Founded in 1972 as the Brandywine Graphic Workshop, the organization remains committed to the creation, documentation and preservation of a legacy of culturally diverse American art and insuring the participation of multi-ethnic artists and audiences in the field of fine art printmaking and related media technologies. It moved from its first location at 1923 Brandywine Street in North Philadelphia’s Spring Garden section to the South of South Street community in the downtown section of South Philadelphia and began using the name Brandywine Workshop.
During the early 1990s, Brandywine renovated a national historic four-story firehouse at 730-32 S Broad Street into the Firehouse Art Center, which became the first new arts venue to open on the newly designated Avenue of the Arts cultural district. By the mid-1990s, the organization completed construction on a new four-story studio and office building at 1404-1410 Pemberton Street (aka 728 S Broad Street) and created a foundation for a permanent role in the advancement of the Avenue of the Arts, South and the surrounding neighborhoods redevelopment.
The Brandywine Workshop donated a portion of its land holdings at 734-36 S Broad Street to facilitate the construction of the new home for the Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz. In addition to many collaborations with the Clef Club, Brandywine also provides free space in its Glass Lobby Gallery and studios for literary programs of the Moonstone Art Center, hosts programs in support of Philly’s growing fashion industry and its talented young designers from all ethnic groups.
