Philadelphia Weekly

For most galleries, it's a struggle to sell enough art to pay the rent. Many local galleries supplement in-store sales by peddling wares at art fairs and other local events. And many of the newest art venues have a different business model entirely.

Some establishments supplement income by setting up a cafe with snacks and beverages while others stock picture frames and other gifts made my local artists.

Using these creative business techniques, many new galleries have opened around town lately. Here's a breakdown of who's selling what and where.

The Finish by Jackie Hoving

T&P Fine Arts (1143 S. Ninth St. www.tandpfineart.com) opened Nov. 7 with a traditional gallery model--no cafe or frame shop, just artwork and wares. Started by New Yorker Andrew Ellis, Philadelphian Bryan Dilworth and Californian Jonathan Halperin (all formerly in the music business), T&P sells art, T-shirts and Kid Robot toys from its Italian Market storefront. The store got it's name from the building's previous inhabitant: a general store that sold everything from turtles to pornography.

The street-influenced art at T&P is the kind seen in Juxtapoz magazine. It's a niche market but very popular on the coasts. T&P's goal is to showcase this type of work by Philadelphia artists, including Space 1026ers Andrew Jeffrey Wright and Adam Wallacavage, Tyler grad Jude Buffum and Jason Sho Green, who often shows at Art Star.

Fishtown's Proximity Gallery (2434 E. Dauphin St. 267.825.2949. www.proximityart.com) resides in a corner storefront and is a boutique and a gallery. Chris Clark's recent show at Proximity made great use of the walls and the glass case. His screenprinted T-shirts and stickers were for sale along with his heavily worked screenprinted and stencilled paintings. The show almost sold out, according to Janel Frey the artist/owner, who lives next door.

Bucky's Layer by Todd Keyser

Like T&P, Rebekah Templeton (173 W. Girard Ave. 267.519.3884. www.rebekahtempleton.com) sells nothing but art. The gallery, housed in a rehabbed row house on Girard Avenue, opened a year ago and is the love-child enterprise of artist Ben Will and curator Sarah Eberle. They showcase cutting-edge and experimental works and installations by mostly local artists including James Rosenthal, Todd Keyser and Jackie Hoving.

Random Tea Room (713 N. Fourth St. 267.639.2442. www.therandomtearoom.com) in Northern Liberties is the newest cafe featuring art. Like Chapterhouse Caf�, Bean Caf�, La Colombe and Rocket Cat, Random is a cozy spot to sit and look around while sipping. When I visited, the Other Woman collective was installing a show of very small drawings and what looked like tintype photos. Last but not least, Memphis Tap Room (2331 E. Cumberland St. 215.425.4460. www.memphistap
room.com), a bar with an art program, started showing art in April. Leigh Maida says they'll keep the focus local and change the exhibit monthly.

For more on the Philadelphia art scene go to fallonandrosof.blogspot.com.