RAIR awarded City Grant, Co-founder MSSD Grad Student

Photo Credit: Tony Webb / Office of City Representative

Congratulations to Fern Gookin, Philadelphia University MSSD graduate student and co-founder of RAIR (Recycled Artist-In-Residency). On March 31st the RAIR team attended an awards ceremony at City Hall to accept a grant for $40,000. The grant was awarded through the City’s Office of Arts, Culture, and the Creative Economy and the Commerce Department. Funds will be used to renovate artist workspace and office space for the program.

RAIR, Fern's pet project and the focus of her MSSD thesis, is working to connect art and sustainability by providing artists with salvaged materials and comfortable workspace while increasing awareness about the waste stream. The idea for RAIR comes from the many requests from Philadelphia-based artists wanting access to recycled materials at Revolution Recovery, LLC – a construction and demolition recycling facility in Philadelphia. Fern, Avi Golen Co-founder of Revolution Recovery LLC and artist Billy Blaise Dufala saw the potential for establishing a formal residency program at the facility. They’ve been dedicating time and energy into the project for a while now, and believe RAIR is ready to play a key role in creating awareness about art and sustainability in Philadelphia.

Follow developments at RAIR at http://phillyair.wordpress.com/