art free stuff

FYI: Free or really cheap arts stuff keeps happening in Philly

You don't have to be rolling in dough to be culturally enriched.

Free art? We were as thrilled as you are, cartoon guy. (Sticker vandalism in Arizona.)
Wikimedia Commons

Here’s something that perked me up when I went through my inbox this week — Philadelphians can see a complete performance of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem on April 25 for only $5.

Called “one of the greatest classical works of all time” by the BBC, Requiem will be performed by the University of Pennsylvania Choral Society and the Penn Symphony Orchestra. Check it out at the Irvine Auditorium, 3401 Spruce St., at 8 p.m.

This comes on the heels of the news, back in March, that the Wilma Theater was cutting the cost of most of its tickets to just $25, thanks to a $750,000 grant over three years from the Wyncote Foundation, as recommended by philanthropist Leonard Hass.

At the Wilma, the price scale would previously see ticket prices as high as $66. Now, the reduced price applies to the first four weeks of a show’s run. Tickets for students are still $10. Managing director James Haskins told the Inquirer, “"We are looking to diversify our audience in terms of ethnicity, in terms of age . . . and we think that a more egalitarian price structure will be able to do that."

That got me thinking — hey, there have been a lot of free or very inexpensive arts things happening in Philly recently. Like:

Library Acts of Culture, a Knight Arts program, has offered gratis arts performances all over the city recently in the past few months, with “pop up” performances in libraries across Philadelphia. Audiences (unassuming ones, at that), have seen Pasion Y Arte Flamenco, BalletX, Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra and the Lantern Theater Company perform within the walls of what are usually the quietest of spaces. Those are going to keep happening; follow @KnightArts on Twitter for occasional clues about the next pop up.

Back in March, thanks to PECO (when do we ever say thanks to a utility?) Sunday visitors to the Barnes, the PAFA Museum and Philly’s Magic Gardens could check out free museum admission and events all month long.

And now, the latest to jump on the cheap arts train is the Comcast Center, which is bringing “Art at The Center” to its Market & Shops area. The center converted one of its vacant shop spaces into a free pop-up art gallery, with more than 50 works from students of UArts, Moore College of Art, Tyler School of Art and PAFA. An opening reception will take place on Tuesday, April 22 from 5 to 7 p.m. It will stay open through the summer.

So really it’s no sweat, financially, to keep up with your whole “be a more culturally well-rounded and artistically-minded individual” New Year’s resolution. Or was that just me?