Painted Bride Art Center

[3] The Painted Bride was founded as a gallery space in an old bridal shop on South Street in 1969 by Gerry Givnish, Sylvia and Larry Konigsberg, Frank Vavricka, A. John Kammer, and Deryl Mackie.

Its name derives from a mannequin placed in the shop's window, which became an attraction as people came by to see what provocative outfit it was wearing, or what lewd position it was placed in.

In 1977, having received funding from the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), the Bride hired its first paid staff.

The New York Times referred to the center as a "wonderful, welcoming and often edgy" venue which "set the trend of cultural activity in Old City" when it was founded.

[12] The project incorporated contributions from artists and arts organizations from around the city who were dubbed, “progressive cultural organizers.” As the project's organizer, Mat Schwarzman,[13] wrote: “Cultural activists must develop new strategies for utilizing their work to build bridges between oppressed communities, between struggles in the past and struggles in the present, and between the actions of individuals and the actions of their society.

[14] Changes in the economic environment gradually eroded the Bride's ability to maintain programming at the levels offered up to the late 1990s.

[17] Today, the Bride is an innovative, internationally lauded arts institution that remains rooted in its mission and the needs of Philadelphia's creative communities.