NEWS
One of our artist friends at Taller Puertorriqueño, Marilyn Rodriguez, wrote to us about a “Save the Arts” project at John B. Stetson Charter School. In conjunction with the project, the school organized a celebration of the arts at Stetson that will feature prints made at the school. The event and exhibition, called Printing Our Identity, are in partnership with the Picasso Project and Taller Puertorriqueño.
Printing our Identity
Reception and Celebration, Friday, June 9, 4PM-7PM
The exhibit will be up June 7-16, 2017.
Taller Puertorriqueño
2600 N. 5th St., Philadelphia PA 19133
Lecture at the Wagner Free Institute by Dr. Gwendolyn Shaw about Colonial African American artist of the silhouette, Moses Williams
Moses Williams, Cutter of Profiles by Dr. Gwendolyn Shaw
Co-sponsored by the American Philosophical Society Museum
Wednesday, May 17th, 2017 at 6pm
Wagner Free Institute of Science, 1700 W. Montgomery Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19121
Free, registration encouraged here. (after the talk is our Annual Member Reception, which is optional and free for members/$10 for non-members)
Description: Many people know of Charles Willson Peale, a portrait artist and collector who established one of the first public museums in Philadelphia in the 18th century. Lesser known is Moses Williams, one of the Peale family’s slaves who worked in the museum after becoming free. Among his other odd jobs, Williams was a “cutter of profiles”—meaning he created cut silhouette portraits that museum visitors could take away as souvenirs. William Wagner himself had a silhouette cut when his family visited Peale’s museum, a visit that he says inspired his founding of the Wagner Institute. Join Dr. Gwendolyn Shaw, Associate Professor of History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania, to explore the life and work of Mr. Williams, and how his story illuminates hidden narratives about race, identity, and art in the age of Peale’s museum. This talk is co-sponsored by the American Philosophical Society Museum, which is hosting the exhibit “Curious Revolutionaries: The Peales of Philadelphia” from April 7th to December 30th, 2017. (Ed Note: Artblog Contributor Diana Loercher Pazicky wrote about Moses Williams silhouette that appeared in the Represent exhibition at the PMA in 2015. Read Diana’s piece here.
Andrew Schmidt
Tyler School of Art’s New Dean, Susan E. Cahan
Susan E. Cahan was appointed dean of the Tyler School of Art, to take over July 1. She comes to Tyler from Yale, where she was in charge of all things arts for undergrads at Yale College (Yale University’s liberal arts college). “She has an astonishing record as a scholar and as a curator. A real triumph for Tyler,” says Temple spokesman Hillel Hoffman.
A respected arts education administrator, scholar and curator, Cahan currently serves as associate dean and dean for the arts at Yale College, Yale University’s undergraduate liberal arts college. She will succeed Hester Stinnett, who has been Tyler’s interim dean since September 2015.
…Said Cahan, “Tyler’s engagement with Philadelphia, one of the world’s most vibrant arts centers—especially its engagement with the North Philadelphia community—puts the school in a unique position of strength. I look forward to experiencing the power of this relationship first hand.”
…Provost Joanne Epps thanked Hester Stinnett for her service as interim dean and acknowledged her many achievements.
“Hester has served the Tyler School of Art faithfully for more than three decades, including multiple stints as interim or acting dean,” Epps said. “Tyler would not have established the momentum that has defined the school in recent years without her guiding hand.”More information here.
Friend of Artblog, Ron Klein, is featured in a solo exhibit at Abington Art Center along with Maria G. Albornoz’s ceramic works and Maggie Mills’s paintings.
Ron, whose work has been commissioned around the world and who was represented by NY Gallery Howard Scott makes galactic installations out of the merger of found industrial materials and organic matter he collects from the rain forest floors near the equator in Central America. His works make us swoon for their heady beauty and whimsical play with materials. More information and images at the artist’s website. On view at Abington Art Center, May 12-June 23, 2017. More information on the Abington exhibition here.
IMPeRFeCT Gallery reopens at new space with interactive installation by Jeremy John Kaplan and photography by Michael M Koehler
May 13 – June 10, 2017, IMPeRFeCT Gallery, 5539 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia, 19144
Philadelphia Museum of Art announces Free Admission on Thursday, May 18, in Celebration of International Museum Day
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is offering free admission on Tuesday, May 18, in recognition of International Museum Day. Visitors have free access to the Main Building, Rodin Museum, and the historic house of Cedar Grove in Fairmount Park. Visitors can stroll the galleries, make art, listen to music, and experience a range of special exhibitions and guided tours.
Thursday, May 18, 2017, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Main Building, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Perelman Building, 2525 Pennsylvania Avenue
Rodin Museum, 2151 Benjamin Franklin Parkway
Cedar Grove Historic House, 1 Cedar Grove Drive, Fairmount Park
GOOD READS
New Yorker profile of book publisher Gerhard Steidl, who is known for “fanatical attention to detail, for superlative craftsmanship, and for embracing the best that technology has to offer,” according to the magazine. Read the full article by Rebecca Mead here. Short excerpt below.
The Printer the World’s Best Photographers Trust Most
In “The Book Monk” (p. 60), Rebecca Mead profiles Gerhard Steidl, a printer and publisher of photography books known for fanatical attention to detail, for superlative craftsmanship, and for embracing the best that technology has to offer. His name appears on the spine of more than two hundred photography books a year, and he oversees the production of all of them personally, at his printing press, in Göttingen, Germany. The photographer Edward Burtynsky said of Steidl’s operation, “It is like the haute couture of printing. He takes it to the nth degree.” Artists who work with Steidl wait, sometimes for years, to be summoned to Göttingen, and are expected to drop everything when he calls. “It is like going to kiss the Pope’s ring,” Mary Ellen Carroll, the conceptual artist, said. The artist Dayanita Singh told Mead, “Everything is done to keep you focussed on whatever you are doing. There is this utter concentration—nothing else that is going on in your life is relevant. . . . He might call you down at five in the morning and you could be stark naked, and he wouldn’t notice.” Steidl prints only one book at a time. “When you’re on press, it’s like you’re a couple,” Steidl said. “If there is another lover, it does not work at all.”
OPPORTUNITIES
Friend of Artblog, Carlee A. Myers wrote to tell us of the free online training session she’s offering online today!
Tuesday, May 16th at 7 pm ET.
Your Artist Statement: Two Experts Reveal the Top 5 Mistakes…and How to Fix Them.
Join the training session here.
The second annual INTER/VIEW Job Fair organized by Generocity, for people looking for jobs where they can do good in companies that work for the common good. Free to attend. Register here.
INTER/VIEW Job Fair 2017
TUESDAY, MAY 23 20175:00 PM — 7:30 PM
Christ Church Neighborhood House, The Great Hall
20 N American St
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Time Camp 001 at the Icebox, in collaboration with Afrofuturist Affair
In collaboration with Icebox Project Space, Time Camp 001 is a two-day program and interactive installation exploring time, alternative temporalities, time travel, and temporal shifts, with activities include temporal sound design, time walks, temporal scavenger hunts, zinemaking, special performances, and more. Time Camp 001 will take place at the space-time point of September 30-Oct 1, 2017 at Icebox Project Space (Phila, PA). More details soon.
We are inviting submissions for workshops and lectures, as well as art-based submissions for inclusion in the installation.
Workshop and Lecture Submission Information
Seeking abstracts and proposals for 45 and 60 minute workshops and lectures for presentation at Time Camp. Please identify any audio/visual and electrical needs for your presentation. Also include presenter information and website if available. Please submit a proposal for your submission to afrofuturistaffair@gmail.com by June 20, 2017.Sample topics include:
Time Travel Theories/Time Travel 101
Time Machine Design
Time Travel in ComicsInstallation Submission information
Seeking submissions of small installations, film, audio/video, literature, photography, objects, and art pieces dealing with time travel, such as personal time machines and devices and time travel artifacts. Works can be individual or collaborative, and should be experimental. Proposals should include a description of your project or piece, including dimensions, sizes, number, and other specifications. Please identify any audio/visual and electrical needs. Also include artist information and website if available. Please submit a proposal for your submission toafrofuturistaffair@gmail.com by June 20, 2017.For more information please contact afrofuturistaffair@gmail.com See Facebook page for more information.
ARTBLOG NEWS
Please join Roxana J. Pérez-Méndez, Michelle Angela Ortiz, and Roberta Fallon of the Artblog on a discussion on community, place, and expression. Elements that are fundamental to Taller’s mission as an arts organization that is grounded in the community of North Philadelphia. The discussions will center on Pérez-Méndez exhibition Quien a buen árbol se arrima …. that was on view through April 1, and Ortiz’s Quizás Mañana that is up through June 3, 2017.
Discussion with Roxana J. Pérez-Méndez, Michelle Angela Ortiz and Roberta Fallon
June 2 @ 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Taller Puertorriqueño, 2600 N. 5th Street
Philadelphia, 19133
