Shelley Spector studied dance for many years — her mother was a dance teacher and taught dance classes out of the studio in the basement. So the idea of creating art that looks effortless — the way dancers make dancing look effortless — was built into Shelley’s way of working. Spector founded the influential Spector Gallery on 6th and Bainbridge in 1999, and that space, which closed in 2006, was a launching pad for a lot of young Philadelphia artists, like Jim Houser, Adam Wallacavage, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Rebecca Westcott, and Rob Matthews. For many years Shelley showed her work at Sande Webster Gallery. In February she will have her debut exhibit at Bridgette Mayer Gallery. Our interview took place July 27 in her studio in her Bella Vista home.
This episode is edited by Peter Crimmins. The music is by Eric Biondo. The slide show is edited by artblog Intern Alison McMenamin. Thanks to the Knight Foundation for helping us get the ball rolling on this project. Thanks also to J-Lab‘s Enterprise Reporting Fund and William Penn Foundation for additional support and to our partner WHYY NewsWorks for their ongoing support and for sharing artblog radio episodes on the arts & culture page of their community news site NewsWorks.org. You can subscribe to artblog radio on iTunes.
