Philadelphia, PA – Northern Liberties Business Improvement District will honor Black History Month with a new, two-location First Friday celebration on Friday, February 6, 2026 spotlighting Black creativity, culture and community. This special Black History Month First Friday Kick-Off will highlight two Black and female-owned businesses while featuring local artists, live music, lite bites and a benefit supporting youth arts education. The evening begins at Trunc (929 N. 2nd Street) from 5:00pm to 8:00pm with the opening of 3RD WRL GRL VIEW by artist Leanne Mair, with the artist making her work in the window from 5:00pm to 5:45pm, accompanied by a special musical performance from Faith the Violinist (from 6:00pm to 7:00pm), plus lite refreshments. Rap Snacks and AfroPop will also be available for purchase. The evening continues at 1040 Creative (1040 N. 2nd Street) from 6:00pm to 9:00pm with a special exhibition and benefit “Small Works Wonders” to raise funds for Youth Summer Arts Scholarships.
Look for works by artists Pauline Houston McCall, Wanda Payne and Misty Sole for sale, with each small work purchased benefiting the scholarship program. Meet the artists, enjoy live music and lite bites. Both receptions are no charge to attend and all are welcome. Both exhibits continue through the rest of February if you can’t make the opening receptions. For more about Trunc, visit @truncartisans and for more about 1040 Creative visit @1040Creative on social. For more about programs and services of NLBID, visit @northliberties on social media.
“Black History Month is an opportunity not only to reflect, but to actively uplift the artists, businesses and voices shaping our community today,” said Northern Liberties Business Improvement District Executive Director Sydney Rexroad. “This First Friday allows us to celebrate Black creativity, while also supporting future generations through youth arts education. By spotlighting Black women artists and entrepreneurs, this First Friday highlights the incredible talent and leadership that continues to drive Northern Liberties forward.”
EXHIBITION OPENING RECEPTION
Trunc
929 N. 2nd Street
Friday, February 6 THROUGH Wednesday, May 6, 2026
5:00pm to 8:00pm
3RD WRL GRL VIEW by artist Leanne Mair
Trunc is honoring Black History Month by proudly introducing the community to artist Leanne Mair. Her exhibition, 3RD WRL GRL VIEW, opens February 6, 2026 during Northern Liberties Black History Month First Friday Kick-Off, from 5:00pm to 8:00pm. To celebrate, Mair will be creating one of her works live on canvas in the Trunc front window from 5:00–5:45pm. The evening continues with a special performance by @faiththeviolinist, who will fill the window with music from 6:00–7:00pm. Enjoy lite refreshments and a complimentary wine tasting. AfroPop Soda and Rap Chips will be available for purchase. Trunc is Philadelphia’s only black-owned, veteran owned and female-owned maker spaces and retail shops, presented by Dorothea Gamble and Dagmar Mitchell.
“Join us for a vibrant night of art, music, lite bites and good people,” said Trunc co-owner Dorothea Gamble. “We are coming together to celebrate creativity, culture and community. Stop by for a nice vibe and meet the artist.”
1040 Creative Cultural Art Center & Gallery
1040 N. 2nd Street, Suite 301
Friday, February 6th
6:00pm to 9:00pm
“SMALL WORKS WONDERS!”
1040 Creative (1040 N. 2nd Street, Suite 301 in Liberties Walk) will host “Small Works Wonders” from 6:00pm to 9:00pm to raise funds for Youth Summer Arts Scholarships. Look for works by artists Pauline Houston McCall, Wanda Payne and Misty Sole for sale, with each small work purchased benefiting the scholarship program. Meet the artists, enjoy live music, nibble on lite bites and engage with the community.
“Supporting youth arts scholarships ensures that creativity remains accessible and that the next generation of artists has the opportunity to learn, grow and be inspired,” said 1040 Creative co-owner and artist Pauline Houston McCall. “Just imagine a small work of art that you purchase will give a young creative person access to joyful art classes during the summer!”
She added,” Northern Liberties has long been a neighborhood rooted in creativity and this event brings together art, music and purpose in a way that feels meaningful and inclusive for everyone.”
Proceeds will benefit scholarships for Youth Summer Arts Camp @ 1040 Creative Cultural Art Center & Gallery. This highly interactive arts intensive program for school age youth from kindergarten to high school. Students get a lovely studio arts experience in an environment filled with painting and sculpture installation. Students are given six week sessions that incorporate multimedia arts ie..drawing, painting, sculpture and pottery. For 2026, this summer’s theme is “World Arts.” Students will learn and experience art techniques from many different cultures around the world. From Africa Mask to Japanese pottery and Mexican inspired Mural painting. Scholarship students from across the city will experience 1040 Creative’s very own mural project entitled, “CWAMI” Community Wall Art Mobile Initiative.
Artist – Pauline Houston McCall
“Art is another way of speaking to the world.”
“I want to speak LOUD!”
Her large paintings and sculptures and intimate drawings have graced exhibitions throughout the tri-state area, with a deep focus on the falling and rising of the human spirit, told through figurative imagery and stories.
She has designed and painted multiple indoor and exterior murals in Philadelphia and is involved in the bold beautification of neighborhoods through the arts.
Pauline is also the lead vocalist, co-songwriter and co-creator of Soul music endeavor MOKA. MOKA has graced many stages and has enjoyed massively positive reviews in many publications across the globe for its innovation, style and originality.
Pauline Houston McCall co-founder of musical projects SPIRITUAL THUNDER (freak folk duo) and REGGAE THUNDER! Pauline is the founder and director of the nationally acclaimed women’s artist collective “WOMEN HOLLER” – a collective that unites and invigorates women artists, transcending issues of race and age. “Intimate Exposures,” a WOMEN HOLLER premier exhibition at the Painted Bride – was featured on CBS 3’s “EYE ON PHILADELPHIA.”
Houston McCall’s art, as well as her activism, has appeared in numerous articles and publications including Working Mother Magazine. Currently, Pauline Houston McCall is the sole artist for 30 Hudson Yards, New York’s second tallest high rise to date. Pauline Houston McCall’s 8 paintings and 11 sculptures are commissioned for 41st to the 48th floor of 30 Hudson YARDS.
Houston McCall has recently been a featured artist in the exhibition “Expressions of Humanity” at the African American Museum.
In addition to her art making and other creations, Pauline is an energetic educator that has led many community collaborative projects and Artist Residencies in the Tri-State area for the past 13 years. Pauline Houston has taught multi-disciplinary arts at Perkins Center for the Arts as well as Appel Farms and is involved in the creation of both musical performance and visual arts residencies in area schools.
Houston McCall is a resident of Philadelphia and grew up playing by the Wissahickon in the beautiful Fairmount park with her many brothers and sisters. She received a BFA in Printmaking from Moore College of Art. Her travels to and through India in 1991 have left her with deeper appreciation and a deeper imprint of the rising of the human spirit. This experience has connected her directly to the figurative narratives in her work.
Artist – Misty Sol
Misty Sol is a writer, visual artist, and performer from small-town Pennsylvania who creates art that explores Black people’s connections to nature, wellness, and speculation. Her paintings, children’s book illustrations, stories, and eco practice are heavily influenced by Black history and aesthetics. Particularly, her grandmother’s history as a migrant farmworker, midwife, and gifted storyteller in early 20th century America. From her grandmother’s tales of dangerous journeys in the racist North and Jim Crow South, to her epic Bible tales and terrifying ghost stories, Misty’s work inherits a sense of narrative, sensuality, magic, timelessness, hope, the bucolic and fecund. But also contained are senseless abstractions, images of stark violence, and the weight of the oppression. Ultimately she uses these elements to distill elements of dignity, legacy, humor, and connection. With acrylic color vibrant as her gardens, the gurgle of a stream, a hymn her grandmother used to sing, the smell of onions, and the coolness of garden soil, she creates a body of work that explores and affirms the experience of Black humanity.Pauline Houston McCall is a multimedia artist, vocalist and activist who believes deeply in connecting the threads between many disciplines.
Artist – Wanda Payne (WandanoPayne, Wanda Art Payne)
Wanda Payne, also known as WandanoPayne or Wanda Art Payne, is a self-taught abstract artist based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Known for her emotionally charged, colorful, and fluid paintings, Wanda’s work explores the unseen rhythms of the human spirit.
Her creative journey began as a deeply personal, therapeutic practice and evolved into a bold visual language of its own. Influenced by music, movement, memory, and transformation, her intuitive process allows emotion to pour directly onto the surface.
Wanda’s art has been featured in local exhibitions, community projects, and online platforms that celebrate Black women artists and creative authenticity. Whether working in a small bedroom studio or in the midst of life’s transitions, Wanda continues to create work that speaks from the soul and invites others to feel more deeply.
Artist statement: “My art is an act of surrender. I never approach the canvas with a plan—I arrive with feeling. Using acrylic paint markers, brushes, or my hands, I release shapes, lines, colors, and energy in a way that feels like a spiritual purge. I allow emotion to lead, intuition to guide, and color to speak before logic ever enters the room. My process is raw and trance-like. Often I don’t know what I’m creating until I pause, breathe, and look—then the story begins to emerge from the marks I’ve made. I paint to heal, to express, and to connect. Movement—both emotional and physical—is a constant in my work. My pieces are layered, fluid, and often unpredictable, just like life. Each one captures a moment of truth, whether chaotic or calm. I don’t aim for perfection. I aim for presence.”
ABOUT NORTHERN LIBERTIES BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT
Northern Liberties Business Improvement District was formed in 2018 to provide supplements to the municipal services of the City of Philadelphia; maintain a safe, clean and vibrant commercial district for the benefit of the residents, users, and owners within the district, and to citizens of Philadelphia and the region; to create opportunities for the business and residential communities to come together to make improvements to the district; and develop and implement programs and services that ensure that Northern Liberties continues to be a desirable place to live, work, shop, invest and visit. For more information, see explorenorthernliberties.org.
ABOUT TRUNC:
Mission
To make available environmentally conscious, handcrafted and locally made jewelry, apothecary, home furnishings accessories, clothing and art to Philadelphia by becoming a premier destination for the arts and culture community. We will create jobs and contribute to the success of or community.
Who We Are
Trunc celebrates creativity in all of its modern meaning. We only carry what speaks to us. We choose makers that are relevant with a point of view and a great story, makers that aren’t afraid to do something different. We search hard for makers that can create tomorrow’s icons and heirlooms. Makers that produce product that are beautiful and functional
Why We Opened The Shop
We wanted to tap into the makers that create in their spare time,that are students or just starting out. We wanted to create a platform for these artisans to show their craft. We wanted the look of an art gallery and the ability for the customer to purchase anything in the shop.
ABOUT 1040 CREATIVE
1040 Creative exists to create a warm and welcoming vibe where our neighbors and surrounding communities feel fre e and comfortable to come and take a class or drop off their child to take a creative class. 1040 Creative seeks to bring a culture or haven of creativity and inspiration. 1040 Creative is a cultural hub where you can take in beautifully curated exhibitions by local and national artists. Classes take place in the 1,600 square foot multi-level space that includes also a lounge, library, classroom, exhibit space and studios.