Founded in 1999 by Philadelphia-based artist and NYU graduate Rachel Zimmerman, InLiquid started as a casual, small nonprofit online exhibition venue, meeting place, and information resource for artists. The organization quickly expanded its role with an increased number of members, expanded site content, and a regular series of public programs and exhibitions.
Seventeen Years of Building a Creative Community September 17th, 2016 marks a momentous occasion for InLiquid: its 17th anniversary. That’s right, InLiquid is celebrating its golden birthday! From its humble beginnings as a simple nonprofit online exhibition website, to its breakthrough in helping launch hundreds of artists develop their careers, reinventing spaces into art galleries, and transforming friendly relationships into fulfilling partnerships, InLiquid has evolved tremendously during its seventeen years in practice—and its only a teenager! The organization now boasts a multitalented team of professionals (also active in the arts and culture scene) each with an individual area of expertise, and creative vision necessary in building steps for InLiquid’s future. Community is the core of what InLiquid has to offer. What has always set InLiquid apart is its ability to provide the necessary tools for artists to thrive in Philadelphia–and beyond. Whether through building partnerships to create gallery spaces or simply introducing one of InLiquid’s member artists to an art collector, InLiquid continues to be eager in making connections, building relationships, and above all helping artists push the necessary boundaries.
Fulfilling Partnerships InLiquid’s passion and enthusiasm for artists, both emerging and established, has allowed itself to partner with some of Philadelphia’s most well-known establishments. Over the years we’ve continued great relationships with organizations and corporations such as Aimco, University of Pennsylvania, URBN inc., Cira Center, Murano Condominium, Stanek Gallery, Painted Bride Cafe Gallery, Crane Arts, and Sundance Channel in New York (just to name a few). Partnering with large corporations has pushed us to fine tune our public programming, development skills, and has widened the horizons for exhibition spaces for our hundreds of artists.
Philly Focused Social Media Our passion for art goes hand in hand with our drive to use social media platforms as beacons for our artists. With a Facebook following that has expanded to over 6,000, a LinkedIn page providing articles on career development, and soon to come a Periscope channel and a podcast, our artists can be seen and heard internationally.
Whilst expanding in public programming and social media has been a huge achievement for InLiquid, we are keen to continue to work alongside the local community in our annual programming. Each year, we’ve continued to have a successful and fun time at Art for the Cash Poor: a summer event encouraging the inner-art-collector in us all; our annual Benefit: a fabulously elegant evening showcasing the region’s premier visual artists; and Art For Action: programming focused on creating accessibility for youth and disadvantaged communities to the arts.
What’s Next for InLiquid? InLiquid has gone through a tremendous evolution so far, still maintaining its mission to mobilize and makes accessible the visual arts culture of the greater Philadelphia; and its vision to make art culture is so deeply integrated with the community that everyone can be a collector, regardless of socioeconomic position, profession, and location. This is all the more enjoyable by our ability to work with all artists and new frontiers alike. It is safe to say: the creative community Rachel had envisioned, seventeen years ago, is alive and thriving. Inliquid certainly hasn’t reached its zenith yet, but the future holds bright. Besides, it still hasn’t gotten its drivers license yet!
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