around town
Out & About
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4 A dath Emanu-El in Mount Laurel celebrated the arrival of its new Torah. Courtesy of Adath Emanu-El
Abrams Hebrew Academy held Purim activities to mark Rosh Chodesh. Courtesy of Abrams Hebrew Academy
Perelman Jewish Day School collected a truck full of supplies for humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. Courtesy of Perelman Jewish Day School
The Jewish Family Service of Atlantic & Cape May Counties received a $181,299 grant from the Claims Conference to help Holocaust survivors.

Courtesy of Jewish Family Service of Atlantic & Cape May Counties
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MARCH 17, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM



last word
LAST WORD
Rachel Zimmerman
JARRAD SAFFREN | JE STAFF
Courtesy of Rachel Zimmerman
W hen Rachel Zimmerman
moved to Philadelphia
from New York City in
the late 1990s, she was a young photog-
rapher looking to connect with other
artists. So Zimmerman created a website,
InLiquid, where artists could share
work, view the creations of contem-
poraries and learn about upcoming
shows. In the early days of mass inter-
net use, the site gained a following and
active membership from people in sim-
ilar situations as Zimmerman.

More than 20 years later, Zimmerman
is still a photographer, and InLiquid is
still a website. But both are also so
much more.

The Old City resident is known in
the local arts community as a pas-
sionate advocate for and connector of
other artists, from photographers to
painters to sculptors. And InLiquid is
a nonprofit organization with a physi-
cal space for galleries, the Crane Arts
Building on North American Street, an
annual schedule of events around the
city and a much more modern, sophis-
ticated website for this digital age.

InLiquid counts about 300 mem-
bers in its regular base, according to
Zimmerman. “We just kept growing,” she said. “It
grew by word of mouth.”
Zimmerman grew up in a Jewish
household in Philadelphia. But she
left for New York to earn her BFA in
photography at New York University’s
famous Tisch School of the Arts.

After school, she did medical pho-
tography to pay her bills but grew tired
of the competitive art gallery scene. So
in the late ’90s, she returned home and
started a print and web design busi-
ness. The photographer hired graphic
designers to do the design part and
started meeting other artistic people
from around the city.

But she also realized that these art-
ists — as well as the countless others
she hadn’t met yet — weren’t really
connected. They would play the expen-
sive game of sending slides into galler-
ies and hoping for the best.

That was the scene.

Then Zimmerman had a realization.

“Now that we had computers, we
could do all these different things,” she
said. “We needed a website to support
artists.” She created InLiquid and began
posting art, show listings, artist talks
and openings. Zimmerman and oth-
ers could add to the site at any time,
making it different from the primary
art information sources of the era, The
Philadelphia Inquirer and a now-de-
funct publication called Art Matters.

Zimmerman named the site InLiquid
because as an artist, you’re either “mov-
ing or drowning,” she said. The site
took on a similar energy.

“I was like, ‘Give me your work.

We’re gonna put it on this website,’”
she recalled.

And she did, and it worked.

Showcasing everyone from emerg-
ing to experienced artists, InLiquid
started driving “different types of traf-
fic,” Zimmerman said. After the site
proved itself, its creator and contribu-
tors opened a membership group. They
thought it would encourage an even
deeper and more consistent level of
commitment, and they were right.

By the site’s first anniversary in 2000,
it was big enough for members to plan
a silent art auction — in the physical
space. From that point, the InLiquid com-
munity hosted public events on an
annual basis. Now, Zimmerman and
friends do eight per year.

But the executive director’s favorite
seems to be the one she mentions most
often: the annual “Art for the Cash
Poor” exhibit, which is really more like
a street party where artists sell work for
under $200, and attendees enjoy food
and music.

“I was always driven to do stuff like
that,” Zimmerman said.

As far back as high school, the pho-
tographer dreamed of more than just
doing her art. One time, she orga-
nized a group of friends to drive to
the Pennsylvania State Capitol in
Harrisburg to lobby for equal rights.

“Being Jewish, it’s always about com-
munity. That was how I was raised,”
she said. “You support the community
around you.”
She was quick to credit her commu-
nity for building InLiquid.

It’s been her staff, the artists and the
collaborations, Zimmerman said.

“You can’t do it alone,” she con-
cluded. Moving forward, Zimmerman
wants to help expand Philadelphia’s
artistic community beyond Old City.

Philadelphia does not have a big gallery
scene because of its proximity to New
York, she said.

But it could.

Zimmerman thinks it should take
the form of a more public-facing scene
where you can both see and buy art.

“You don’t have to go to New York,”
she said. “I’d like to think we’re part of
making that happen.” JE
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