House of Vans announces its latest destination arriving in Philadelphia, PA October 10-13, 2019. Vans will transform the industrial warehouse at 404 N. 2nd Street, 19123, into a cultural hub to celebrate art, music, action sports and street culture bringing Vans’ “Off The Wall” ethos to life. With an array of curated programming free to the community, this unique pop-up experience will be the first in Philly, following other successful House of Vans pop-ups around the world including, Paris, Berlin, Toronto, Hong Kong, Mexico City and Detroit along with permanent House of Vans locations in Chicago and London.
“Philly has a rich cultural history in music, a gifted artistic community, and a heritage in skateboarding synonymous across the world,” said Brooke Burt, Vans’ Senior Manager of Lifestyle Brand Marketing. “It is truly an honor to bring House of Vans to life in Philadelphia alongside this incredibly creative and inspiring community.”
The House of Vans Philly pop-up will kick-off Thursday, October 10 with a concert featuring hometown heroes including rapper, singer and songwriter Tierra Whack, indie-rockers Hop Along and multi-instrumentalist Orion Sun. Music continues through the weekend with dreamy electronic rock duo Phantogram, house artist Channel Tres and eclectic, indie-folk pop band Y La Bamba owning the mainstage on Friday, October 11.
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The pop-up will play host to four days of curated DJ programming featuring Philly mainstays Dave P, Naeem, Russell Alexander, Lowbeezy, Brewerytown Beats as well as New York’s LQQK Studios and Quartersnacks. House of Vans will also introduce its signature SESSIONS series by handing the stage over to local Philadelphia talent. Musicians interested in playing SESSIONS at House of Vans Philly on Saturday, October 12 can email music tosubmitmusic_houseofvans@vfc.com for consideration.
House of Vans Philly will offer a variety of art programming including installations, retrospectives and workshops. Music fans and budding musicians can participate in free music workshops including: Just Kids Mini-Guitar Build and Lesson, DJ Mixing 101 with HOLLERTRONIX co-founder Lowbeezy and Brewerytown Beats Presents: The Sound of Philly Soul Music Talk.
Art collective Space 1026 will bring their soon to be closed Arch St. location to House of Vans through If These Walls Could Talk – Philly Art Retrospective. The art scrawled walls will be installed in the pop-up and adorned with show posters, cards, zines, artists books and graffiti. Twelve muralists, including current members and alums of Space 1026, will create large scale murals inside the venue.
A skate photography retrospective titled 2 Tales, 1 City, will be exhibiting photos of Philadephia’s Love Park and FDR, two of the most important landmarks in the city’s skate scene. Both Phil Jackson, whose collection features FDR, and Jonathan Rentschler, whose subject is Love Park, not only documented both scenes but were integral members of each respective community. This is the first time both photographers work has been showcased live outside of the books they were first published in.
Art curious patrons can participate in hands-on workshops with local luminaries. Highlights include: Zine making + Philly Art History sessions with Space 1026 members Max Lawrence and Andrew Jeffrey Wright plus photographer Phil Jackson and Lauren Cat West. Furthermore, lettering with tattoo artist and graphic designer BJ Betts will be on offer with drawing and skateboard design coming from LA based artist Todd Francis.
Vans is proud to partner with a wide array of vendors like Nocturnal Skateshop, Urban Exchange, Brewerytown Beats, Souvenir Jewelry, Kamihira, Mobshity, and Theories of Atlantis. These artisans and tastemakers will be selling their wares at the pop-up’s community Street Market.
House of Vans wouldn’t be complete without skateboarding, so Vans has partnered with Skate Philly to build an indoor skate park with nods to classic skate spots throughout the city. Open skate sessions will be available throughout the weekend. The skate park open hours will culminate in a cash for tricks contest titled “Pyramid Scheme”. There will also be a Beginner’s Park with skate lessons available throughout the weekend. In addition, Quatersnacks and Vans will premiere the Sicily tour video, “For Nothing” on Saturday evening. Vans Skate Athletes Pedro Delfino, Nick Michel, Corey Glick, Roman Pabich, Cedric Pabich, Taylor Kirby and Richie Rizzo will all be in attendance throughout the weekend.
Finally, as part of Vans ongoing commitment to the community of Philadelphia the brand is honored to bring the Vans Give a Band! initiative to this iconic city later in the year. The legacy program was created to inspire and empower students to embrace their creativity through music and bring attention to diminishing music education budgets. The Vans Gives a Band! Program will offer Philadelphia public schools the chance to receive $10,000 of music equipment and a $10,000 grant to fund their music program in the future. Stay tuned to houseofvans.com for more info.
Thank you for all you do for the world. It is appreciated and so much fun. Cheers to VANS and all the sponsors n others involved in this really unique show of compassion to people…especially the skateboarders. Hats off to the musicians, artists, and vendors. The public schools are going to be so happy.