A woman and a young girl crouch in front of politically charged graffiti -- "the Patriot Act" and "same old shit" in spray paint on canvas. Hip hop music blares from stereo speakers, while a table in the corner serves kabobs and miniature crab cakes.
Union237, a 4-month-old gallery in Old City, is crowded on the opening night of its fourth exhibit, "Under Deconstruction," featuring urban artists Mear and Marka27. The atmosphere is a confusion of cultured restraint and urban exuberance. Young adults in tall boots and extravagant makeup hold hors d'oeuvres and cups of wine.
The gallery makes a point of defying expectations through artistic variability -- not sticking to any particular medium and showing major artists alongside self-taught outsiders.
Next month, the gallery will present four decades of pieces by the Tiberino family -- a clan of prominent Philadelphia artists.
Old City's 40-some other art galleries and cultural institutions "don't know what we're going to do next," Union237 Publicity Coordinator Andrew Chew says.
One enduring fixture of the gallery -- which is located at 237 Market St. -- is a basement exhibition of urban art. This month, the upstairs and downstairs exhibits intersect, but Union237 always shows graffiti art as well as custom-made bicycles, lamps and T-shirts by urban artists.
"Graffiti in and of itself is a message," Chew says, adding that graffiti art is not widely recognized as a movement.
"We provide a forum to show graffiti without the destructive element," he explains.
Besides showcasing urban art, Union237 is also involved in its neighborhood in other ways.
The gallery has a record label, Dae Records, and a television studio that has produced commercials for several local businesses. The gallery is also working with Old City stores and cultural groups to put on a hair show, a fashion show and a concert in the near future.
Despite Union237's efforts to be prominent in the community, many local gallery owners have not heard of the young venue, which attempts to set itself apart from other galleries in the area.
Barbara Rosenfeld -- co-founder of Old City's first gallery, the 37-year-old Rosenfeld Gallery -- disagrees about the innovativeness of Union237.
"Does the Tiberino family deserve an entire exhibit?" she says.
Rosenfeld adds that "some galleries over the years" have exhibited graffiti art in Old City.
"I cannot put [graffiti art] in the same category as someone who's spent their entire life studying, learning, experimenting with art," she adds.
Chew, however, speaks enthusiastically about what he sees as Union237's unique role in the Philadelphia art scene and its place in the community.
"Philadelphia needed this," he says.
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