News
Clinton Darlington Swingle, the developer of the historic Fabric Workshop and Museum at 1214 Arch Street, passed away on January 27. He was responsible for modernizing and completely renovating the Museum into the modern galleries and studio spaces there today; additionally, he was involved with many of the Museum’s Artist-in-Residence installations. As a tribute to Swingle, on February 2 the Brooklyn-based, modern percussion ensemble So- Percussion performed their last piece, Clapping Music by Steve Reich at FWM. In lieu of flowers and notes, individuals may make a donation to The Fabric Workshop and Museum in memory of Clint Swingle to fund the building operations.
Phil Jackson, historian of all things skateboarding-related, is giving a free lecture titled FDR Skatepark: A Visual History at CBS Auditorium (320 South Broad Street) on Wednesday, March 6 at 1 P.M.
Imperfect City at the Delaware Contemporary Center for the Arts is a utopian socialist paradise from the looks of things. Among the activities they’ve launched there? Microfarming and a gym in the museum.
New space alert – 161 West opened at the end of last year, and looks to be a stellar exhibiting and event space for emerging artists of all sorts. Their community is extremely hands-on, with skills being shared regularly; this week it’s wheat pasting this week. For First Friday, stop by tonight at 7 PM and see a pairing of Wendy Wolf’s beautiful floral art creations with music by We Are Fauna, accompanied by dancers Lora Allen, Christina Gesualdi, Ashley Lippolis, Ilse Torlin and Annie Wilson. Additional musical guests that night are Archer Spade. We Are Fauna has an additional performance on Saturday, March 16 at 8 p.m., in the midst of Wolf’s floral installation and art work.
After over a decade at their Walnut street location, Fleisher/Ollman is relocating to 1216 Arch Street, Floor 5A. They open in mid-April with Outsiderism, an exhibition exploring what outsider art means in today’s world, including artists from Arts Project Australia, Melbourne and The Creative Vision Factory, Wilmington, Delaware, as well as Paul Laffoley, Gregory Blackstock, Michael Patterson-Carver, and Harrell Fletcher. In the meantime, while waiting for the new space to be unveiled, you can see Fleisher/Ollman at the Armory Show-Modern from March 7-10, on Pier 92 in New York.
The Slought Foundation is hosting a symposium in honor of the late filmmaker, Chris Marker on Friday, March 15th-16th. Leading up to the event, they’re screening a series of films and holding public conversations, including one with Agnes Varda on March 13th at UPenn. Cine-Cat is the public component of the program; Slought invites the public to stencil/paint grinning cats on Philadelphia’s built landscape in celebration of Marker’s documentary of the original cat patings done in the early 2000s in Paris, The Case of the Grinning Cat. They are hosting a workshop/planning meeting on March 6th, from 6:30-8 pm to discuss the project in more detail; for anyone who cannot make it, they have helpfully uploaded two templates.
Opportunities
Indie film seems to go with everything, doesn’t it? This time it’s food. This summer, foodies and filmmakers should heed the launch of Film al Fresco, an outdoor film series presented by The Galleries at Moore College of Art & Design. The 2013 summer series is seeking independent films by Philadelphia-area filmmakers and tasty street snacks from local food trucks to be shown/devoured every other Friday from June 14 through August 9, 2013. The films are shown on a large outdoor screen in Aviator Park, across the street from Moore, located at 1916 Race Street, and submissions are now being accepted. Filmmakers who reside in the Greater Philadelphia region (Southeastern PA, including Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties), are eligible to submit in these categories: narrative feature, documentary feature, narrative short, animated short, and documentary short. Decisions take place February 15 – March 31.
Artist News
Doug Witmer was invited to participate in Valerie Brennan’s Studio Critical interview project. The interview is available now online.
Jenny Lam is on everyone’s list: she’s been invited to be a VIP at the Asia Contemporary Art Show, happening this May at the same time as the inaugural Art Basel Hong Kong, which she’s also attending as a VIP. Congrats, Jenny!
Ena Swansea is one of the artists featured in Manifesto, an exhibition at the French Institute Alliance Française (FIAF). Presented as part of Fashion at FIAF, Manifesto is on view in the FIAF Gallery from March 8 through April 20.
