world to see. Specifically, your work will appear on an outside wall near the Olney Recreation Center on East Spencer Street in Philadelphia. The direction from the city’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy’s Percent for Art program is: “Artists should consider durable materials appropriate other than paint-only and are encouraged to interpret what an art wall application could be, beyond the typical painted mural.” It’s all part of a City of Philadelphia Rebuild construction project calling for a new recreation center, playground area, playing fields, new safer walking paths and ADA access updating. The project also includes the highly regarded Percent for Art model started in Philadelphia in 1959 reflecting the value of adding art in public spaces. Submit an application by August 19, 2022 by 5 p.m., free. 215-686-8446, creativephl.org.
Untangling the color of hair
August 17, 2022. Learn about black hair and how to address the social bias in the virtual workshop, Untangled: A Discovery into Black Hair. Get a new understanding that will help you in a variety of interactions. The workshop aims to support and educate the community; it examines the effects, particularly on young black girls, and will help new foster parents with BIPOC children, grandmothers with a new grandchildren and service providers assisting Black communities. The goal is to shatter social bias/norms of black hair in communities and teach how to have new conversations or interactions that reflect a better understanding of black hair. In a broader sense, the workshop will focus on the history of black hair, colonization, European standards, colorism, appropriation, adultification and modern methods. Online event, 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., $15, eventbrite.com.
Public art for healing and hope
August 16-19, 2022. Art In City Hall presents We Are Here – Stories and Expressions of Healing, an exhibition curated by Zarinah Lomax of The Apologues and managed by the City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy. The exhibit shares hopeful stories of co-victims and survivors of trauma through the visual arts. It features painting and wearable art by 30 Philadelphia-area artists, several of whom are also survivors. We Are Here continues the dialogue of hope and resilience in the face of the city’s pressing issues of gun violence. City Hall (showcases on 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors), 1400 John F. Kennedy Blvd., is an engaging platform for the arts to spotlight critical issues impacting Philadelphians. The exhibit continues through October 14, 2022, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., free, 215-686-8446, email: arts@phila.gov or creativephl.org.
Start early with story time for babies
August 17, 2022. Read Baby Read Storytime for kids up to 24 months will become a regular and popular family must-do event. Ms. Rachel will lead a fun session of stories, songs, tickles and bounces. Older siblings can join in to learn early-literacy activities to share with the smallest members of their families. Storytime activities will be outdoors in the park, weather-permitting, or indoors in the library’s children’s area. Read Baby Read is made possible by a grant from the William Penn Foundation.10:30 a.m., free, Kingsessing Library, 1201 South 51st Street (5lst St. between Kingsessing and Chester avenues), 215-685-2690, libwww.freelibrary.org.
