SHOP PENN Playlist for July
Summer isn’t just bringing the heat, it’s bringing the live events! University City is filled with standout galleries, performance spaces, and recreational venues that are open to visitors. Discover the exciting happenings in the neighborhood this July with the latest edition of the “Shop Penn Playlist,” a snapshot of cultural and entertainment offerings around the Penn campus all month.
Garden Jam – Penn Museum
July 10, July 17, July 24, July 31
Penn Museum’s outdoor summer concert series returns as Garden Jams, a low-key, high-chill, al fresco scene in Stoner Courtyard at the rose-gold hour. Unwind to world music by local Philly bands. Grab small bites and sips from food trucks and a garden bar fully stocked with wine, beer, and non-alcoholic refreshments. Feel free to BYO blanket and picnic essentials and find your spot amid a hidden and historic urban oasis under the sky. Concerts move indoors during inclement weather. Enjoy performances by the West Philadelphia Orchestra, Zydeco-A-Go-Go, Glenn Bryan and Friends, Guachinangos.
Skeet Carter: The Side Dude – World Café Live
July 11
Skeet Carter is a comedic force to be reckoned with, he has shared the stage with comedy heavyweights like Kevin Hart, Mike Epps, and Martin Lawrence, and has been featured on Comedy Central, BET, and Kevin Hart's "Hart of the City. " He's also the owner of the black wine brand Rica Vino and the star of popular social media skits. Captivating audiences of all races, backgrounds, and ages, his edgy yet silly style hits that sweet spot of relatability, keeping audiences rolling in the aisles. Whether on stage, in films, or online, Skeet Carter is a comedic powerhouse here to stay.
The Hype! Presents: Love Fest 2024 – World Café Live
July 12
Summer is in full swing, which means the weather is amazing, and the HYPE! returns to World Cafe Live to present Love Fest – The Primetime show, a celebration of good music and great energy featuring some of the region’s best artists.This year our lineup includes: BoyWonder, E-Hos, The Jawn Mel, Kelvin Cochrane, and Devon Sierra. If you love music, we can’t think of a better place to be than this. The music will be pumping, AC will be on, so come on out and feel the love, we’re gonna have an awesome time!
Where I Learned to Look: Art from the Yard – Institute of Contemporary Art
Opens July 13
This exhibition celebrates the foundational role of yards in shaping contemporary art in America. Building upon existing scholarship on Yard Art, artwork created to exist in the transitional space between the home and wider world, artist and art historian Josh T Franco examines the lineage of this robust American art form which has historically existed outside of museum and gallery spaces.
Joanna Piotrowska: unseeing eyes, restless bodies – Institute of Contemporary Art
Opens July 13
This presentation marks the first U.S. solo museum exhibition dedicated to Joanna Piotrowska (b. 1985), a Polish artist based in London whose work examines the human condition through performative acts, photography, and film. Self-defense manuals and psychotherapeutic methods are used as reference points as Piotrowska explores the complex roles that play out in everyday life.
University City Dining Days – Various Locations
July 18-28
University City Dining Days returns to West Philadelphia this July. Explore the district’s diverse restaurant options with three-course menus for lunch and dinner. Participating Shop Penn restaurants include Pod, Louie Louie, and World Café Live.
Tyvek and Mesh Live Performance – Center for Creative Works
July 24
Tyvek from Detroit and Mesh out of Philadelphia will perform a live concert in the Center for Creative Works Pop Up. CCW artists will be on sight selling their work. Tyvek have harnessed the ambition to keep their slurred and manically refreshing noise pop bouncing around the skulls of everyone still breathing in the real, uncategorizible fumes of the original new wave. With an already impressive trail of essential releases left behind them, the band seems to always be evolving, yet never straying far from the original cacophony that earned them a spot in the hallowed halls of modern punk's elite erratics. Mesh’s sound arrives so fully formed, it’s difficult to believe it started as a bedroom project, with vocalist and songwriter Sims Hardin first releasing a handful of demos back in 2019. Since then, he’s recruited Steve Darling on drums, Allison Durham on guitar and vocals, and Tom Riese on bass, a combination of players who turn Hardin’s songs into a blast of muscular and zany post-punk that expands upon that previous work with ease.
Beta Hi-Fi Emerging Artist Festival – World Café Live
July 24-27
Beta Hi-Fi is World Cafe Live’s FREE multi-day emerging music festival featuring some of the Philly region’s best new artists! Spanning from July 24- 27, WCL continues the tradition of providing a platform for local musicians to perform for a broader audience. Each night, three hand-picked artists will perform a 20-30 minute set to a rotating panel of judges from the Philly music scene. The winning artist from each night will return Saturday to compete for cash and other career-boosting prizes.