Mayor Michael Nutter joined officials from the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation in announcing “With Art Philadelphia” — a $2-million, two-year campaign designed to position the city as a premier arts destination.

The campaign will launch in March, before the May opening of the Barnes Foundation’s Philadelphia campus on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway. The Barnes opening has been touted as the biggest art story in the world for 2012.

“We maximize this great opportunity by launching the first-ever coordinated, sustained visual arts marketing campaign in the city’s history,” Nutter said Thursday morning, as he addressed 150 members of the city’s tourism and hospital industry.

“The goal is to highlight Philadelphia as one of the world’s great artistic and cultural destinations, and therefore increase visitation to our region from around the world.”

With Art Philadelphia — with a tagline of “Curate Your Own Experience” — will highlight the city’s visual arts exhibits, museums on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, arts education institutions, gardens and horticultural sites.

As the initiative evolves, it will go beyond the traditional definition of visual art to embrace the region’s gardens, high fashion boutiques, independent collectives, public art and annual events.

“We are no longer a historic city located between New York and D.C. With the message that will be carried by With Art Philadelphia, Philadelphia will build a lasting reputation as a outstanding center for arts and culture that invites visitors to return year after year,” said City Representative Melanie Johnson.

The campaign is the result of a partnership between a growing coalition led by the city of Philadelphia and GPTMC. Partners include the Barnes Foundation, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Philadelphia Visitors and Convention Bureau, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Parkway Council Foundation, PNC and PECO.

The campaign will be marketed through advertising, public relations, media partnerships, a new microsite and social media events.

GPTMC President and CEO Meryl Levitz also unveiled the new With Love, Philadelphia XOXO winter tourism campaign, geared toward getting couples to stay at Philadelphia hotels.

The $825,000 campaign runs January through March and offers a new look and 29 Nights of Dates sweepstakes — featuring more than 60 prizes on facebook.com/visitphilly. The With Love, Philadelphia XOXO campaign will be advertised in the Philadelphia, Northern New Jersey and New York markets.

Contact Staff Writer Ayana Jones at (215) 893-5747 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Philadelphia Fashion Incubator (PFI) at Macy’s Center City, a new fashion design initiative devoted to supporting and promoting emerging fashion designers and encouraging local designers to keep their businesses in Philadelphia, was announced by city officials this week.

A collaboration between The City of Philadelphia, Center City District, Macy’s Center City, and several educational institutions devoted to fashion design in Philadelphia, PFI will provide four aspiring designers the workspace and essential business resources needed to run successful and sustainable fashion companies. This initiative comes on the heels of the second successful “Philadelphia Collection 2011,” an umbrella event that showcased the city’s fall fashion happenings. The PFI is the first of its kind in Philadelphia, the home to nationally recognized fashion design schools, including Moore College of Art, Drexel University and Philadelphia University. The purpose of PFI is to support and promote emerging fashion designers from these design schools and the fashion community of Philadelphia.

“We’re not just a city between New York and Washington — we have a lot to offer, and that’s what we’re doing here,” said city representative Melanie Johnson. “The Philadelphia fashion retail profile is certainly on the rise, and with exciting new programs like the PFI, our stake in the future of Philadelphia’s fashion and design community becomes even more important in branding the city as a innovative fashion destination and a location for smart business investment.”

Modeled after a similar and successful program in Chicago between Macy’s State Street and The City of Chicago, the year-long residency program, which launches in Philadelphia in March 2012, will provide the selected Designer-In-Residence (DIR) with office space, a production room and shared showroom space/conference room. The DIR will receive mentoring from industry and business professionals along with a significant schedule of monthly workshops focused on the business of fashion. Workshops will include topics on creating a business plan, marketing strategy, and identifying legal needs and funding. The tailored curriculum will be offered by community leaders, industry experts and fashion insiders.

“Philly is fashion in the United States of America,” declared Mayor Nutter. “Philadelphia is a fertile breeding ground for the creative class. We are fortunate to have some of the best educational institutions in the country, and the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator will cultivate and nurture these talented fashion designers that have emerged from these institutions,” said Mayor Nutter. “The Philadelphia Fashion Incubator is the first of its kind in Philadelphia, and the initiative represents the City’s commitment to a thriving, innovative, creative economy.”

The 600+-square foot “Project Runway”-inspired production room, showroom and office space will be located at Macy’s Center City in the historic Wanamaker Building. The space will allow DIRs to produce samples, gain valuable retail insight and showcase their collections to merchants from local and national retailers. In addition to workspace and monthly business workshops, DIRs will also participate in various fashion events throughout the year, including pop-up shops, trunk shows and a fashion show during The Philadelphia Collection.

“Philadelphia Fashion Incubator at Macy’s Center City is going to go a long way in finding the next generation of local fashion design talent” says Martine Reardon, executive vice president of Marketing & Advertising of Macy’s. “The fashion and retail industries thrive when new creative talent emerges and energizes the marketplace. By introducing aspiring designers to the inner workings of the fashion and retail business, and providing them a workshop filled with the resources that will get their businesses off the ground, Philadelphia will become a key city in the American fashion industry.”

DIR will be selected by PFI’s Selection Committee which consists of six professionals from Philadelphia’s fashion and business sectors. “We are extremely excited to launch this initiative in Philadelphia,” said Michelle Shannon, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Center City District. “To have the ability to support local fashion design talent and nurture new wholesale and retail business in our city sends a strong message that Philadelphia is indeed an emerging fashion design center.”

Each of the three design schools will have one alumnus participate as a designer-in-residence. The fourth designer-in-residence spot is an open call to any apparel designer living in the Philadelphia region. If you are interested in becoming one of the designers chosen to be part of the 2012 Philadelphia Fashion Incubator, apply at philadelphiafashionincubator.com. Applications are due by January 20, 2012.

Contact Tribune staff writer Bobbi Booker at (215) 893-5749 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

The Police Athletic League has a long history of successfully helping young people build their confidence and self-esteem, while at the same time, encouraging them to seek careers in public service.

On Wednesday, Mayor Michael Nutter, District Attorney Seth Williams and 24 other city officials donated their time to mentor 26 students from across the city in the 2012 Lockheed Martin PAL Day at City Hall — a special event that allows the students to partner with a city official to experience how local government works. The students take an actual oath of office and then shadow their partnered city officials for the remainder of the day.

“PAL Day at City Hall offers an opportunity to encourage and support the development of highly motivated students who may consider a career in government some day,” said Nutter, honorary president of PAL. “Through Lockheed Martin, PAL Day at City Hall and other partnerships, the city continues to invest heavily in building effective and positive mentoring models to engage our children and youth.”

The young people selected to participate were representatives from each of the 26 PAL centers across the city — from North and South Philadelphia to Kensington, Nicetown and Logan. The students are recognized for their academic achievements and community service — the young people that city residents don’t hear enough about.

“For 40 years, kids have been coming to City Hall to see and learn how their government works,” said city representative Melanie Johnson, who encouraged the PAL participants to become involved in the professional world through internships and networking. She also encouraged them to seek careers in public service and government. “PAL Day connects promising students with workplace leaders, so they can gain insight on the skill necessary to succeed in a professional setting. These students have great futures ahead of them and we want to make every effort to move them along that path. Being here can be a life changing experience for them.”

PAL began in 1947 with Sgt. Gus Rangnow and a few volunteer officers organizing local kids to play sports. The events they organized proved successful, and with the help of Howard P. Sutton, the superintendent of police, a district sports program began to promote a better relationship between police officers and the youth of the community. PAL continued to grow in popularity and in 1949, it incorporated as a non-profit organization. In Philadelphia 26,000 students participate in some form of PAL activity.

“This is a great opportunity for these young men and women to see how government works behind the scenes. Each of the city officials has donated their time to allow these exceptional students to learn from them,” said Gerry Fasano, president of Lockheed Martin. “This is impressive and reassuring and validates our hopes for the future. We as leaders have one thing in common; we’re spending our time to listen and to learn from these young people.”

In a distinct merger of fashion and art, the 2012 Philadelphia Collection held a soiree at the Philadelphia Museum of Art's Perelman Building Tuesday evening, Sept. 11. The 100-plus guests nibbled on treats from Steven Starr and sipped on white sangria while hailing the event's growing success during a colorful kickoff party.

Beginning this week, the third annual Philadelphia Collection will take over Philadelphia, bringing hundreds of guests to nearly 100 events throughout the city. Established in 2010, the Philadelphia Collection 2012 is a series of fashion and style events that take place in mid-September. The fashion series is designed to promote the city and all aspects of its fashion economy, including its impressive “collection” of retailers, boutiques, stylists, designers, modeling agencies, design schools and fashion/design students. Events are independently produced by local producers and retailers and include fashion shows, trunk shows, lectures, movies and panel discussions by experts.

“Since the Collection’s inception, the city’s burgeoning fashion and design community has gained worldwide recognition as a top fashion and shopping destination,” said City Representative Melanie Johnson, co-chair of the Philadelphia Collection. “New programs have emerged dedicated to the continued growth of fashion and design in our city, including the Philadelphia Fashion Incubator at Macy’s Center City and exciting collaborations like designer co-op US*U.S. and Skai Blue Show, showcasing the city’s ripe talent and booming creative

economy.”

The Collection brings the creative community members together in a week where collaborative events leave consumers asking for more, and intimate small-scale events leave shoppers satisfied with fall 2012 must-haves.

In addition to the nearly 100 events, the Philadelphia Collection 2012 will host a series of expert panels to lead thought-provoking, fashion-themed discussions featuring fashion-savvy, established panelists. Discussion topics will include “The X Factor: Technology and Media in Fashion;” “Fashion Inc.: The Business of Fashion” and “A Styled Life: Fashion Careers 101.”

To further feed the appetites of style-hungry Philadelphians, “Random Acts of Fashion” will return for its second year. The series of social media-driven campaigns including “Ambush Makeovers” and “Remote Red Carpet” will encourage conversation about all things fashion on the Collection’s online platforms prior to the kickoff. “Ambush Makeovers” will ask the public to enter a contest to be made over from head-to-toe in fall 2012 fashion and beauty trends. “Remote Red Carpet” will entail random “pop-up” appearances of the Philadelphia Collection-branded backdrops throughout the city. Passersby will snap photos in front of the backdrop and “tag” themselves on the Collection’s Facebook page.

“The Philadelphia Collection 2012 is one of the diverse and most exciting eight days of fashion in our history,” said Johnson. “This is the biggest, and it’s going to be the best.”

The Philadelphia Collection 2012 runs from Sept. 13 to 20. Visit www.thephiladelphiacollection.org to see the complete schedule of events.

Contact staff writer Bobbi Booker at (215) 893-5749 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Mayor Michael Nutter has announced that Desiree Peterkin-Bell, the Mayor’s Office Director of Communications and Strategic Partnerships, will add the position of city representative to her duties, allowing City Representative Melanie Johnson to take on the new assignment as Director of Research and Marketing for Big Events.

Peterkin-Bell, who returned to the mayor’s office last month after serving as senior advisor for communications in Pennsylvania for the Obama for America campaign, will bring together for the first time the city charter-based functions of the city representative, who is charged with promoting the city and representing the mayor, with her role of guiding communications in the mayor’s office, the city’s social media presence and promoting transparency in city government.

“With these changes, we have a great opportunity to place a consummate communicator, Desiree Peterkin-Bell, at the head of two critical areas of government communications while at the same time shifting an experienced city promoter, Melanie Johnson, into an area where she has expanded the playing field for signature events and where we want to do much more in attracting major, destination events for our great city,” Nutter said.

Peterkin-Bell said, “I am honored to serve in these roles and I hope to build on the work that’s been done in the Office of the City Representative over the last five years.”

In the new position of Director of Research and Marketing for Big Events, Johnson is tasked with attracting major events, like the Made in America festival last summer, the Philadelphia Marathon and the WaWa Welcome America, to the city.

“For the last five years, I’ve been able to grow the Office of the City Representative through special events and partnerships with the hospitality community,” Johnson said. “This new opportunity allows me to explore new avenues in the special events arena for the city, helping move Philadelphia forward as a world class destination. I am honored that the Mayor has given me this opportunity and I look forward to the challenge in 2013.”