It’s no secret that Northwest Philadelphia is home to plenty of artists. Jewelry-making, quilting, pottery, crocheting, painting, photography, sculpting — you name it, and someone in a local neighborhood likely does it.

Recognizing the Northwest’s surplus of creativity, the Roxborough Development Corporation (RDC) is offering an outlet for these artists to showcase their work through a new gallery called Art on the Ridge.

The gallery, which opened on Sept. 15, is not only benefiting the artists who display their pieces. Art on the Ridge is also helping the Roxborough community by repurposing a formerly vacant space and increasing foot traffic on Ridge Avenue.

“The opening of Art on the Ridge at our new location is a powerful example of how creativity can breathe new life into our commercial corridor,” said Jax Cusack, executive director of RDC.

Founding the gallery

Art on the Ridge first began as a series of pop-up consignment galleries in late 2024, funded by a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. These pop-ups served as a case study for RDC to explore whether such a gallery could be successful enough to merit a permanent location. According to Cusack, the answer was clear.

“It exceeded our sales projections by about 45%,” Cusack said. “So, with that knowledge, and the request from our artists and community to have a place to sell their creative pieces… we started looking for a permanent location.”

In collaboration with Baker Street Partners, a local real estate development firm, RDC found 6155A Ridge Ave. and struck a deal with Baker Street to pay below-market rate rent on the once-vacant storefront.

Supporting local artists

RDC then sent out a call for Greater Philadelphia-based artists, giving priority to those based in the Northwest. The organization looked for a wide variety of price points, ensuring there will be something for everyone.

“We have everything from one-dollar stickers to $700 fine art pieces,” Cusack said. “We split the space into two categories, which are our fine art and our vendor section or art market, which is jewelry, prints, zines, patches, and stickers.”

Curated to showcase many unique mediums, Art on the Ridge rotates gallery space, offering artists the opportunity to showcase their work in two-month intervals. This means that RDC will send out another call for more artists at the end of October.

In addition to these rotating exhibits, Art on the Ridge also will hold events, especially as the holiday season approaches. For instance, every resident artist will have the opportunity to host a workshop. Priced on a sliding scale of affordability, these workshops will allow community members to learn skills such as collage-making, weaving, or printmaking.

“All the furniture the art market has is movable, so we can move it out of the way and use the front space of the gallery,” Cusack said. “We purposely didn’t put new floors in. We left the raw concrete and put big area rugs down, so we can roll those up if it’s a messy [workshop] without having to worry about the flooring and people’s artwork. We’re looking for classes between 10 and 30 people.”

RDC also plans to include a small section of local authors and host book or poetry readings by November.

Revitalizing a commercial corridor

Establishing a home for local artists to showcase their work is “vital to keeping artists producing,” according to Cusack. Unlike the weather-dependent and inconsistent nature of selling products at street festivals, a permanent location is more reliable.

“We’re trying to hopefully make it as easy as possible for artists to make some money,” Cusack said. “We do a very low, below-market-rate commission. Some artists have raised that commission to help support the gallery’s efforts, because we’re doing this solely on donations and grants, but we also don’t want to gouge our artists.”

Another big goal of Art on the Ridge is to increase the amount of people shopping on Ridge Avenue.

“We only have a handful of places that are open after 5 p.m., so one of the goals was to create something that would get some foot traffic there in the evening,” Cusack said.

RDC hopes this model proves to be successful, demonstrating how introducing creative new ideas can revitalize a community’s commercial corridor.

Art on the Ridge, 6155A Ridge Ave., Roxborough. Wednesday and Thursday, 1-7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday noon-8 p.m.; Sunday, noon-6 p.m.

Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.