downSIZED, Anthony C and Karen M, A Square Deal, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Philadelphia Art Gallery

**Anthony C & Karen M, downSIZED at Cheltenham Center for the Arts**

Anthony C & Karen M and DoN have been friends for a long time. The collaborative artists truly care about their friends and engaging with other artists in the community. The hallmark of their street art is to carefully place quality work in public spaces for their art to be ‘stolen’ by collectors. Currently they are part of a massive exhibit in the galleries based on the idea of creating artwork on small square panels provided by A Square Deal.

Anthony C & Karen M, downSIZED at Cheltenham Center for the Arts

The curators came to Anthony C & Karen M‘s studio in South Philly and spent hours selecting artworks from the astonishing inventory of the artists ranging from the prerequisite square paintings but also their canvasses, found cardboard, paper and objects. Even though there is a vast amount of work, the gallery isn’t crammed with art, the exhibit let’s each piece shine but there is a narrative that flows through the tableaus.

“The exhibit features works by painters, photographers, sculptors and street artists who construct work in a format smaller than a piece of paper, all members of A Square Deal, www.artsqs.com. downSized is an exhibit that demonstrates each artist alteration of their personal vision by thinking small. Each artist created work is executed on a 20cm (7.8) inch square masonite panel. In addition, each artist will have examples of their customary artwork on view.” – Cheltenham Center for the Arts web site.

Anthony C & Karen M, downSIZED at Cheltenham Center for the Arts

“In 1953 Cheltenham Center for the Arts moved to its present home, the neighboring Cheltenham Elementary School. The building was built in 1883 as a replacement for the 1795 Milltown School, an expansion was done in 1893 and a second floor added in 1903. Named for pioneering children’s education George K. Heller, it is the first public school in Cheltenham township and the oldest school in the state of Pennsylvania in continuous use on the same site. In 2001, the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission honored the Cheltenham Center for the Arts by granting the building a spot on the National Register of Historic Places.” – Cheltenham Center for the Arts web site.

DoN spoke with Margaret Griffin Director of Education about the programs at the art center about their programs.

“We run classes in a variety of medium for adults and children: printmaking, drawing, painting, ceramic art. And then in the Summer we run ten weeks of art camp. It’s in this historic building in Cheltenham…the art center itself was started in 1940 by a bunch of feisty women. Seventy-two years is a very long, proud history.

Aside from the classes, we also have a one hundred seat black box theater that has concerts, lectures and children’s theater. We run exhibits in our galleries from September to May. We have a pretty new artist in residency program which is one of the reasons this show is here today because Colleen Hammond is our painting artist in residence.” said Margaret Griffin.

Anthony C & Karen M, downSIZED at Cheltenham Center for the Arts

DoN talked with Karen M about the selection process and what it was like?

Karen M said, “There are seventy-seven pieces. We always keep working, we always have projects and there’s a string or a thread that unites everything we do. We had two curators come to our studio and we have hundreds of pieces, they spent five hours selecting pieces. They actually picked more than seventy-seven but then they came here and worked with it and curated and hung it the way they wanted to. It came out beautiful.”

Anthony C & Karen M, downSIZED at Cheltenham Center for the Arts

“They spent five hours picking out what they wanted then installed seventy-seven pieces in a way that to express what they wanted to say.” said Karen M.

DoNquestions how the artists approached the A Square Deal challenge limited the work to a certain size and shape.

“Like, their A Square Deal is how they got started. They did the squares, they did them in public places and then they gave some of the proceeds of the sales to a charity. And when we were given the squares, I said, like, ‘We do street stuff, We’re used to doing stuff in little spaces. It’s like, we can’t pick our canvas on the street. So, doing a square was like no big deal.”

It’s free material, too. Right?

“Yeah. And free shows, free advertising. And working with them as curators is like the best thing because they are the best most special ladies I know. Beth Medoway and Colleen Hammond. And Colleen has a connection to the Cheltenham Center for the Arts, she has a studio upstairs.” said Karen M.

Anthony C & Karen M, downSIZED at Cheltenham Center for the Arts

DoN asked about how the artist felt about the philanthropic aspect of the A Square Deal experiment?

“Since I’m against the gallery system in the first place, I give stuff away for free on the street, any time I can sell something and give part of it to charity, I’m all for it.”

Anthony C & Karen M, downSIZED at Cheltenham Center for the Arts

Wisdom Kid is the image the artists use on their art stickers. Based on the famous Diane Arbus photograph, the sticker is ubiquitous throughout Philly, you see him everywhere. The stencil version exhibited in downSIZED celebrates with a splash of gold paint the ascent from street to history, defacing the Kid’s smirk with a metaphor for fame. Dripping in gold, the Kid has gone from the backside of stop signs to the historic gallery of the Cheltenham Center for the Arts. Way to go, Kid.

Anthony C & Karen M YouTube Channel

Anthony C & Karen M document their gallery show with several short videos on their YouTube Channel, They also show their street art work which is often poignant with lost cat posters and missing kids, the street posters inspired their own take on lost animals which plays with the emotional tension the posters induce.

Cheltenham Center for the Arts

downSIZED includes a lot more art to talk about, DoNArTNeWs will post a new story soon about more of this expansive, interesting and challenging show. Colleen Hammond mentioned in the artists talk that one artist was amazed at how much space there is in a square.

Joe Brenman

Justin Duerr

Marybeth Chew

Jeanine Leclaire

Julia Blaukopf

Sarah Hunter

Deborah Gross Zuchman

Philip Zuchman

Colleen Hammond

Anthony C and Karen M

Beth Medoway

Colleen Hammond
A Square Deal
Co-Founder
PO Box 18096
Philadelphia PA 19147
squareartdeal@yahoo.com