Esther Klein Gallery

Mission :

The mission of the Esther Klein Art Gallery (EKG) is to positively impact the cultural life of both our immediate neighborhood of West Philadelphia and the broader Philadelphia community. EKG aims to engage the public and school children by using the creative arts as a platform to explore relationships between art science and technology. Our gallery talks, panel discussions and education programs are designed to complement the range of art, science & technology exhibitions held each year. All EKG events are free and open to the public.

History :

The Esther M. Klein Art Gallery, a nonprofit, self supporting branch of the University City Science Center (UCSC), the first urban, university related research park in the United States. EKG has been a strong and vital force in the Philadelphia art community for over 30 years. Dr. Randall Whaley, UCSC President in 1975, envisioned a gallery program that explored and promoted the relationship between art and science. The first Art & Science exhibit was a collaborative project involving the UCSC, the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and the Philadelphia Art Alliance. Three artists were selected for a week-long residency at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and their work was exhibited at the Philadelphia Art Alliance. In 1981, F. Buckminster Fuller, a past UCSC World Fellow and Resident, was featured in an exhibition that included his early drawings, 4-D and dymaxion ideas and his last invention, the dymaxion bookcase. The success of these early exhibitions and the gallery’s strategic affiliation with the Science Center paved the way for what has become EKG’s primary focus on exploring the intersection between art, science and technology. EKG’s two other exhibit initiatives, Art in Community and Emerging Artists Series celebrate local talent and community organizations. To date, the Klein Gallery has supported well over 3500 regional artists through solo and group exhibitions and extends a dynamic programs and events calendar that is completely free and open to the public.