First there were the Zoe Strauss photos under I-95. It sure was swell to see all those people lined up to buy art. I asked a couple of strangers how they came to see the work and both had heard Strauss interviewed by Joel Rose Friday on WHYY. Here’s a link to the interview.
The weather was swell, and, like all Philadelphia events, there turned out to be people I knew who I would not have expected to find there.
Amongst the people who I might have guessed would be there: Richard Torchia, director of the gallery at Arcadia University, taking video of the goings on; photographer Ditta Baron Hoeber and her husband Frank, collecting Strausses; artist and gallery owner Shelley Spector . (right, Spector is on the left, talking to Strauss in red plaid).
gallun, fran
For those of you who missed the event, you can buy the photos on line at Strauss’ website.
My favorite touch about waiting in line was the water-bottle distribution system. Wait in line for a ticket at MoMA and you can bet no one is offering you water (left, some of the crowd clamoring for Strauss’ photos).
After I made my own purchases, we headed for my friend Fran Gallun’s opening at DaVinci Art Alliance, where who should turn up but my friend Phyllis Laver who announced she had learned Wednesday that she was selected as a Fleisher Challenge artist for the next season (that’s Laver at the far left of the picture below right).
I don’t yet know who else was named (it’s the weekend, and I can’t even make a phone call on this), and she did not remember/was not familiar with the names of the others. But somebody knows who they are. So let me know and I’ll get those names up.
Gallun’s response to Laver’s news was hooray for a woman over 50 getting named a Challenge artist. Amen (that’s Gallun on the left, talking to her daughter Sarah Weinberg, with a couple of her new pastels in the background).
Laver is part of a group of artists including Roberta and me who used to get together to talk about the art we’ve seen. The group no longer meets, but Roberta and I now meet that need by telling all on the blog.
