SHOWING/UP: A Professional Workshop on Exhibiting your Work

This workshop seeks to demystify the techniques to maintaining a healthy artist practice and making way for a thriving and consistent career
About this Event

A healthy practice relies on several self-driven components working symbiotically. Each one of these steps are interchangeable, and influence each other. But where to start?
In this workshop, we will be going over three components of a professional artist practice:

1. A guide on showing your work and maintaining a consistent exhibition schedule
2. A light overview of Career Support: Sales, Residencies, Grants, and Funding strategies
3. Building and maintaining your art community.

About the Instructor:

Patricia Renee' Thomas is a painter, researcher, and educator based in Philadelphia with a BFA from Tyler School of Art and Architecture and an MFA from University of Pennsylvania's Weitzman School of Design.
She has exhibited in several Museums, including The DuSable Black History Museum in Chicago, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, The Colored Girls Museum in Philadelphia, PA, The Delaware Contemporary Museum in Wilmington, DE and the Susquehanna Museum of Art in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Thomas has exhibited with galleries in New York, Los Angeles, Detroit, New Orleans, Chicago, San Francisco, Miami, Lagos, Nigeria and Koln, Germany. She was a 2025 McMillian Stewart Chair of Painting Fellow and Visiting Professor at Maryland Institute College of Art, a 2021 recipient of the Meyer Family Award for Contemporary Art, and a 2021 recipient of the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship. Thomas teaches Painting and Drawing at University of Pennsylvania and is currently Visiting Faculty at Penn State University.

About the Venue:

Utility Works is a 7,500 sq. ft. art studio building located at 32 East Baltimore Ave. in Lansdowne, PA. Our Space is home to 23 artist studios, a hot-desk co-working area, a MakerSpace classroom, a ceramic studio, an art gallery, and a juice bar.
Utility Works is operated by the LEDC (Lansdowne Economic Development Corporation), a 501(c)(3) dedicated to fostering a human-centered ecosystem by supporting small businesses, including brick-and-mortar stores, entrepreneurs, artists, and makers.

Parking:

• Street Parking is metered.
• There is ample street parking on Baltimore Ave. The Highland Avenue parking lot (18 N Highland Ave.) is brightly lit and half a block away.

First Floor Accessibility

• Inclusive Design: Our first floor is designed to be inclusive and ensure accessibility for all.
• Approachable Entrance: Our entrance is approachable to all who enter, providing ease of access for everyone.
• Accessible Restroom: We offer an accessible gender-neutral bathroom for the convenience of all visitors.
• Wide Hallways: Our hallway is wide enough to accommodate wheelchair users, ensuring smooth and easy navigation.