From a lamp in the shape of a stick of butter to an enlarged sculpture of a crumpled-up Taylor Pork Roll package, Middle Child is auctioning off some of the wackiest artwork in the city to raise money for Juntos, an immigrant rights organization.
The restaurant will host its sixth annual “Gallerytessen” silent auction at its 1232 N. Front St. location in Fishtown on Monday night. Paintings, sculptures, light fixtures and other pieces of mixed media that adhere to a theme of “food and friendship” will be sold. More artists than ever have contributed to the exhibit, and many are regulars and employees.
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Sadie Pennington, assistant manager of Middle Child Clubhouse, has spearheaded the event since its inception in 2021. She said the auction came out of a desire to support independent music venues during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. A lover of art herself, she rounded up a group of over a dozen artist friends who created food-themed works.
Between decorative rugs adorned with the signature Middle Child smiley face logo, lunch-themed collages, hoagie prints and sandwich sculptures, the first auction raised over $6,000 for the National Independent Venue Association that year. Pennington and Matt Cahn, owner of Middle Child, knew they were onto something great.
“I feel like we’re very much an artist and community-oriented restaurant, where so many of our regulars, employees and friends are musicians and artists of different sorts,” Cahn said. “It always felt natural for us to do something like this. … These are all people that we know personally, people that work with Middle Child, and it’s been really amazing.”
As excitement has grown over the years for Gallerytessen, featured artists have only felt more emboldened to push the boundaries of the theme. Two of the most sought after pieces last year were a neon sign of two penguins hugging and a glass ham, which sparked a bidding war between a store regular and an employee. Pennington even won her own share of bidding wars.
“I got some good stuff out of it last year,” she said. “The event is really just to bring people together, look at the artwork and be together in person, which is kind of a dying thing in general.”
Gallerytessen has also given artists an opportunity to work with each other. Two longtime contributors, neon light artist ElectroRomantic and Ian Chapin collaborated this year on a lamp shaped like a stick of butter.
Also included in this year’s collection are a sculpture of eggs with faces in the yolks by Annie Timchak, a drawing of a diner waitress pouring coffee called “WELCOME IN HON” by Conner Phillips and a giant “Taylor Pork Roll” package by Braden Young.
Provided Image/Electro-Romantic and Ian Chapin
A lamp shaped like a stick of butter, created by Electro-Romantic and Ian Chapin, will be part of the collection.
Provided Image/Conner Phillips
Above, a drawing of a Philly diner waitress by Conner Phillips titled ‘WELCOME IN HON.’
“Food and friendship is the theme, but even that is totally open to interpretation,” Pennington said. “I think that’s another exciting element of art exhibits in general. … What does that mean? That’s the exciting part about it.”
Pennington and Cahn work with the artists to choose a different local nonprofit to support. Since 2021, over $18,000 has been raised for South Philadelphia Community Fridge, Resources for Human Development and the Nationalities Service Center. Cahn and Pennington said the artists’ choice of Juntos this year is the ultimate “sign of the times.”
While the organizers don’t have a target donation in mind, their goal is to hit $4,000 total.
“There are so many undocumented workers and there’s a lot of fear in the restaurant community right now,” Cahn said. “Anything that we can do to try to quell that fear, whether it’s doing ICE trainings at the restaurant or donating to causes that can support them from a legal and educational standpoint is something that we want to do right now.”
Online bidding for the auction has already begun and the dozens of works will be displayed in Middle Child Clubhouse on Monday from 7-9 p.m, followed by an afterparty at Pip’s from 9 p.m.-midnight, which will also donate proceeds of their sales to Juntos.
