For the past year Fung Collaboratives has been researching and creating a detailed proposal for the Centennial for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway Council Foundation in Philadelphia. The Parkway Council hired FC to create a proposal for their consideration and fundraising purposes. A $ 260,000 grant was provided by the William Penn Foundation specifically for this proposal phase.

We are very proud to show you the five artist conceptual proposals comprising the exhibition Turning Point. None of the artists that Lance selected have been invited to work in Philadelphia before so this was a special opportunity for everyone. The artists ranged from emerging to mid career to established artists. Robert Barry, Daniel Buren, Karyn Olivier, Paola Pivi and Jaume Plensa all took the challenge and really created amazing proposals.

The curatorial concept was to develop a cohesive group of individual artists whose works in tandem with each other would reach all aspects of the Parkway and relate to the different institutions that calls it home as well and the variety of audiences they collectively serve. The Parkway, as impressive as it is, has complications such as major vehicular traffic which collides with bicycles, pedestrians, tourists and residents alike so the artistic and curatorial challenges were great. As a central feature to Philadelphia, all walks of life experience the Parkway. It is a pass through town, a cultural destination, a tourist location, a home or a place of work for many.

The lack of visitors in the evening was shared by the Parkway Council and so Turning Point needed to address this untapped time period. The idea of incorporating light as a medium for the artists to consider was suggested by Lance after experiencing the amazing exhibition Luci D’artista in Torino when he was curating The Snow Show: Torino for the 20th Winter Olympics. But rather than mimicking a light festival in which nothing could be seen until after dark, Lance wanted to encourage the artists to use the element of light in an elliptical manner and also to develop proposals that were equally valuable and visible in the daytime as nighttime.

We hope you enjoy the proposals. Sadly, the Parkway Council decided to move in a different direction for their Centennial celebration therefore Turning Point  will not be realized in Philadelphia.

Lance Fung Curator December 2015