SHOP PENN Playlist for June
It’s hot times in the city here in Philadelphia and #ShopPenn has tons of things to see and do this summer. Find out all the top things happening around University City this June with the latest edition of the “Shop Penn Playlist,” a snapshot of the events being offered around the Penn campus all month.
Ancient Food & Flavor – Penn Museum
Opens June 3
What can burned seeds, dried meats, or waterlogged fruits, remarkably preserved for thousands of years, tell us about the past? Food remains are tiny treasure troves of data that reveal information about people’s decisions, diets, activities, and traditions. Archaeologists study these ancient remains to reconstruct the landscapes that produced them, revealing untold histories and forging connections to the past. As part of the exhibition, Penn Museum will have special “We Are What We Eat” Ancient Food & Flavor Tours each weekend, a 60-minute guided tour where participants are invited to look under the microscope and discover what ancient food remains can tell us about diets, activities, and what people were eating up to 6,000 years ago.
Bowerbird Presents Sawt Out – The Rotunda
June 9
Since its foundation in 2015, the Berlin-based trio Sawt Out has shaped and refined its profile as a prominent improvisational unit. With their unusual acoustic instrumentation of trumpet and two sets of percussion these three gentlemen create bewildering sound worlds rich in detail and of tight musical interaction. Sawt Out has played numerous concerts throughout Europe, Asia and beyond. This current tour is their first live appearance in the US.
Sw!ng Out – Penn Live Arts
June 9-10
Enjoy “a sweeping ride through contemporary swing dance” (The New York Times) with Penn Live Arts audience favorite and tap superstar Caleb Teicher. In this Philadelphia premiere, "one of the brightest lights in tap today" (The New Yorker) is joined by collaborators Evita Arce, LaTasha Barnes and Nathan Bugh and more stellar dancers for Lindy Hop choreography and improvisation, all set to live music by the Eyal Vilner Big Band.
Strut! A Harlem Renaissance Cabaret – World Café Live
June 9-10
World Cafe Live and Opera Philadelphia are teaming up to present STRUT! A Harlem Renaissance Cabaret. Philadelphia-based artist Cookie Diorio takes the audience on a musical journey that celebrates creatives from the Harlem Renaissance and their impact on the cultural landscape today. Music highlighted as part of the event includes works performed by Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, and Billie Holiday, as well as several unpublished works by Margaret Bonds and Florence Price newly arranged for voice and band.
Black Hippie Art: Sketch Club – Institute of Contemporary Art
June 10
Meet fellow artists and creatives in the city and sketch with us, no experience needed! Sketch Club is a programming series developed through Black Hippie Art to promote creativity and self care through drawing and sketching. Art supplies provided. Founded in 2016, Black Hippie Art is a digital art platform that empowers BIPOC creatives and creative entrepreneurs with resources to work, explore, and become successful in the creative industry.
Interminable and Sterling Duns + Friends – The Rotunda
June 11
Join the Rotunda for a family-friendly live music event featuring amazing artists Interminable and Sterling Duns + Friends. The event starts at 3 pm and wraps at 5pm in time for dinner and bedtime. Play space and toys will be available as well as earplugs for the little kids. Interminable is a Philly-based futuristic fusion project that explores our connections as diasporic peoples through original music in Spanish and English, weaving together the common threads of improvisation and swing from Mexican traditional son jarocho music, jazz, rock, funk, and electronic music. Sterling Duns is a West Philly-based facilitator, hip-hop artist, educator, and activist who has brought creativity, care, and compassion to homes, schools, community centers, retirement homes, festivals, and stadiums all over the country and internationally.
Songs For Ritual and Remembrance – Arthur Ross Gallery
Opens June 17
Songs for Ritual and Remembrance brings together the work of four artists that uplift suppressed historical narratives, honor embodied forms of knowledge, and center community memory through ritual and storytelling. The exhibition will bring together the work of Adebunmi Gbadebo, Ken Lum, Guadalupe Maravilla, and a new commission by Mary Ann Peters. Spanning works on paper, sculpture, and installation each of the works meditate on a social fabric revealing the imbalances of power that condition cultural memory.
John Byrne Band – World Café Live
June 24
Dublin native and Philadelphia resident, John Byrne leads his eponymously-named band. Their latest record A Shiver in the Sky, recorded at Spice House Sound in Philadelphia and produced by long-time collaborator Andy Keenan, shows his band of multi-instrumentalists vibrantly executing ten new originals. Strings, banjo, accordion and guitars escort Byrne’s vocals through a set of songs about living and pushing forward through negative times.
Candlelight Pride: Celebrating Queer Musical Icons – World Café Live
June 28
Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in Washington D.C. Get your tickets now to celebrate Pride Month and the music of queer icons at World Cafe Live under the gentle glow of candlelight.
Wawa Welcome America Celebration – Penn Museum
June 30
World adventure awaits—no passport required. Friends and families can explore the Penn Museum for free, as part of this year’s Wawa Welcome America festival! Penn Museum is home to over a million extraordinary objects from across continents and millennia. Through the lens of archaeology and anthropology, the Museum helps visitors discover the world and our shared humanity.