It's time to share our June destinations with YOU!

Welcome back to BSR in the Wild, our monthly subscribers-only tips on where our team is headed on the Philly scene this month. But first: our May 20 BSR Book Week author panel was a big hit with live attendees. Now it's available to watch on YouTube. It's full of tender and surprising insights from four extremely buzzy authors: Ken Jaworowski of the NYT, bestselling writer Emma Copley Eisenberg, debut novelist Eshani Surya, and Philly media maven Nathanial Popkin.

A fundraising update: If we can raise $3,600 by June 30, we will meet our goal to fund all of our summer coverage! You can make a gift of any size here. Help keep our writers working! Looking ahead, we'll have some news soon about how you can support our 2026 Fringe Festival coverage.

Let's see what's coming up for us.

FIND ALAINA:

On YouTube with Blue Stoop
In April, I taught my newest class under the auspices of our friends over at Blue Stoop, in their free Thursdays on the Stoop virtual program. The new hour-long class is called Building a Positive Relationship with Editors, and if you want to check it out, you're in luck. The recording is now streaming for free on YouTube.

Jesse Krimes: Elegy Quilts
WHERE: The Fabric Workshop and Museum, 1214 Arch St., Philadelphia
WHEN: On view through November 1, 2026
WHY: This show was on my radar before BSR critic Pamela J. Forsythe wrote it up, but now I know I need to get there ASAP. I've been interested in Krimes's work for years and enjoyed interviewing him in the past. I love textile art, particularly quilts, and this show, deeply entwined with the work of people impacted by the justice system, including incarcerated artists, sounds stunning.

ArtPhilly's What Now Festival
WHERE: Happening all around the city
WHEN: May 27-July 2, 2026
WHY: This lineup is so stacked with notable artists that I have yet to figure out all my picks over the coming weeks. Highlights include Long Live the Queen: A Herstory of Drag, a collaboration between composer Andrea Clearfield and multidisciplinary drag artist Cookie Diorio. Don't miss the BSR preview of in case of fire, speak. There are two more performances tomorrow (May 30). Explore all the projects here.

'in case of fire, speak' is part of ArtPhilly's festival lineup. (Photo courtesy of ArtPhilly.)

FIND NEIL

Pride Sing-a-long with Mister John
WHERE: DiBruno Bros. Piazza, 914 S. 9th St., Philadelphia
WHEN: June 14, 2026 3:00pm-5:00pm
WHY: I’m a big fan of Mister John and the music school he runs. My wife and kid are fans too. At a baby music class a few months ago, Mister John mentioned their family-focused Pride programming and I got excited. Details are finally here: a sing-along with popsicles, for free, in the Italian Market? Perfect. Later in June, look for an essay from me about my experience with Mister John's music classes.

Handling Photographs for Digitization 
WHERE: Online, through Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts
WHEN: June 16, 2026, 12:00pm to 1:00pm
WHY: I’ve been working through photo prints for a few years now, as my family goes through storage boxes and albums. Philly's CCAHA puts out an impressive slate of educational opportunities throughout the year, and while many events are aimed at professionals, this one will teach me about projects I’m working on in my spare time.

Big Boy No. 4014 whistle-stops and display events
WHERE: Various, including Reading, Pottstown, King of Prussia, Philadelphia
WHEN: Through Jul 29, 2026
WHY: Have I not discussed my childhood interest in Union Pacific trains in a BSR In The Wild yet? Well, now’s the time. I greatly enjoyed model trains as a kid in the 90s and that morphed into an appreciation for trains more generally, particularly heritage lines and stock that operate for tourists. The world’s largest steam locomotive is touring the East Coast this summer as part of semiquin celebrations. While I’m tempted to pop down to the Navy Yard for a peek, I’m also saving the Reading date on my calendar as a possibility because I somehow haven’t hit the Reading & Northern’s Outer Station ever before.

The RESET is an immersive "electro-acoustic sound journey." Davin Youngs performs his creation June 27 at Ensemble Arts. (Credit: Jonathan Phillips Photography)

FIND BSR WRITER MELISSA STRONG

The Reset
WHERE: The Kimmel Center's Perelman Theater, 300 S. Broad St., Philadelphia,
WHEN: June 27, 2026
WHY: This touring event, described as an "immersive sound experience" and "electro-acoustic sound journey," is closer to a sound bath than a concert: think singing bowls elevated by the theater's acoustics. The Reset aims to help participants reset their minds and senses. This sounds like a welcome offering after a spring that seemed to further provoke hamster-wheel brains and overloaded systems.

Neil's nod of the month

In a few weeks, we'll see an essay from Anndee Hochman about the Transcendent Choir, Philly's first choir for transgender and gender non-conforming musicians. Pride month shines lights on so many aspects and institutions of queer culture. I'm glad Anndee will share her insights into this choir.

I had the opportunity this week to visit the Princeton University Art Museum for a meeting. I briefly strolled the galleries before and after my appointment, and I'm hopeful that I can visit again for an in-depth look at the collections, ideally a guided tour. I saw a Rothko near a 2nd Century CE Medusa, which was below a 2024 sculpture partially made from unexploded ordnances of the Vietnam War. As I left the building, I walked under a dense, colorful Nick Cave mosaic that the Museum had commissioned for its exterior. I owe this New Jersey institution more than a few minutes of browsing. K.A. McFadden wrote for BSR about the Museum around its opening.