NEWS
iMPeRFeCT Gallery finds a new space to carry on its mission of art from the community and for the community. Congratulations, Renny Molenar and Rocio Cabello!
Imperfect is currently closed while it settles into its new location at 5539 Germantown Ave. It will reopen in May ’17 with an inaugural exhibit by Michael Koehler, more soon. More at the Gallery website here. And listen to our 2013 podcast interview with Renny and Rocio.
Founded by Renny Molenaar and Rocio Cabello, the iMPeRFeCT Gallery was created with the intention and hope of becoming a voice in our community and in the ongoing conversation with the art world. Our approach to this work is that of facilitator, where artists of very different persuassions can present themselves and their work with as much freedom as possible.
Our programing will include monthly exhibitions, performances and other events; it is also our intention to bring art out of the gallery, with the creation of works in public places, the publishing of limited edition prints and an active presence on the Internet.We as artists strongly believe in the transformative powers that the arts bring to our lives, we want to share that experience and inspire action and change.
Artblog favorite Zoe Strauss is a 2017 Guggenheim Fellow in Photography! Congratulations to a fabulous artist and human. Listen to our 2011 podcast interview with Zoe here. More at the Guggenheim website and at the artist’s website.
Grandma Moses painting “In Snow Drift” donated to Rutgers–Camden by alumna Eleanor “Ellie” Cheney
Anna Mary Robertson Moses, known affectionately as Grandma Moses, became a renowned American folk artist for her pastoral landscape paintings often depicting her family farm, which were reproduced and distributed on greeting cards, fabrics, tiles, and wallpapers.
One of the legendary artist’s original, lyrical landscapes, “In Snow Drift,” now graces the walls of the Stedman Gallery in the Rutgers–Camden Center for the Arts, thanks to a donation from Rutgers University–Camden alumna and philanthropist Eleanor “Ellie” Cheney.
“I wanted to do something with the painting so that it would never be forgotten,” says Cheney, a 1966 graduate of Rutgers–Camden, who also donated $45,000 to help establish the Writers House at her alma mater. “I knew that it would be safe and secure at Rutgers–Camden. Rutgers University has been here for more than 250 years and will be here another 250. Hopefully it will be admired and enjoyed for a long time as I have enjoyed it.”
Cyril Reade, director of the Rutgers–Camden Center for the Arts, thanks Cheney for her generosity, noting how the gift supports the center’s mission to inspire a full appreciation and enjoyment of the arts.
“The Rutgers–Camden collection of art holds increasingly significant works of art, and we are honored to add this to our collection for public display,” says Reade. “Thanks to Ellie Cheney, the gift of this Grandma Moses further solidifies the Rutgers–Camden Center for the Arts’ standing as a premier destination for the arts in South Jersey.”
More than 50 years since graduating, Cheney hasn’t forgotten her Rutgers–Camden roots, crediting her academic experience in the University’s Camden College of Arts and Sciences as the first steps taken toward her prodigious career as an educator.
As she recalls, upon moving to Cherry Hill with her husband, the late Daniel Cheney, a successful magazine publisher, she began working at RCA in Camden. She then pursued a bachelor’s degree at nearby Rutgers–Camden, fulfilling a lifelong promise that she had made to herself to attend college if she ever lived near one.
Cheney grew to admire and respect the late James Sanderson, her English professor at Rutgers–Camden, who asked her one day if she had ever thought about being a teacher. From that day forward, she recalls, the rest was history.
Cheney student-taught at Delaware Township High School, in the building which is now Cherry Hill West, and graduated from Rutgers–Camden in 1966. She later received her master’s degree from Rowan University in 1971 and spent much of her career teaching English in the Lenape Regional High School district, first at Lenape High School and then at Shawnee High School.
After serving as a guidance counselor for several years, Cheney retired and headed a family foundation, which focused on supporting social services agencies in Camden and Burlington counties, until closing in 2005. Cheney and her husband also supported a scholarship at Cherry Hill West established in memory of their late son.
Much like Cheney, Moses found her vocational calling later in life. The third of 10 children, the folk artist was encouraged by her father to paint and draw at an early age. She began working on a farm at the age of 12 and continued to do so following her marriage to Thomas Salmon Moses in 1887. In 1905, the couple purchased a farm in Eagle Bridge, N.Y.
Moses, who had painted scenes on various objects in her home, was in her 70s when she first began to make pictures with embroidered yarn. When her hands were too stiff to hold a needle, she began painting in oils. In 1938, collector Louis Caldor saw her work in the window at a drugstore that was part of the local Woman’s Exchange. He brought her works to New York City and they were soon being displayed in museums, galleries, and department store exhibitions.
The Stedman Gallery is located in the Fine Arts Complex on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers University–Camden campus. More information at their website
West Philadelphia Community Chooses 10 Artists to Bring Art to their Neighborhood
…Last Thursday (3/30), over 20 individual artists and artist collaboratives pitched their work to the West Philadelphia community gathered at the former United Bank for a chance to be commissioned to produce one in a series of periodic art installations on the construction fence surrounding the former University City High School and the windows of the former Bank.
The event, Artist Pitch & Participate, asked artists to consider one of 3 questions: How does progress feel?; Which walls are invisible?; and Is there a good rate of change? The audience was charged with voting for artists across five criteria: EXCELLENCE; CONNECTION (to the community); CURIOSITY; CAPACITY; and WILD CARD.
The presentations were varied and largely reflective. One artist with deep connections to the neighborhood, Ellen Tiberino, shared her memories of a flowered walkway near University City high school. Another artist, Femi Olantunji, shared his thoughts on West Philly’s representative and unique nature, saying it is the most realistic example of Philly.
With a commitment to engage local artists in Creative Placemaking to spark engaging conversations and civic participation, LoLa 38 is happy to announce the following ten artists chosen by the community to showcase their artwork during the Spring and Summer of 2017:
Fence
Brian Bazemore/BCASSO
Melanie Booth
Gabrielle Patterson
Lucy Pistilli
Ellen TiberinoWindows
Emilia Brintnall
Chanelle Hurst
Femi Olantunji
Karina Puente
John Schlesinger/Dear VolunteersLoLa 38 is a Creative Placemaking project in West Philadelphia focused on the intersections of 38th St., Lancaster and Powelton avenues. Our mission is to encourage civic conversation through the artistic activation of the diverse social and geographic assets which make Lower Lancaster Avenue a gateway to West Philadelphia’s arts, culture, and community. This project is a partnership between Drexel University’s Lindy Institute for Urban Innovation, People’s Emergency Center CDC, and Wexford Science + Technology.
OPPORTUNITIES
Dave Kyu is curating and jurying an exhibit at Asian Arts Initiative. that’s celebrating the theme of the Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia that legalized interracial marriage in the US.
Artists are invited to submit 1-3 artworks for consideration. There is no application fee, and the gallery is committed to covering as much of the relevant shipping costs as the budget allows. The deadline to submit is is Monday April 24th, at 11:59pm.
Here’s some info about the Exhibition.
And the Entry Form
Art in the Park – Theresa Rose juries one-day project for Fairmount Park Conservancy
Fairmount Park Conservancy seeks to commission up to two artists to participate in the 10th anniversary of the West Park Arts Fest. Artists are required to submit a proposal for an outdoor project and/or installation. The event will be one day only, Saturday, June 3, 2017 from 12 – 5 pm. Rain or shine. Artists may submit ideas for sculptural installations, participatory projects, auditory, sensory, performative and/or multi-disciplinary interventions. A stipend of $2,000 will be allocated for each artist/artist team. This commission is part of the Arts and Culture Program at the Conservancy, supported by ArtPlace America’s Community Development Investment program. More information and application at the FPC website.
SAVE THE DATE
Via Linda Dubin Garfield…Show of art by immigrants to Philadelphia at Da Vinci in May
Da Vinci Art Alliance, 704 Catharine Street in Philadelphia announces its May 2017 exhibition Crossing Boundaries featuring the paintings and works on paper by artists born in other countries who now live in Philadelphia. The artists are Muchammad Chairul Abidin ( Irul ) from Indonesia, Lilliana Didovic from Bosnia, Elke Muller from Germany, Rinal Parikh from India and Eric Zohn from Liberia. There will be an Opening Reception on May 3, 6- 8 PM and a Closing Reception on May 24, 6-8 PM. Gallery hours are Wednesdays 6- 8 PM and Saturday and Sundays, 1- 5 PM. Join us for a celebration of diversity in the City of Brotherly Love. Art to enjoy as an antidote for high anxiety at this point in time, and as a celebration of the diversity of voices in the art community with the courage to cross boundaries.
On Wednesday, May 10 at 7 PM there will be a panel discussion about Immigration and the Arts led by Hani White, Deputy Director of the Philadelphia Office of Immigration. The public is invited to attend. There is no charge for any event.Check the DaVinci website for other special events during this exhibition, including an international postcard project.
