2022 was another year that made us weep: war in Ukraine (300+ days and counting); Covid, RSV and flu lurking and catching many by surprise; gun violence marching across the headlines and and destroying lives in almost daily tragedies. All this horror diminishes lives, yours, ours, everyone’s. In the Philadelphia art world, there was churn at institutions large and small. And we want to know, how could the City turn a celebratory monument to beloved freedom fighter Harriet Tubman into a local-national scandal that played out for months and is still leaving some sick to their stomachs? We are hoping that with new leadership in City Hall comes enlightened oversight and financial support for the arts sector, which is still hurting from the pandemic and recession.
Turning to the upside, we applaud Philadelphia Contemporary for its ability to dream at this difficult time. Their Art Barge on the Delaware proposal shook us up. The idea is weirdly appealing–a retro-futuristic space that is so un-Philadelphia in its boldness and readiness to take a chance, that we are doing cart wheels and cheering. We’re betting that PC has the can-do to make it happen. The sports teams have their stadiums; the art community needs an Art Barge. Are you listening, City Hall? Mayoral candidates?
We are also cheering the many unions that are fighting hard to negotiate good contracts with their employers. Special kisses to the PMA Union, which scored a significant victory over management after a 19-day strike. Shout out to United Academics of Philadelphia and especially the UArts Faculty unit, which is one year into their first contract negotiation with an employer who is pushing back. Fight on, people!
To all of you reading this, we wish you the very healthiest and happiest of New Years. We will see you in 2023! Meanwhile, get in touch! The inbox is always open: editor@theartblog.org
Angel of the Year
Rob Buscher (A Community submission by Sunny Huang) Buscher (Japan American Society of Greater Philadelphia (JASGP), Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival, etc.) has dedicated the past decade to invigorating Philly’s arts and culture community, so I’m excited for the opportunity to help honor him for his work. (For example: The Third Space: Japanese American Resettlement in Greater Philadelphia exhibit with the Da Vinci Art Alliance and work bridging Black and Asian American communities in West Philadelphia with JASGP) Thank you!– Sunny Huang
Biggest Art Mess over a beloved historical figure
Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) and Mayor Kenney over the closed commission process for a Harriet Tubman statue at City Hall. After public outcry over the decision to award the lucrative commission to a white man, the city changed course to make the selection process an open call.
Best dream with a chance of becoming real
Philadelphia Contemporary for its Art Barge on the Delaware
Kudos – Artists
Guggenheim Fellows Full list here
- Mark Thomas Gibson (Tyler Professor)
- Lynne Woods Turner (showed with Gallery Joe)
Peabody Award Winner
- “Philly DA” by Yoni Brook,Ted Passon, Nicole Salazar
Kudos – Publication
The Photo Review turns 47 in 2023! That’s almost 50, yo! Much respect and admiration and congratulations to founder and editor, Stephen Perloff. Keep up your great support of the photo community!
Trends – Higher Education Presidential turnovers
Moore College of Art and design
Cecilia Fitzgibbon steps down this year, and Cathy Young takes over the position on July 1st.
La Salle University
La Salle University selects Daniel J. Allen, Ph.D., as next president, replacing Colleen M. Hanycz, who led La Salle University since 2015, and will lead Xavier University, another Catholic school, in Cincinnati.
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia provost M. Elizabeth Magill, 56, will replace Amy Gutmann as Penn’s next president. Magill, who is Penn’s third consecutive female president, once led Stanford’s law school, and clerked for the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Temple University (This happened in July, 2021, so a little ahead of the trend.)
Temple University selected Dr. Jason Wingard, former dean and professor of the School of Professional Studies at Columbia University, as its next president. Dr. Wingard is the university’s 12th president, and began serving on July 1. Dr. Wingard succeeds the retiring president, Dr. Richard M. Englert.
Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
Eric Pryor has been appointed president of the historic museum and college, beginning January 18, 2022.
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Early in 2022, Timothy Rub announced his retirement as director and chief executive officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Sasha Suda took over in September, just in time for thePMA Union strike.
Girard College
The new President of Girard College is F. Christopher Goins.
Comings and Goings
Past Present Projects opens on the 2nd floor in the Bok Building.
The Clay Studio moves to its new building on North American Street!
Association for Public Art
Penny Bach steps back as leader of Association for Public Art after 42 years as Executive Director.
Christina Vassalo to leave FWM to be Director of Contemporary Art Center of Cincinnati starting in March, 2023.
Monica Zimmerman moves from PAFA to be Executive Director at Fleisher Art Memorial
Tsenia Nouril, Jensen Bryan Curator, steps down from the Print Center
PMA Curators, Carlos Basualdo and Jessica Todd Smith, get new titles and opaque job descriptions. Sasha Suda announced the in-house promotions six weeks into her job as new Museum Director. The move is to beef up their curatorial department.
Danny Orendorff (ED, Vox Populi) and Alex Klein (Curator, Philadelphia ICA) leave Philly for The Contemporary Austin (TX). Alex Klein’s appointment is Head Curator & Director of Curatorial Affairs and Danny Orendorff is Senior Director of Programs & Engagement.
Barbara Silzle steps down as Executive Director of The Philadelphia Cultural Fund. For the last seven years, Barbara was a tireless champion of arts organizations and the arts community, and we all weep.
Allan Edmunds retires from Brandywine Workshop and Archives. Founder and executive director Allan L. Edmunds retired this fall and the Board of Directors has a five-year plan in place, Brandywine 2.0, to manage the transition of leadership. Read Artblog’s interview with Allan Edmunds.
Kapp Kapp, short-lived but interesting gallery on 13th St. closes their Philadelphia gallery to consolidate in their New York space.
Judilee Reed, former Program Director of Creative Communities at the William Penn Foundation becomes President and CEO of United States Artists.
Rasheedah Phillips, of Black Quantum Futurism, moves from Community Legal Services of Philadelphia to be the new Director of Housing at PolicyLink.
Debra Ward, longtime arts supporter and former Chair of Vox Populi’s board, moves to Raleigh, NC.
Flora Ward, former Development Staff at Taller Puertorriqueno becomes Development Manager at Association for Public Art. (Flora previously was an Artblog editor and contributor.)
Common Field closes up shop in a Common Field kind of way, calling it “sunsetting” after a scathing audit that accused their leadership of unfair/biased/passive-aggressive practices towards staff
The Plastic Club gets a historical marker for being the third-oldest art group in the country! The Plastic Club is the third oldest art club in the United States. Located in Center City Philadelphia, it runs workshops, shows, salons and other art-related events. For more information go to the club’s website.
The Halide Project opens its darkroom for Members.
The Louis Kahn Lecture Room by Siah Armajani (1939-2020) at Fleisher Art Memorial is gifted to the PMA, which will install it within its walls.
After Two Outdoor Shows at FDR Park, the Philadelphia Flower Show Announces its Return to the Pennsylvania Convention Center next March 4-12, 2023. For more information or for questions on the Flower Show, visit their website.
Barnes Foundation celebrates 100 years of arts education!
Christian Cooper gets a TV Show. Ok, so this is not in Philly but it’s great anyway. Christian Cooper, the bird-watching Black man who was the target of racist and false accusations by a white woman during an encounter in New York City’s Central Park in 2020, now has a bird-watching TV show.
2022 Books we love by Philadelphia authors
Artseeing
Streets Dept releases a printed booklet of self-guided tours. How can you get your copy of the first edition of Artseeing? Join the Streets Dept Patreon!
Safe Places
Safe Spaces by Kerry Dolan. Juniper Prize Winning book of Short Stories.
Lastgaspism: Art and Survival in the Age of Pandemic
by Anthony Romero, Daniel Tucker, and Dan S. Wang. Contributions from Kimberly Bain, Sandra de la Loza, Cheryl Derricotte, Design Studio for Social Intervention (Kenneth Bailey and Lori Lobenstine), Erin Genia, Pato Hebert, Damon Locks, Kelli Morgan, Karthik Pandian. ALSO! This book gets the Best Book Title award!
Pew Fellows Wishlist
Anne Minich more
Dona Nelson more
Eric Battle more
Pedro Ospina – His work in the community is truly selfless. The space he created is one for the community. He invites everyone to come and partake of, add to, create in and contribute to the safe and wondrous space he has created. more
Taji Ra’oof Nahl more
Richard J. Watson more
Maria Dumlao more
Patricia Renee’ Thomas more
Cindy Stockton Moore more
Jesse Harrod more
MacArthur Fellow (Genius) Wishlist
Allan Edmunds
Roberto Lugo
Passings
Jennifer Bartlett (1941-2022)
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/jennifer-bartlett-dead-1234635314/
Yvonne Bobrowicz (94, 1928-2022)
https://www.pewcenterarts.org/news/memoriam-yvonne-pacanovsky-bobrowicz-fiber-artist-and-pew-fellow
Blake Bradford (1970-2022)
Moe Brooker (1940-2022)
https://www.phillytrib.com/moe-a-brooker-renowned-artist-dies-at-81/article_0548e761-a28f-5f99-994b-0a3288ba41c9.html
Rodney Graham (1949-2022)
https://www.frieze.com/article/remembering-rodney-graham-1949-2022
Bill Hutson Lancaster artist and educator (1936-2022)
https://www.cremationlancasterpa.com/william-richard-hutson/
Sam Gilliam (88, 1933-2022)
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/sam-gilliam-dead-1234632790/
Leroy Johnson (1937-2022)
https://www.theclaystudio.org/exhibitions/leroy-johnson-in-memorium
Words about Leroy Johnson from Betty Leacraft on July 10, 2022:
Greetings Artists/Friends,
Early Saturday afternoon I was informed that our dearly beloved Leroy Johnson transitioned.
My Sentiments!Leroy was a prolific, multi-talented, one of a kind artist, and special human being. I am grateful to him as one of a few “recognized” artists who always encouraged my creative efforts. I will miss his Old Head stroll, wit, wisdom, and smile. He leaves behind large, indelible, artistic footprints.
A Recent Memory!
On the second Sunday of June, 2022, I visited Leroy in Jefferson Hospital. He was semi-reclined in a patient lounge chair near his bed but also close to the window. I commented on the sketch pad and colored pencils on the windowsill, he picked the pad up to show me a drawing he made of buildings within view. After a bit of light hearted conversation I told him a funny joke, he responded with soft laughter and a smile. As I prepared to leave, Leroy extended his fist and we bumped! How comforting it is now to recall his smile on that particular day because I left Jefferson knowing inside myself it might be the last time I would ever see him.
Margaret Keane, ‘big eyes’ artist, dies aged 94 (1927-2022)
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/jul/12/margaret-keane-obituary
Aline Kominsky-Crumb (1948 – 2022)
https://www.artforum.com/news/aline-kominsky-crumb-1948-2022-89785
Martha Madigan (72, 1950-2022)
Susan Moore (69) (1953-2022)
https://tyler.temple.edu/faculty/susan-moore
Hermann Nitsch (1938-2022)
https://www.pacegallery.com/journal/remembering-hermann-nitsch/
Want to know why Hermann is in this list? Artblog wrote about him a lot when he had a show at Slought in 2005. https://www.theartblog.org/?s=Hermann+Nitsch
Claes Oldenburg (93, 1929-2022)
https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/claes-oldenburg-dead-1234634394/
Peter Schjeldahl (80, 1942-2022)
https://www.newyorker.com/contributors/peter-schjeldahl
Sande Webster (89) (1933-2022)
https://www.inquirer.com/obituaries/sande-webster-gallery-philadelphia-black-artists-obituary-20221004.html
https://www.theartblog.org/2010/08/sande-webster-on-artblog-radio/
Artblog Markings
This year we welcome a new Executive Director and Editor, Julia Marsh! Julia is an artist/writer/editor/educator and comes to Artblog with all kinds of experience and a love of Artblog that matches the founders! We also welcome Managing Editor Ilana Napoli, who has been a contributor to and valued co-worker at Artblog since 2017, and uses her magic to make Artblog a smooth running ship! We’re thrilled to have these new energetic folks captaining the publication! In other news, Roberta Fallon, Co-founder and long-time Executive Director and Editor stepped into an advisory and contributory role. We’re not saying goodbye to Roberta, just see you around, as she will continue to write and interview artists and participate as Advisor, Executive Editor and Board member. We’ve welcomed some new writers and look forward to welcoming more! This year we published 207 posts (reviews, features, interviews), six podcasts, and many many comics. All for you, our fabulous readers! Finally, and importantly, Artblog became N.I.C.E. this year courtesy of a wonderful WHYY-Lenfest-Knight program to support community news platforms. We are beginning a content-sharing collaboration with The Local in January. And we hope to collaborate with all of the N.I.C.E. community news partners moving forward.
If you’re reading this, we applaud your stamina and fortitude, and we thank you for your readership and support! Come back for more content in 2023 and make sure to keep in touch – our inboxes are open! (support@theartblog.org + editor@theartblog.org). By the way, we know you love Artblog like we do. Consider making a contribution to support us! Paypal or Check made out to TheArtblog Inc. and mailed to TheArtblog, 1107 Spruce St., Philadelphia, PA 19107 are all Welcome!
A Very Happy New Year To You! From Julia, Roberta and Ilana
