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Written by Corey Fenwick
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 The sidewalk in front of an art gallery on the corner of 3rd and
Arch in Philadelphia is busy with first Friday traffic. Standing
outside the building in the cool fall air, Jennifer Yaron, 25, and
Marguerite McDonald, 26, take a much-needed break from the hustle and
bustle within its walls. Though the moment of relaxation is interrupted
a few times by frantic employees, the two are insistent on taking a few
moments away from the event they are hosting for the Philadelphia Mural
Arts Program.
“I really like what you guys have done with the place,” says a young woman who is also lingering in front of the gallery.
“Thanks,” Yaron says with a bright smile.
The building in which the gallery is housed is famous in its own right
– an historical structure that was recently brought into the limelight
as the Philadelphia home of MTVs The Real World. But its potential has
moved beyond being the setting for reality television.
Yaron and McDonald have taken the 14,494 square foot space and
cultivated it into a place where undiscovered artists can gain exposure
and refine their skills—and make some money in the process.
“There weren’t a lot of places for undergraduate artists and emerging
artists to show their work,” Yaron said. “So we came up with F.U.E.L.
.”
F.U.E.L. stands for Fostering Undergraduate Exposure on Location.
The two secured the building through Yaron’s father, whose company owns
the property, and raised funds to begin their business through private
investors.
Friends since childhood, Yaron and McDonald always had plans of working
together. It was not until college, though, that they came up with the
idea for F.U.E.L. Yaron, a graduate from Drexel University with a
degree in graphic design, said many artists she knew were struggling to
get ahead.
“We thought, ‘How can we feed these people,” she said. She and
McDonald set out to do just that… figuratively and metaphorically.
“It is an overwhelming task,” said McDonald, who has a degree in
organization from Brown University. “I think we are able to do this
because we don’t let it get the best of us.”
As an upstart gallery featuring relatively unknown artists, sales
from art shows do not raise enough income to turn a profit. F.U.E.L.
stays afloat by renting out its two main floors for special events.
And, though the gallery is not yet paying of financially, for young
artists like Austin Lee, the ability to exhibit pieces is encouraging.
Lee’s work was shown when he was a student at Temple University’s Tyler
School of Art.
“I think F.U.E.L. Collection is somewhat responsible for helping me
realize that showing work in a gallery isn’t impossible,” he said.
Since his first show, Lee’s work has been featured
in two others, and he is currently putting together a group show with
artists he met on the Internet.
“I have a feeling I’d be a little more sheepish about doing some of
these things if it wasn’t for the F.U.E.L. show,” he said.
With growing success and a seemingly endless range of opportunities,
McDonald and Yaron have big plans for F.U.E.L.’s future. They are
working with their recently appointed creative director Jeffrey
Frederick to develop a dynamic collection of sculpture, painting,
installation and even fashion, which will be shown this December.
“We are trying to cover a very wide spectrum of artwork, while
staying true to their mission statement,” said Frederick—who has
experienced first-hand the hardships of being a starving artist. “I
didn’t have a dollar in my pocket. And now, thanks to these young
ladies, I am employed and doing exactly what I could have hoped to do.”
Ever the friendly hosts, Yaron and McDonald are willing to meet and
assist any artists with an appreciation of the struggle, and the hunger
to succeed. To learn about F.U.E.L.’s future events, visit the FUEL Collection Web site (www.fuelcollection.com).
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