News
After eight years leading Wexler Gallery, Director Sienna Freeman is departing to attend graduate school in California. Sienna, s last day at the gallery is June 29. Joining the Wexler staff as Associate Director is Joy Deibert, who comes from New York City and hails from an exciting background at Phillips de Pury and Sterling Brands. Good luck Sienna, and welcome Joy! New beginnings all around.
Photo: Constance Mensh, Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Big news for Philly’s storied public art collection: Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s OPEN AIR and Sol LeWitt’s Lines in Four Directions in Flowers, both commissioned by the Association for Public Art (aPA), have been named among the 50 best public art projects by the 2013 Public Art Network Year in Review by Americans for the Arts. The Year in Review program is the only national award that specifically recognizes public art projects, so this is a significant accolade. Both were chosen from more than 250 submissions from across the United States. OPEN AIR was the temporary public artwork on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway that had everyone buzzing, and Lines in Four Directions in Flowers by Sol LeWitt was carried out by the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Three independent public art experts — John Carson, artist and Head of Carnegie Mellow University School of Fine Art, Norie Sato, artist, and Justine Topfer, Project Manager, San Francisco Arts Commission and private curator — juried the 2013 Year in Review; their selections were announced on June 13, at the Americans for the Arts Public Art Preconference in Pittsburgh.
Opportunities
In response to Art Basel’s hyper-commercial environment, New Material is holding a new and different opportunity for artists: a group show of work that is not for sale. They’re open to work that is not made of conventional materials, non-object based work, or simply work that is not available for purchase; the resulting exhibition is held in at the Hotel Eva. “Not For Sale”‘s submissions schedule has an early deadline on August 1, 2013, with a fee of $30, a regular deadline September 1, 2013 for $50, and a late deadline October 1, 2013 for $65. The fees includes 3 images; an additional fee of $20 per image for up to 10 total images entered.
Street Road Artists Space’s new announcement calls for artists to submit work for exhibitions that make unique use of their rural setting (a 1930s cottage on Route 41 in Cochranville, PA) while also showcasing international art and design. They are on the lookout for submissions by artists who have relocated from abroad to the greater Philadelphia or Wilmington areas and live and work in proximity, but outside of these major cities (including but not confined to Chester, Lancaster and Delaware counties in PA and New Castle County, DE). They’re also seeking artists originally from the aforementioned areas, living outside of United States, who are interested in contributing work to a later exhibition. To enter your work, submit 10 images of recent work and/or link to a website to info@streetroad.org.
Artist News
Irina Hasnas Hubbard, an alumna of University of the Arts with a degree in Museum Studies has embarked on a new artistic quest: being an ambassador of bluegrass-flavored country to Bucharest, Romania. Her band Westroot, in which she handles banjo duties, played an Independence Day concert at the Bucharest Hard Rock Cafe, banjo. One of the major Romanian television stations shot a short interview with band members, broadcast live online.
