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Summer exhibitions, Blobfest, Thin Walls, and more
The BSR Weekly Arts and Culture Roundup, July 10-16, 2025
Kyle V. Hiller
Coming up this week, a few exhibitions are opening up around the city, Blobfest turns 26 years old, and the annual summer block party at the Barnes pops up. Making Worlds Bookstore hosts a conversation around climate change, Al-Bustan puts on a futuristic exhibition, and a soundscape of North Philly makes its way to Vox Populi.
Be cool, Philly!
It’s Not That Radical
Thursday, July 10, 5pm
Making Worlds Bookstore and Social Center, 210 South 45th Street
Climate activists Mikaela Loach and Wawa Gatheru for a conversation about the need for radical climate action in celebration of Loach’s book It’s Not That Radical, which debuted last spring. Loach also has a book on climate change aimed for children in Climate Is Just the Start, which came this spring.
Digital Sanctuaries
Opening reception on Thursday, July 10, 6-9pm
Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture Gallery, 310 Master Street
Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture presents Digital Sanctuaries, a new exhibition featuring the work of Sudanese artist, designer, and educator Rayan Elnayal. The exhibition showcases views of traditional Sudanese domestic spaces and the reimagining of those same segments in a futuristic context through 3D modeling and digital collages.
Thin Walls
Thursday, July 10, 7:30pm
Vox Populi, 319 North 11th Street, 3rd floor
Recorded between 2021-25 in North Philly, Thin Walls is a project utilizing the sounds of abandoned apartments, trash, broken game consoles, instruments, and other found objects to create a work based around memory, isolation, and space. The project comes from Philadelphia-based multimedia artist Holden Linton, whose works reimagines physical environments into direct audio-visual experiences.
Soul Objective
Thursday, July 10, 7pm
James Oliver Gallery, 723 Chestnut Street, 2nd floor
James Oliver Gallery’s Soul Objective, a two-person exhibition featuring Cavin Jones and Angelique Scott, holds an artist talk this week. Soul Objective opened earlier this summer, with works in painting, ceramics, and collage to convey spirituality and connection through material application and exploration. The exhibition runs through July 26, 2025.
The 19th Annual Group Art Exhibition
July 10-August 28, 2025
William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce Street
The Group Art Exhibition from William Way sees a new year with the work of three Philadelphia-based LGBTQ+ visual artists: Daniel de Jesús, Kenzi Crash, and James Rose. Jesús creates art that blends Catholic iconography, mysticism, and queer identity through symbolic figures to explore queerness as a mystical journey. Kenzi Crash’s explores queer intimacy by incorporating erotic, kink-positive boudoir photography within an art installation. Rose explores identity, emotion, and human experience through simple and often self-referential figurative drawings.
Camp Blobfest
July 11-13
Colonial Theatre, 227 Bridge Street, Phoenixville
The 26th annual Blobfest returns, paying homage to the Colonial Theatre in the 1958 Steve McQueen classic The Blob. This year’s fest comes with a street fair, costume contest, and screenings of the film. The Theatre is also offering free tickets to all screenings of La Masa Devoradora, the Spanish-language version of The Blob.
Bodies of Water
July 12, 26, and September 27, 2025
Fairmount Water Works, 640 Waterworks Drive, Philadelphia
The Fairmount Water Works Interpretive Center presents a performance by West Philly-based dance company The Naked Stark. Starting this weekend, with another performance at the end of July, Bodies of Water comes to the former Kelly Pool, exploring our relationship with water, time, and space. The performances are leading up to a Fringe entry of Bodies of Water later this fall.
Eighth annual Barnes On The Block
Sunday, July 13, 11am-5pm
The Barnes Foundation, 2025 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
TheBarnes and Mural Arts are bringing the eighth annual Barnes on the Block to the parkway this weekend. The afternoon summer celebration features hands-on art making, music from local DJs, dance performances, food trucks and vendors, and more as the streets will be closed to vehicular traffic between 20th and 21st Streets.
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