Even if you’re not standing inside PARADIGM GALLERY + STUDIO’s exhibition space in Philadelphia, you can find plenty of evidence around town of its artistic vision. Where once there were potholes, you’ll now see intricate mosaics by Chicago-based artist Jim Bachor, depicting such subjects as a Nestlé Crunch bar wrapper and an Arctic Splash iced-tea carton (a Philly favorite), embedded in the asphalt. Or you might stumble upon a citywide scavenger hunt, like the one for which artist CLINT TILLMAN REID installed tiny pen and watercolor illustrations in various outdoor locations, leaving clues on the gallery’s social channels.

Picture a woman in a print advertisement of the 1950s vacuuming her spotless living room while sporting pearls and high heels. She looks positively thrilled. It may seem silly to us now, but her delight makes sense in the context of her time. Let’s suppose she was born in the first decades of the 20th century. She could remember her mother or grandmother shoveling coal into a cast-iron kitchen stove, boiling water for a bath, doing laundry by hand and making every meal from scratch, forever worried that ingredients would go bad without a reliable way to cool them.

You don’t have to be a vexillologist to wonder why the American flag has changed over the years (or why it was designed with stars and stripes in the first place). Questions like that serve as a portal into a fascinating world with deep roots in heraldry and a robust following among collectors. The flag of the United States — particularly its blue field with white stars — has changed quite a bit since it was first used to represent the Thirteen Colonies.

Situated on a busy industrial corridor of Philadelphia’s Frankford neighborhood, Amuneal’s 60,000-square-foot fabrication space looks every bit an artisanal design mecca. Furniture and shelving are meticulously crafted from metal and wood every square inch of which has been treated by hand to achieve just the right surface texture and color. Finished pieces are packed with installation instructions and diagrams that are almost works of art in their own right.

Philadelphia’s Old City is thick with American history. Within a short walking distance, visitors can see the Liberty Bell, stand inside Independence Hall and behold the ruins of the original President’s House, where George Washington and John Adams both lived in the 1790s. For good measure, there are always a few historic interpreters in 18th-century costume inviting tour groups to step lively over the cobblestones.