Foursquare launches ‘Check In to a Masterpiece’ to let citizens share Philly art encounters

You’ll likely never own any of the artistic masterpieces that reside in six of Philadelphia’s most vaunted museums, but Foursquare and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation are partnering on a new campaign that might let you become the mayor of one — or 12.

In conjunction with the GPTMC’s With Art Philadelphia campaign, Foursquare and Visit Philly concocted a “Check In to a Masterpiece” list of 12 pieces of Philly art that spans mediums, genres and time periods, according to the press release. Tourists and residents alike can duke it out for masterpiece mayorship by visiting the Visit Philly Foursquare page and checking in every time they visit one of the works on the list.

With Art Philadelphia is a local partnership of cultural organization interested in raising the profile of Philadelphia arts and culture.

The 12 desirable art monuments on the “Check In to a Masterpiece” list are as follows, according to the press release:

• Models (Poseuses) by Georges Seurat at the Barnes Foundation
• Seated Couple by the Dogon peoples at the Barnes Foundation
• Supper Time by Horace Pippin at the Barnes Foundation
• The Large Bathers (Les Grandes Baigneuses) by Paul Cézanne at the Barnes Foundation
• Swann Memorial Fountain by Alexander Stirling Calder, designed with architect Wilson Eyre at Logan Circle
• Three Wise Men Greeting Entry into Lagos by Kehinde Wiley at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
• The Artist in His Museum by Charles Willson Peale at PAFA
• Sphinx of Ramses II at the Penn Museum
• Puabi’s Headdress at the Penn Museum
• Sunflowers by Vincent Willem van Gogh at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
• Diana by Augustus Saint-Gaudens at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
• The Gates of Hell by Auguste Rodin at the Rodin Museum

If the chance to be mayor of the Sphinx of Ramses II wasn’t compelling enough, GPTMC is also holding an “Art of Competition” contest between now and September 1, 2012.

Here are the contest details, according to the release:

To enter to win, users must check in at a masterpiece and broadcast the check-in via Twitter using the hashtag #withartphl. One randomly selected person will win the grand prize—an art-filled weekend stay in Philadelphia, complete with:

• One-night hotel stay and breakfast at the Hilton Inn at Penn
• Museum tickets to the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Perelman Building, PAFA and the Penn Museum, which includes VIP entrance to the exhibit Maya 2012: Lords of Time
• Memberships to the Barnes Foundation and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
• Gift certificate to Rembrandt’s restaurant