Community
Allens Lane Art Center supports the community through a variety of free programs and events.
Mt. Airy Arts Festival
FREE EVENT
September 27th, 2025 11-4pm
We are so excited to announce that in partnership with WMAN we will be hosting our 2nd Annual Mt. Airy Arts Festival, on September 28th! At this year’s Mt. Airy Arts Festival, discover new art-making stations in a variety of media including painting, printmaking, fiber arts, ceramic, sculpture, nature art, drumming, cyanotypes, and for the young and young at heart chalk painting, swirl painting, Gelli printing, mask-making, fan-making, community quilting and music and creative movement for young learners; check out a variety of performances on our outdoor stage, shop at the art market with local artist vendors, sample delicious food and ice-cream from our guest food trucks, enjoy a variety of fun games, and check out a surprise exhibition in our galleries!
Art Forward: Engaging NW Philadelphia
Art Forward is an 18-month resident-driven community engagement project funded by the William Penn Foundation and PECO Powering the Arts. Led by Allens Lane Art Center, the Mt. Airy CDC, and a Community Action Team (CAT), the project seeks to learn from the stories of Mt. Airy and Germantown neighbors about what matters most to them in arts and culture. Art Forward will use the lessons learned to create a neighborhood-specific arts and culture education plan, that we will share widely with community partners and interested local organizations.
Stenton Family Manor
For almost a decade children and youth living at Stenton Family Manor have participated in our 8 week Summer Art Camp. Stenton Family Manor is a housing emergency shelter serving close to 200 families each year. The mission of Stenton is to Empower the Community through education, training, and financial literacy. The Manor provides housing, free meals, personal hygiene, afterschool homework help for children and youth, and a free health clinic. Stenton is located in East Mt. Airy.
In the summer of 2022, our teaching artist held an 8 week meditation and painting workshop on the grounds of Stenton Family Manor, providing twice a week hands-on arts experience during Stenton’s Summer Camp program. They created multiple collaborative art-works, including planting bulbs and flowers in the SFM’s outdoor garden in designs pre-discussed, planned, and drawn by the children, and they painted large-scale 5’x5′ pictorial journals of their gardening, meditative, and artistic experiences. The workshops focused on self-expression, healing, and supporting young artists’ creativity and imagination.
