A Spring Garden condo shaped by its art
Joshua Wilkin, dean of students at Moore College of Art & Design, has adorned his Philly condo with works by local artists, family, and students.
“Wow,” was the shout-out from two visitors to Joshua Wilkin’s condo in Spring Garden.
They were reacting to the 8-foot-long painting of what appear to be coral and turquoise moons floating in deep blue space, by Wendy Edwards, in the hall leading to the living room display of stunning abstract expressionist art.
Balcony doors are flanked by two paintings — an abstract orange bird against a magenta background by Salvatore Federico and blue balls on a white background by Stephen Mueller.
Nearby is a painting of mostly pink swirls with some blue by Melissa Meyer. Across the room another of her paintings has blue swirls and some pink.
Colors from these vibrant paintings are reflected in Wilkin’s pink mid-century modern chairs, blue columnar floor lamps, throw pillows on the tan sofa, and a Persian rug that nearly spans the room. The glass-topped Noguchi coffee table has a triangular wood base.
Wilkin, who has been dean of students at Moore College of Art & Design since 2017, has been collecting art for over 15 years. He made his most recent acquisition this summer, the 4-by-6-foot Abstract in Yellow by Peter Golfinopoulos.
Also in the living room is a smaller painting with streaks of white over interlocking colors by the late Philadelphia artist Louise Fishman. Wilkin received the painting, titled Close Ties, as a gift from his father, Gregory Wilkin, when he earned a doctorate from Seton Hall University in higher education and administration. Gregory, a fine artist and illustrator, acquired the painting in exchange for one he owned by Fishman’s aunt, Razel Kapustin.
Wilkin, who grew up in Monmouth County, initially had plans for a career in music. A baritone singer, he earned an undergraduate degree in voice from the University of North Carolina School of Arts. While in college he became a student resident adviser.
“I liked it,” he said. “I was a super shy kid and I came out of my shell.”
After graduation Wilkin worked in resident life at the former University of the Sciences and earned a master’s from Widener University in higher-education counseling.
For 10 years he was resident counselor and then acting assistant director of residential life at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York.
Despite having an artist for a father, Wilkin did not have a strong appreciation for paintings until he was at FIT and visited local galleries.
A year after he joined Moore, he bought his bi-level two-bedroom condo on the top floors of a rowhouse built in 1900. During the COVID-19 pandemic when he “had to live in place,” Wilkin said he got serious about furnishing his residence to complement his art. His sister Rachel Wilkin, a set designer for films and TV, gave him decor advice.
The condo’s walls are ocher with white trim. An accent wall in the living room is ice blue.
In the office-guest room, “I got a little whimsical,” Wilkin said. Among abstract paintings, there is a circus poster of a roaring tiger — another gift from Wilkin’s father — above a green desk and yellow chair. A bookshelf is decorated with a stabile of multihued circles, two small sculptures resembling balloon-art dogs, and festive boxes that once held champagne bottles.
Wilkin purchased items from online purveyors including Etsy, West Elm, CB2, Blu Dot, and Design Within Reach.
More abstract art in the bedroom includes a painting of a forest by Paul Weingarten, hung above the bed.
There are also two illustrations by Gregory Wilkin. One depicts the Shubert Theater in New York City in a snowstorm, and the other a street in Bangor, Maine, where a Christmas tree towers over pedestrians trekking through snow. The latter was used for a UNICEF Christmas Card in 2000.
Wilkin’s collection features several works by artists with Philadelphia connections, including that of a local young woman whose future, he hopes, is as bright as the careers of the others have been.
Above a table in the condo building’s entry hall is an illustration of shoppers at the Reading Terminal by Kasey Uhter, a Moore graduate. Wilkin purchased the work at a student show in 2022.
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