Many of my paintings and monoprints are about the life, death and rebirth of a city neighborhood as I experienced it during four decades as an artist living and working in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. Throughout this period I painted the fires and the wrecking balls, the dumpers and the downtrodden residents, and then the construction, buildings and new streetscape that eventually emerged. The images constitute a visual diary of drawn out, convulsive change – a neighborhood going to nowhere and back.
At first, in the 1970s, I saw the decline of Northern Liberties as an opportunity: emptying factories, workshops and rowhouses provided cheap living and work space. Other artists saw the same chance and we began moving in. In the 1980s and 90s, fires and demolition eliminated those now abandoned factories, and crack houses proliferated. By the 21st century, the cleared landscape invited new buildings and new residents. Now, most of the artists are gone, replaced by people buying up the new townhouses sprouting everywhere. Throughout this period, as the old buildings and memories disappeared, churches remained stalwarts of the streetscape, serving as visual anchors, even as their parishioners died or moved away. Their presence reminds me of past residents who once came from all over the world to call Northern Liberties home.
My Northern Liberties paintings and monoprints, from the abandoned buildings and fires of the 80s and 90s to the current period of unrestrained development – when the creation of profit has usurped the creation of hats and gloves, and finally, art – are my observations and impressions of what has happened along the way.
Jennifer Baker is a painter and sculptor working in the Northern Liberties neighborhood of Philadelphia since 1978. She attended the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and Philadelphia College of Art (now University of the Arts) as well as the Art Students League in New York. Baker has exhibited at Art 101 and Pleiades Galleries in New York and Projects Gallery, Nexus Gallery, F.A.N. Gallery, the Crane Arts Building and The Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia. She was selected for a Challenge Exhibit at Fleisher Art Memorial in 1997. Baker received a Leeway Foundation Window of Opportunity Grant in 2018, a Leeway Foundation Art and Change Grant in 2010, a Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Fellowship for Works on Paper in 1993, and was a finalist for a Pew Fellowship in the Arts in 1997. In 2014, Baker curated an exhibit about the history of Northern Liberties “From World’s Workshop to Hipster Mecca and the People in Between” for the Philadelphia History Museum. She is the visual art consultant for “Supper, People on the Move” a multimedia performance piece by Silvana Cardell funded by the Pew Foundation for Arts & Heritage. Baker created “Portraits of People on the Move” a companion exhibit of stories and photographs of Philadelphia-area immigrants. After opening in Philadelphia, “Supper” and “Portraits” have toured throughout the country as well as in the Dominican Republic. In 2019, Baker had her first solo museum exhibition at the Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Loretto, PA “Third Street: Paintings and Monoprints by Jennifer Baker.”
1979
Philadelphia College of Art (University of the Arts), Philadelphia, PA
BFA
1978
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Four Year Certificate
1975
Art Students League, New York, NY
Studied drawing with Marshall Glasier, Summer Session
1973 - 1974
School of Visual Arts, New York, NY
1973
Carnegie-Mellon University School of Fine Arts, Pittsburgh, PA
Summer Session
2018
Window of Opportunity Grant, Leeway Foundation
2010
Art and Change Grant, Leeway Foundation
1997
Finalist, Works on Paper, Pew Fellowship in the Arts
1994
Finalist, Works on Paper, Mid Atlantic/NEA Regional Visual Arts Fellowship
Pilyna Sitarchuk Memorial Award Cheltenham Center for the Arts Annual, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA
Juror: Charlotta Kotik
1992
Visual Arts Fellowship for works on paper, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts
Finalist, Works on Paper, Mid Atlantic/NEA Regional Visual Arts Fellowship
1989
Barbara Specker Gorson Award Cheltenham Center for the Arts Annual, Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA
Juror: Lisa Phillips
1988
First Prize, Prints, City of Camden Annual, Stedman Gallery, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ
1986
Best in Show, City of Camden Annual, Stedman Gallery, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ
1983
Charles Knox Smith Founders Prize, Woodmere Annual, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
1980
Fred and Naomi Gibson Hazel Prize, Woodmere Annual, Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, PA
Best of Show, Katonah Gallery, Katonah, NY
Juror: Jack Beal
2019
"Third Street: Paintings and Monoprints by Jennifer Baker," Exhibition catalog, Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art
With essays by V. Scott Diamond, Vanessa Houser, and Stephan Salisbury
Rowan, Tommy, "The RoundUp: NoLibs Focus of Art Exhibit," The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 24, 2019
Urban, Kelly, "Museum Exhibit Spotlights Artist's Paintings, Monoprints," The Tribune Democrat, July 27, 2019
2016
Seibert, Brian, "Review: Waging Battle with Scarcity and Borders at La MaMA Dance Festival," The New York Times, May 15, 2016
"Gender, Environment, Politics & Culture to Take the Stage in 2016 LA MAMA MOVES Dance Festival," BroadwayWorld.com, March 30, 2016
"Portraits of People on the Move: Personal Stories of Immigration at La MaMa," LaMaMaBlogspot.com, May, 2016
Barone, Joshua, "ArtsBeat, Dance," The New York Times, March 27, 2016
2015
Merritt, Carolyn, “Human Movement” thINKingDance, July 14, 2015
Jackson, Merylin, “Telling, and Dancing, the Immigrant Story,” June 24, 2015
Gregory King, “Supper, People on the Move: A Topic Tackled With Great Success,” The Dance Journal, June 27, 2015
2014
Heidenry, Rachel, “Review: Gentification Tales,” The Architect’s Newspaper, May 9, 2014
Gates, Kellie Patrick, “From Industry to Abandonment, Artist's Mecca to Hipster Haven, New Exhibit Tells Tale of Northern Liberties,” PlanPhilly.com, February 24, 2014
Jamison, Mikala, “Painting the Town: Artists' views on Northern Liberties' Changes,” Philadelphia City Paper, February 20, 2014 citypaper.net
Pulcini, Max, “Northern Liberties: From World’s Workshop to Hipster Mecca and the People in Between,” Spirit Newspapers, February 19, 2014
Crimmins, Peter, “Northern Liberties' Pre-Piazza Roots on Display at Philadelphia History Museum” Newsworks.org, February 19, 2014
Finn, Chelsea, “Northern Liberties’ Transformation Through the Ages,” The Temple News, February 17, 2014
Blumgart, Jake, “Jawnts: The Evolution of N. Liberties,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 16, 2014
Zweifler, Seth, “Museum Exhibit Looks at Northern Liberties' Transformation,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 16, 2014
“Atwater Kent To Take A Look At History Of No Libs, From Industrial Neighborhood To Where You Go For A Craft Beer” Philebrity.com, February 10, 2014
Wilson, Jillian, “The Philadelphia History Museum Presents Northern Liberties: From World’s Workshop To Hipster Mecca And The People In Between, Opening On February 20,” uwishunu.com, January 31, 2014
2013
Fisher, Christine, “From World's Workshop to Hipster Mecca: Northern Liberties Artist Curates Community History Exhibit,” PlanPhilly.com, November 18, 2013
Jamison, Mikala, “What’s Your NoLibs Story?” Northeast Times, November 5, 2013 bsmphilly.com
Miller, Nancy Bea, “Jennifer,” Women in the Act of Painting Blog, January 11, 2013
2012
Jackson, Merilyn, “Grace and improvisation at Falls Bridge Dance Festival,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 17, 2012
2011
Donohoe, Victoria, “Northern Liberties, down and up,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 10, 2011
Foran, Clare, “Northern Liberties: A Transformation,” Philadelphia City Paper, June 14, 2011
Nicole Finkbiner, “NoLibs in a Nutshell: Artists Tackle a Neighborhood’s Transformation,” Philadelphia Weekly, June 8, 2011
2007
“Tree of Liberty Mosaic Takes Shape,” Delaware County Daily Times, May 29, 2007
1998
New American Paintings, Number 15, April 1998, The Open Studios Press
1997
Sozanski, Edward J., “Fleisher Art Memorial,” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 28, 1997
1996
Sozanski, Edward J., “F.A.N. Gallery,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 21, 1996
Nugent, Jeanne, “Industrial Sights,” Philadelphia Weekly, June 19, 1996
1995
Dickinson, James, “Entropic Zones: Buildings and Structures of the Contemporary City,” Rider University Gallery, 1995
Raynor, Vivien, “Relentless March of Industrial Decay,” The New York Times, March 5, 1995
Hudson, Alexia, “A City in Ruins,” Welcomat, March 1, 1995
1993
Sozanski, Edward J., “A Fluid Technique Imparting a Feeling of Immediacy,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, May 14, 1993
Rice, Robin, “The Many Faces of Realism,” Philadelphia City Paper, May 21, 1993
1990
Crohn, Jennifer, “Installations of Sound and Action,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 23, 1990
Moran, Kate, “Four/Sites,” New Art Examiner, Summer 1990
1988
Donohoe, Victoria, “Painted Bride,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, October 7, 1988
1987
“At a Manhattan Loft, Art and Law Coexist,” The New York Times, February 15, 1987
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Altoona, PA
Bryn Mawr College, William and Uytendale Scott Memorial Study Collection
Private Collections in New York, Philadelphia, Richmond, and Quebec
Includes CuetoKEARNEYdesign and Robert Linn Architects
2008
Semi-Finalist SEPTA Art in Transit project, 46th and Market Streets El Station. I created a design called West Philly Dances, 20-by-50-foot frieze of dancing figures to be cut out of plate aluminum, painted, and mounted on a tubular steel grid. Done in collaboration with CuetoKearney Design.
2007
The SRS Tree of Liberty, Artist in Residence/Public Art Project: Wallingford-Swarthmore School District Dimensions in Art Program
2001
Snake Bench, Project Coordinator and Artist Assistant to James “Big Man” Maxton at Swarthmore-Rutledge School for an 18-foot-long sculptural bench designed and constructed with the fifth grade students
1979
Stations of the Cross: 14 bas relief wood carvings in collaboration with sculptor Eiko Fan, St. Francis Church, Philadelphia, PA
1980
Three bas relief panels for facade and interior, Greenbriar Inn, Cherry Hill, NJ
2021-2022
Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA
Painting and Drawing
2019, 2020
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Handprinted Monotype Workshops
2019
St. Francis University, Loretto, PA
Handprinted Monotype Workshops
2013
Burlington County College, Pemberton, NJ
NEA funded project to design and create a sculpture for the Pemberton Campus sculpture garden, with BCC students and students Pemberton High School
Georgian Court University, Lakewood, NJ
Guest artist and collaboration with choreographer Silvana Cardell to create a multidisciplinary performance piece with students Dance and Art Departments
2012
University of the Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Guest artist and collaboration with choreographer Silvana Cardell to create a multidisciplinary performance piece with Dance and Visual Art School students
2007
Swarthmore-Rutledge School, Swarthmore, PA
Artist in Residence
1986 - 1988
Greene Street Friends School, Philadelphia, PA
Art Instructor
1986
Main Line Center for the Arts, Haverford, PA
Sculpture and Casting Instructor
1982 - 1983
Main Line School Night Association, Radnor, PA
Sculpture and Casting Instructor
1981
Hussian School of Art, Philadelphia, PA
Guest Instructor in Sculpture
1980
University City Arts League (The Arts League), Philadelphia, PA
Drawing Instructor
Portraits of People on the Move
Patricia M. Nugent Gallery, Rosemont College, Rosemont, PA, “Lamentations," 2022
Cosmopolitan Club of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, 2022
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, PA “Third Street: Paintings and Monoprints by Jennifer Baker,” 2019
Palacio De Bellas Artes, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, EDANCO Festival Internacional De Danza Contemporánea, “Portraits of People on the Move,” companion exhibit to the performance of “Supper People on the Move,” 2018
Tour funded by USArtists Internacional
Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center, Asheville, NC, 2017; The Dance Complex, Cambridge, MA, 2018; Ferst Center for the Arts, Georgia Tech University, Atlanta, GA, 2018; Drexel University URBN Center Black Box Theater, 2019, “Portraits of People on the Move”
Tour funded by New England Foundation for the Arts
Art 101, Brooklyn NY (two person show) “Jennifer Baker and Fara’h Salehi,” 2017
Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, “Work in Progress,” 2017
Crane Hall, Crane Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA “Northern Liberties,” 2017
The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, “Portraits of People on the Move,” 2017
La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, New York, NY, “Portraits of People on the Move,” accompanying the performance of “Supper, People on the Move” for the La MaMa Moves Dance Festival, 2016
Atwater Gallery, Rhinebeck, NY (two person show) “Jennifer Baker and Michael Crawford,” 2015
Grey Space, Crane Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA, “Portraits of People on the Move,” accompanying the performance of “Supper, People on the Move” funded by a Project Grant from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, 2015
Burlington County College Art Gallery, Mt Holly, NJ, "The Developing Form of Sculpture," 2013
Art 101, Brooklyn, NY (two person show) “Jennifer Baker and Fara’h Salehi,” 2011
Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, 2011, “Northern Liberties: A Transformation,” 2011
F.A.N. Gallery, Philadelphia, “Cape Cod Paintings,” 2003
Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, “Challenge Exhibition,” 1997
F.A.N. Gallery, Philadelphia, “American Street,” 1996
Nexus Foundation for Today's Art, Philadelphia, “Heavenly City,” 1993
Camden County College Gallery, Camden, NJ, 1990
Pleiades Gallery, New York, NY, 1985 and 1987
The More Gallery, Philadelphia, 1983
Race Gallery, Philadelphia, 1979
The Theatre Place, Pleasantville, NY, 1978
The Philadelphia Museum of Jewish Art at Rodeph Shalom, “Arise and Away,” 2024
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), Philadelphia, PA, “No Synthetic Colors," 2023 - 2024
Buckham Gallery, Flint, MI, “101 Artists,” 2022
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto PA, “The Found Voice in Art,” 2022
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA), Philadelphia, PA, “Academy Generations: from the 1930s to 2022, Academy Artists at Work,” 2022
Gross McCleaf Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, Fellowship of PAFA Annual Exhibit, 2021
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, “Women in Art: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” 2020
Hot-Bed Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, Fellowship of PAFA Annual Exhibit, 2019
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Loretto, “Tradition and Innovation: Recent Work by Alumni and Faculty of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,” 2018
Cerulean Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, “A Starling in Shadow,” curated by Bill Scott, 2017
PAFA Alumni Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, “Fellowship Annual 2016”
The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, PA, “Art of the State, Pennsylvania 2016”
ART 101, Brooklyn, NY, “Friends,” “Christmas Show,” 2004, “Art for Obama,” 2008, “Miniatures,” 2010, “Looking Back,” 2013
Brooklyn Oenology Winery, Brooklyn, NY, “Williamsburg Galleries Keep It Local,” 2013
4 Heads Governors Island Art Fair, New York, NY, 2011
Artists House Gallery, Philadelphia, Fellowship of PAFA Annual, 2009 and 2011
William Penn Charter School, Philadelphia, “Impressions: Exploring Printmaking in the 21st Century” 2010
Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, “Summer in the City” 2009
POST Philadelphia Open Studio Tours, 2008 and 2009
Gallery Saint Asaph, Bala Cynwyd, PA, 2008
Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, Philadelphia, “20 X 12: A Generation of Challenge,” 1998, “Dear Fleisher,” 2004 and 2008
Wall Art Gallery, Fernandina Beach, FL, group show from Art 101, 2006
Liberty Place, Philadelphia, “Art Works/Water Works,” 2000
Borowsky Gallery, Gershman Y, Philadelphia, “City Lights,” 1996, “Gritty City,” 1999
F.A.N. Gallery, Philadelphia, group shows, 1996, 1997, 1998 and 1999
Beaver College, Glenside, PA, “Works on Paper 1998” (Mark Rosenthal, juror)
Allentown Art Museum, Allentown, PA, Annual Exhibition, 1986 (Patterson Simms, juror); 1988 (Monique Beaudert, juror); and 1998
Museum of American Art of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, “The Unbroken Line, 1897-1997,” 1997
Nexus Foundation for Today’s Art, Philadelphia, “Pleiades Exchange Show,” 1986; “Alternatives,” 1993; “Small Works,” 1993; “I.D.,” 1995; “Nexus is 21,” 1997
City Hall, Philadelphia, “Art in City Hall: Philadelphia Views,” 1996
Rider University Gallery, Lawrenceville, NJ, “Entropic Zones: Buildings and Structures of the Contemporary City,” 1995
Bryn Mawr College Gallery, Bryn Mawr, PA, “Landscape Works by Women Artists: Selections from the Scott Memorial Study Collection,” 1994
Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, “Hard Choices III,” six-museum traveling exhibition of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Visual Arts Fellows, 1993-1994
Viridian Gallery, New York, NY, “Nexus at Viridian,” 1994
Woodmere Art Museum, Philadelphia, “The Figure,” 1980; Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy Annual Exhibition, 1994; Woodmere Annual, 1980 and 1983
Cheltenham Center for the Arts, Cheltenham, PA “7 Sculptors,” International Sculpture Conference Invitational, 1992; Cheltenham Center for the Arts Annual, 1986 (Dore Ashton juror); 1988 (Lowrey Sims); 1989 (Lisa Phillips); 1994 (Charlotta Kotik)
State Museum of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, “Art of the State: Pennsylvania ‘92”
103d Engineers Armory, Philadelphia, “Art at the Armory: Philadelphia Artists,” 1990 and 1992
Community Education Center, Philadelphia, “Art at the Armory Selects,” 1990
Philadelphia Art Alliance, “Four/Sites,” 1990
Stedman Gallery, Rutgers University, City of Camden Annual, 1986, 1988, and 1989
Painted Bride Art Center, “BackGrounds: Autobiographical Statements,” 1988
Port of History Museum, Philadelphia, “Art Fighting AIDS,” 1987
56 Thomas Street, New York City, “Summertime,” three-person show, 1987
Noyes Museum, Oceanville, NJ, Fellowship of the Pennsylvania Academy Annual, 1986
Pleiades Gallery, New York, NY, 1985 and 1986
Rodger LaPelle Gallery, Philadelphia, sculpture show, 1985 and 1986
Museum of the Philadelphia Civic Center, Cheltenham Art Center Annual, 1980
William Penn Memorial Museum, Harrisburg, PA, Greater Harrisburg Arts Festival, 1980
Suzanne Gross Gallery, Philadelphia, three-person show, 1978
“Portraits of People on the Move,” exhibit accompanying the performance of “Supper, People on the Move” Grey Space, Crane Arts Building, Philadelphia, PA, 2015. Original funding by the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage. La MaMa Experimental Theater Club, NYC, 2016, The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia, 2017, Black Mountain College Museum + Art Center, Asheville, NC, 2017; The Dance Complex, Cambridge, MA, 2018; Ferst Center for the Arts, Georgia Tech University, Atlanta, GA, 2018; Drexel University URBN Center Black Box Theater, 2019. National tour funded by New England Foundation for the Arts. Palacio De Bellas Artes, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, EDANCO Festival Internacional De Danza Contemporánea, International tour funded by USArtists Interntional.
“Northern Liberties: From Worlds Workshop to Hipster Mecca and the People in Between,” Philadelphia History Museum at the Atwater Kent, Community History Gallery, 2014
“Northern Liberties: A Transformation,” Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, 2011
Northern Liberties StorySlam, organized event and presented slideshow of Northern Liberties paintings. 2019
Visual artist for “Supper, People on the Move,” created by Silvana Cardell, premiering in June 2015 at the Crane Arts Building’s Icebox and simulcast at Independence Mall in Philadelphia. (See section above for complete information of venues.)
“Now!” performance collaboration with choreographer Silvana Cardell, with five dancers and live drawings by Jennifer Baker. Falls Bridge: New Movement, Improvisation and Performance Festival at Philly PARD, Philadelphia. 2012
Projects Gallery, Philadelphia, “Northern Liberties: A Transformation” organized and participated in readings at opening reception. 2011
First Person Festival of Memoir and Documentary Art, Painted Bride Art Center, Philadelphia, Presented “Northern Liberties Project” 2009
First Person Arts Salon, Laurie Beechman Cabaret at the Arts Bank, Philadelphia, Presented “Northern Liberties Project,” 2009
