What Makes Our Community Strong
The Phillips’ Mill Community Association is a volunteer-driven organization with an ambitious agenda and far-reaching goals. Every year, we host several major art shows, present live theater performances and offer workshops.
But we also have a lot of fun.
Time and again, we hear how important the Mill is to our members as a special place to gather as a community to elevate the arts, share common interests and make new friends. All Mill members are invited to opening receptions, social gatherings and other special events. And everyone is invited to join the Mill! It’s not only a great way to support the arts in our community but also a wonderful opportunity to expand your network and gain access to all of our events, including members-only happenings. If you are not already a member, we hope you consider joining.
Our most engaged members also volunteer their time to keep our programs going. Whatever your interest or your talent, availability or schedule, we welcome your participation. If you would like to volunteer, or offer any suggestions, contact us by clicking on the link below. Hope to see you soon!
The 93rd Art Show at Phillips' Mill will take place both on-site at the Mill as well as online. Over the summer, our dedicated volunteers will be busy putting together the most prestigious and highly anticipated art show in the region. They welcome and need your support to continue a tradition that began 93 years ago.
Important Dates
SHOW ON DISPLAY
September 24—October 30, 2022
REGISTRATION
Monday, August 1 – Wednesday, August 31
All registration will be done online via Smarter Entry
RECEIVING DAYS AT THE MILL
All submissions must be dropped off at the Mill
Friday, September 9, 12 to 6 pm
Saturday, September 10, 10 am to 4 pm
ACCEPTED WORKS POSTED ONLINE
Monday, September 12
OPENING NIGHT PREVIEW & RECEPTION
FOR PATRONS & ARTISTS
Friday, September 23, 5 pm
Find complete details in the Prospectus below.
Meet the Jurors
The Phillips’ Mill Art Exhibition is a juried show, with new judges every year. This process gives every show a different look and fresh perspective each year.
GRAPHICS & PAINTING JURORS
Doug Martenson
Peter Van Dyck
Lauren Whearty
SCULPTURE JURORS
Syd Carpenter
Marguerita Hagan
A Special Thank You to Our Early Supporters
Thank you to all who support our historic juried art show. You enable us to continue the legacy of William Lathrop, founder of the Phillips’ Mill Community Association along with his friends Daniel Garber, Fern Coppedge, John Folinsbee, Mary Elizabeth Price, Edward Redfield and the many other New Hope School artists who became the core of Pennsylvanian Impressionism. They were devoted to exhibiting the art of their time, just as we are committed to showing the art of ours. Your support is invaluable.
5th Annual Emerging Playwright Competition
Submissions Open
July 1 - August 31, 2022
The Emerging Playwright Competition, now in its fifth year, attracts talented playwrights from a 100-mile radius of the Phillips’ Mill Community Association. The goal of the competition is to encourage new work and bring it to the stage. Every year, six short plays are selected by a jury to be read on stage, with talkbacks with the audience following the readings.
Winners receive a $100 cash prize and a public reading of their work on the Mill stage.
Don't delay; a maximum of 50 submissions will be accepted!
Some tickets are still available for our 2022 Premiere Showcase production of “Bleeding in Black & White.” The story is set in 1999 in rural Pennsylvania. A piece of a failed satellite has crashed through the roof of the Kayle home, where Michael Kayle — an HIV-positive hemophiliac — lives with his mother, sister and very sassy grandmother. As a result of that freak accident, Michael meets someone who may be his salvation.
(re)Framing the Bucks County Art Canon
Wednesday, July 27, 7 pm
Virtual Presentation
On June 18, 2022, the Michener Art Museum launched a museum-wide initiative and exhibition called “(re)Frame: Community Perspectives on the Michener Art Collection” that celebrates the interpretation of artwork and invites multiple viewpoints on the museum’s permanent collection. For the exhibition, guest curators selected artwork from the permanent collection to tell new stories about identity and the environment in the Delaware Valley region.
Dr. Laura Igoe, Chief Curator, and Joshua Lessard, Director of Exhibitions, Michener Art Museum, join us to discuss this new exhibition and how new perspectives may “reframe” how we view the familiar.
Plein Air Sessions with Amanda Penecale
July 20 & August 10, 9 am to 12 pm
We are excited to report that the first plein air session with award-winning painter Amanda Penecale was a great success. Two more sessions are scheduled this summer, on July 20 and August 10. We welcome artists of all levels to join in on the tradition.
All ages are welcome; participants under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Artists will need to bring their own supplies. Amanda will be available for painting guidance and discussion as you work in the beauty of nature. Suggested donation $10.
Please note, you must bring your own supplies and set up. Chairs and access to public bathrooms will be available.
Art Focus: A Beautiful Success
Last month, on a lovely Sunday afternoon, 30 art lovers and artists converged at the Mill to attend our first Art Focus event, “For the Love of Watercolor.” Artists Aida Birritteri, Jane Ramsey and Beth Schoenleber engaged the attendees with their demonstration tables offering tips, techniques, process and materials related to watercolors. They showed their own beautiful works and discussed their individual styles and approaches.
Jenny Schaeffer, owner of Phoenix Art Supplies & Framing in Doylestown, brought new and unusual watercolor materials for the group to try. Three lucky participants walked away with gift certificates to local arts venues donated by event organizer Dennis Riley in honor of his watercolorist mother, Kathleen Davey Riley.
“Phillips’ Mill Community Association was started by artists as a place to meet and share their interests in 1929. We are dedicated to producing more of these events,” says Laura Womack, President of the Board.
Rick Goodwin
Rick Goodwin recalls the exact moment he decided to write his first full-length play. The retired magazine publisher from Bucks County, Pa., was sitting in a hotel room in Evanston, Illinois, a small town just north of Chicago and home to Goodwin’s alma mater, Northwestern University. It was seven years ago. He was 59 years old. The play that had been floating around in his head was still there, in his head. “I said to myself, ‘You better get started,’” he relays.
Get started he did, and he didn’t stop until “Bleeding in Black and White” was nearly complete.
An Enchanted Evening along the Primrose Creek
On Midsummer’s Night (June 24), the Mill lawn was the setting for a merry rendition of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Mill members and their guests dined amid a sparkling, magic forest where lively actors performed a delightfully bowdlerized version of Shakespeare’s popular comedy. Minstrels enhanced the festive atmosphere with peppy pop music, as did the audience with its hearty laughter and happy heckling.
The filled-to-capacity crowd, cabaret-style outdoor dining, and lively social mingling across tables continued the long tradition of a vibrant social community at Phillips’ Mill.
We Need Building and Grounds Volunteers
The Phillips’ Mill Community Association is looking for help maintaining its historic building, setting up for events and other special projects.
• Activities: Provide TLC for a 1756 building, set up for major events, special projects
• Skills: General light work with furniture, handy with light hand tools, gardening
• Frequency: Typically once a month for 1 to 4 hours, depending on your availability
• Benefits: Personal satisfaction, meeting new people, having fun!
