Portside is excited to launch our "Artists at Lunch" series, a biweekly virtual artist talk being offered to the Portside community and beyond! During each of these 30 minute artist talks that occur every other Tuesday from 12-12:30pm EST, a new artist will be introduced. Artists will explain their artistic practices, share work, give demonstrations, and answer any questions that viewers might have. We hope to engage and connect with others by conducting these artist talks, and to provide each other with inspiration, because right now, art is more important than ever!
Although it is not required to view the "Artists at Lunch" series, we are encouraging viewers to consider making a donation to help support the Portside during this time, and to help us to continue "Empowering the Artists of Tomorrow."
All donations go towards Portside's children's scholarship fund. 
To tune into "Artists at Lunch," please click the link below and enter the password at the scheduled times:

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86591868414?pwd=MEFxTmlwcGNwOEpXRUxPSzNlTG42dz09

Meeting ID: 865 9186 8414
Password: 524824
Carla fisher TUESDAY february 2nd 2021
I am in awe of artists’ ability to share feelings in such an intimate, expressive way. Throughout my life, color, texture, shape, and most importantly, nature, have been magnets. Little did I know after the death of my husband that art would be the healing therapy that would bring renewed meaning and joy to my life. My life and career had been entrenched in financial services for 25 years, not art!

With loss comes a sense of aloneness, worthlessness, hollowness, and uselessness. At the intersection of those emotions and an overpowering basal need to express those sentiments creatively, my artwork is born. I use thread and throwaways to symbolize how even the tired, used, and totally spent can experience new life. Through free motion machine embroidery, I seek the viewer’s visceral response of surprise as they realize the sculptured material is simply thread. It’s the reminder and the confirmation that one little strand — or woman — truly can do seemingly impossible things when challenged to do so.

carlajfisher.com
Chris Sunshine TUESDAY January 19th 2021
Chris Jones is a musician and multimedia artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He performs in several musical projects and bands, and has come out with two albums and two EPs of his own, under the name Chris Sunshine. His music can best be described as indie rock. He also dabbles in the visual arts, and enjoys creating detailed illustrations, as well as shooting music videos. He is a beloved Assistant Teacher at the Portside. 

​chrissunshine.com
Leila ElManfaa tuesday december 22nd 2020
Leila ElManfaa is a self taught artist focusing on graphic novels and digital art. She is from Philadelphia and travels extensively for inspiration and connection to various artist communities, including to parts of Germany. Her artwork is heavily influenced by masters of the renaissance era, and storytelling artists like Gustave Dore and the Pre Raphaelites. She is currently working on a graphic novel and a series of illustrated poems and fairytales.

https://www.instagram.com/bethaleil/
Miriam Singer Tuesday December 8th 2020
Miriam Singer was raised in Buffalo, New York and now lives with her husband and son in Philadelphia. She has exhibited at Paradigms Gallery, James Oliver Gallery, Stanek Gallery, Push Proof Studio, Booklyn Art Gallery, LG Tripp Gallery, Woodmere Art Museum, Rowan University, Luke and Elroy Gallery, Gallery Siano, The Painted Bride, and Spector Gallery. Singer uses a combination of printmaking and drawing media to create her unique works on paper and designs for public art projects. Selected public art projects include, St. Andrews School in Delaware, 2020, University City Arts League in Philadelphia, 2019, Comcast Technology Center in Philadelphia, 2018, Navy Yard Bus Wraps, 2018, Art in The Airport, 2018, and Parktown Place Apartments, 2017. Miriam Singer currently teaches printmaking at Fleisher Art Memorial in Philadelphia and is a member of the artist collective, Space 1026.

miriamsinger.net
instagram.com/miriam_singer
Jason Bachman Tuesday November 24th 2020 
Jason Bachman is a producer, musician and audio engineer based in Philadelphia performing under the name Johann Sebastian. He combines years of performing, producing and recording into fresh Hip Hop, R&B and Electronic music rooted in his city’s soulful past. In early 2016 Johann won back to back editions of the live producer competition event, Behind the Breaks. This led to a project with Truck North (Roots Crew/Money Making Jam Boys) as Django & Ca$h. He continues to work with a growing circle of artists and also serves as the director of content for the Philly artist collective and festival, Tiny Room For Elephants.

johannsebastianmusic.com
instagram.com/js_beats
John Price Wednesday October 28th 2020
​Master Upholsterer John Price has 27 years of experience with upholstery. Before going out on his own, John worked for Regent Upholstery in Old City, Philadelphia under, Isreal Kurman for 20 years. Now John has established his own Upholstery shop in Philadelphia where he specializes in bringing old furniture back to life. Aside from refurbishing the old, Mr. Price can build beautiful custom pieces from scratch. He is the longtime Upholstery Instructor at the Portside Arts Center, and wants to share his enormous talent and knowledge with you!

johnpriceupholstery.com​
instagram.com/johnpriceupholstery
Orchestra 2001 Wednesday October 14th 2020
Orchestra 2001 is a collective of adventurous, virtuoso performers dedicated to the music of our time. The ensemble strives to be an international leader in connecting diverse audiences with the greatest music of the 20th and 21st centuries, engaging new listeners through exhilarating concerts, innovative artistic collaborations, and enriching community partnerships. They have presented programs with 1 to 80 performers at the Kimmel Center, Barnes Foundation, World Cafe, The Fillmore, and multiple other indoor and outdoor venues. As recipient of four NEA touring grants, Orchestra 2001 has performed for diverse audiences in rural Appalachia, the Southwest’s Navajo Nation, and is preparing for an upcoming tour to historically black colleges in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. They have also toured internationally through Asia, Europe, Cuba, and the Middle East. At Cherry Street Pier, Orchestra 2001 will present informal concerts, educational activities, and a “Composer At Work” window, featuring the work of local composers and performers.

orchestra2001.org
Natasha Mell Taylor Wednesday September 16th 2020
My name is Natasha Mell-Taylor, I went to college and then graduate school and currently teach engaging children through art.
At this point in the statement, I used to write about dystopian universes with monsters that resented the sadness of the world and how I was merging the lines between reality and science fiction in my work.
​I would then go on to tell you about my “characters” and how they were so often symbols, yet literally represented people I had met at one point or another.
None of this matters now.
The world itself merged into science fiction without my paintings impact on absurdity. I am now spending most of my time parenting and quietly creating.
Veronica Ponce de Leon Wednesday September 2nd 2020
Veronica is a multi-media artist from Culiacán in Sinaloa, Mexico. Her paintings, paper mache, and found object sculpture have strong ties to her Mexican heritage, and reflect her experiences. Growing up surrounded by flowers and fruit markets, Veronica is inspired by her senses and surroundings. "It is my love for popular art, where through a clay jug, a pot, a pinata or an embroidered apron, a life story is told...a brief look at culture giving tradition to the beings that make up the community. My art is fed by my experiences, by the wonderful people who bring good or bad moments to my life. Thanks to this balance of good-bad, black-white, night-day, I can continue advancing in my unstoppable way of life: a life dedicated to artistic expression. I dance because I believe in happiness and love music; I paint because I see colors; I write because I love the lyrics and their impact; I am an actress because I can get lost immersed in a stage; I protest because I have a voice."
Zach Brown Wednesday August 5th 2020
Zach is a visual artist living in Los Angeles, working in various styles including portraiture, hyper-realism, graffiti, and cartooning. He works mostly in acrylic painting but is proficient in a variety of mediums such as watercolor, oil, spray paint, ink, pastel, and more. He has worked as a teaching artist with the non-profit organization The Unusual Suspects Theater Co. and Arts for Incarcerated Youth Network. Zach has become active in the current and ongoing fight for equality and civil rights in America, and is creating public art to inspire, provoke, and strengthen the movement. Currently, he is working on a series of public wall murals that depict historical photographs from the long journey to achieve liberation, equality, and prosperity for BIPOC in America. 

zachbart.com/
Instagram.com/art_on_my_sleeve
Maria Dumlao Wednesday July 22nd 2020
Maria  is a visual artist working in various combined media including film, video, sound, photography, and installation. Maria was born in the Phillipines and later immigrated with her family to the USA. She attended Rutgers University in New Brunswick where she earned a BA in Studio Art & Art History, and later received her MFA in Studio Art from Hunter College and began showing her work in exhibitions throughout the world. She has had residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Wassaic Projects, Experimental Television Center in Owego, NY, and at free103point9's Wave Farm in Acra, NY. Her collaborative work with Brainstormers has appeared at Brooklyn Museum of Art and Bronx Museum of Art (a collaboration with Guerilla Girls) and received funding from The Puffin Foundation. She currently teaches at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, PA.

​mariadumlao.com
​instagram.com/madumlao
Cesar Viveros ​WEDNESDAY JULY 8TH 2020
Cesar Viveros Herrera is an artist born in Veracruz, Mexico. With more than 15 years creating public art in the United States and his Native Mexico. He has been collaborating with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program since 1997. His Public work has been inspired by the communities he has served throughout the years to whom he has become the extended voice of their particular ideology, recurring primarily on documentary work that help him to visually articulate these individual stories to be exposed to a broader audience, such the particular case of inmates at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford Prison where he lead the creation of the 2003-2004 "Healing wall" murals (documented in the film Concrete, Steel and Paint) opening the doors to many other Art programs in the Philadelphia Prison and Family court systems and the Youth study center.
CHRIS WINDLE Wednesday June 24th 2020 
Chris' vast body of work spanning over 50 years ranges from technical still life oil paintings to illustrations for children's books. Chris graduated from Tyler School of Art in 1982 after traveling around America in the early 70's, and started a big family soon after. Since, he has worked with kids at a Recreation Center, been represented at Gallery 51 in Philadelphia, published a children's book in Colombia, and much more! Since retirement from the Rec. Center, he has been working part time at the Portside for a year. Tune in to hear some of Chris' fascinating and colorful stories, jokes, and to learn about his extraordinary talent as he shows and talks about his art. We guarantee he will knock your socks off!
Jeffro Kilpatrick WEDNESDAY JUNE 10TH 2020
Jeffro Kilpatrick is a Philadelphia-based cartoonist and art teacher. He co-founded the Philadelphia Cartoonist Society in 1997 and is a longtime member of the Meathaus Comics Collective. In 2015, Jeffro won a SEED grant (Supporting Entrepreneurship in Education), an annual event presented by PhillyCORE Leaders for his Philly Artrepreneurs program. Jeffro also codesigned a community mural in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia with the Mural Arts Program.
Kim Creighton wednesday may 27th 2020
Our premier "Artists at Lunch" will feature the Portside's very own Founding Director Kim Creighton, an artist specializing in mosaic art, painting, and epoxy. During Kim's talk, she will be demonstrating how she likes to do different types of pour paintings, using acrylic paint, Floetrol acrylic pouring medium and a secret ingredient she uses to make special effects. Get inspired by her funky abstract paintings during this 30 minute artist talk, and stay tuned for our full list of artists and dates soon to come!