As we predicted just the other day, there’s more commercial love planned for the western end of Baltimore Avenue in West Philly. This time, in the form of art.

Seeds Gallery will open the weekend of July 27 at 5011 Baltimore Ave., the former location of a Rock School known for blasting its amplifiers every weekend at 9am, exposing the locals to the licks of 12-year-old guitarists playing Crazy Train.

The space

Since October, Seeds has existed in mobile form, showcasing artists’ work at restaurants, cafes and law firms.

“Our perspective is the art has to go where the people are,” said owner Saba Tedla, who also owns Askum, the Mediterranean kitchen located at 47th and Baltimore (which opened last July 27, hence the correlation in dates).

Tedla said they’ll focus on seeding artists into the community. She said Seeds wants to develop a relationship with its exhibiting artists that extends beyond the dates of their showcase.

Logo

“Our corridor has a void in terms of not having a representative for artists,” she said. Any old walk along Baltimore Avenue might evoke ideas that the place is filled with art types.

Tedla envisions Seeds Gallery to be something beyond an art gallery. It could double as a space for community events and for artists to develop their work over time.

“We don’t just wanna slap artwork on the wall,” she said.

We imagine the one-two punch of The Marvelous record shop, which is coming next month to the 4900 block, and Seeds Gallery, will appeal to folks in the area. Plus, there’s the urban farm in the vacant lot a few doors down at 5017 Baltimore Ave. Not to mention, Satellite Café, Firehouse Bicycles and Dock Street Brewery located right across the street. Pizza, beer (or espresso, or a fine mix of the two), art and vinyl? Looks like Baltimore Avenue is shaping into quite the arts corridor, no?

–Lou Mancinelli