Lewis and Sherri Wexler
Lewis owns the gallery with his wife, Sherri. “We are heading toward showing work that crosses the line between craft art and design, pieces that are comfortable in both of those fields. We are entering into the realm of painting and photography.” The gallery is also unique in Philadelphia for its museum-quality, historically signifi- cant glass. “If you curate wisely, it brings the younger artists up,” Wexler says. “It’s exciting to see how the masters blend with the emerging. A gallery is a very serious business, but it’s a multileveled business. You are a gallerist, an educator and a bit of a Jewish mother—it’s never about just money.” 201 N. Third St.; wexlergallery.c

First Strokes
Twenty years ago, First Fridays felt almost daring—discovering new artists, cafés and watering holes, and occasionally new friends, in a quirky, bohemian neighborhood. Art galleries, both unpredictable not-for-profits and sleek high-end ones, threw open their doors to the public on the first Friday of every month, regardless of the weather, from 5 to 9 PM. Sprinkled among these was the odd vacant warehouse, reminders that Old City was just beginning to put itself back on the cultural map. Now, as First Friday approaches its 20th anniversary in what has become “the gallery district,” it continues to draw people to the area, in the process taking on a frenetic life of its own, filling the streets with commercial activities, often of dubious artistic merit. Regardless, it is still the most entertaining show in Philly without a price tag.

Centered on tiny Elfreth’s Alley off Second Street (one of the oldest residential streets in the US), Old City extends roughly from Front Street west to Sixth Street, and Walnut Street north to Florist Street. Back in 1991, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts savant Rodger LaPelle of Rodger LaPelle Galleries and Richard Rosenfeld of The Rosenfeld Gallery were among the early settlers, and both continue to thrive today. “Somebody told me about the space,” says Rosenfeld of his fine-arts gallery. “It was better than the second-story closet I could have afforded on Rittenhouse Square.” Other owners weren’t so lucky, however: Rosenfeld recalls that three decades ago, not long after he first opened, there were a handful of others that failed.

 

Aisah Khan
Aisha Khan has worked as a financial analyst, but the part-time sculptor and English literature major always had other long-term plans. “My husband and I always wanted to open a gallery centered around creating an artistic exchange of ideas and creativity between the USA and the Indian subcontinent. The idea is to create a dialogue and also showcase cutting-edge contemporary South Asian art by international, diasporic artists,” she says. “Old City is very charming, and it is the perfect place."

Khan’s dream is to make her Twelve Gates Art Gallery a true cultural nexus. In addition to showing contemporary visual arts from the Indian subcontinent, she hosts play readings, musical evenings and book launches. She is passionate about sharing Asian art and plans to offer classes in miniature painting and printmaking. With clients and artists from all over the world, First Friday is an ideal opportunity for Khan to reach out and welcome the local audience to her gallery’s worldly art. 305 Cherry St.; twelvegatesgallery.com