Ask the Mayoral Candidates, Harry Philbrick to the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Woodmere gets RACP grant, Stuart Netsky and more at Gross McCleaf Gallery plus lots more
Hi, this week is a doozy... We're announcing our partnership with Barbara Silzle and Jacque Liu, who are calling attention to the voices and questions of artist for the mayoral candidates through an online questionnaire. The Woodmere Art Museum has received a massive grant of $750,000 from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) for the Frances M. Maguire Hall for Art and Education project located on Germantown Avenue in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. Henry Philbrick will be leading the Fabric Workshop and Museum as the Interim Executive Director. There are lots of exhibitions to see, from Gross McCleaf Gallery, to Philadelphia's Magic Gardens, and the Bridgette Mayer Gallery. New opportunities are available at The Village of Arts and Humanities who are hiring a Project Director, in addition to a call for submissions for the 2023 Photo Review Competition. Many events are also occurring, one I'm particularly interested in is Street Departments teaching a class on public art at the Barnes Foundation. Hope you enjoy and engage with some of the neat stuff happening in Philly in March.
NEWS
Artists for Democracy – Submit Your Question for the Mayoral Candidates!
Artblog is partnering with Barbara Silzle and Jacque Liu to bring artists’ voices and questions to the attention of the Mayoral Candidates in this important election cycle. Learn more and submit your question for the Mayoral Candidates! Here’s the link to add your question or vote on a question that’s already on the list. More information at the Artblog post on Artists for Democracy.
Woodmere Art Museum Receives $750,000 RACP Grant Award
Woodmere Rep. Tarik Khan and Classical Tempesta di Mare Performance Feb 25th 2023 Image Courtesy of Woodmere Art Museum
PHILADELPHIA, PA February 27, 2023—Woodmere Art Museum announced that it has been awarded a $750,000 Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) Grant for the Frances M. Maguire Hall for Art and Education project located on Germantown Avenue in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia. This crucial award, coupled with other generous gifts from the community, including A LEAD GIFT from the Maguire Foundation to rename the building, will fund renovation plans that include turning the spacious parlors and bedrooms of the 19th-century mansion into galleries for the museum’s permanent collection of works by Philadelphia’s artists, as well as a hands-on children’s art and education center, and public programming spaces.
Harry Philbrick to Lead The Fabric Workshop and Museum as Interim Executive Director
Philadelphia, PA February 28, 2023—The Board of Directors of The Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM) is pleased to announce that Harry Philbrick has been appointed Interim Executive Director, effective March 1, 2023. Philbrick will replace Christina Vassallo, who will be leading Cincinnati’s Contemporary Arts Center moving forward after three impactful years at FWM. Philbrick joins FWM after founding Philadelphia Contemporary in 2016 and serving as its Founding Director and CEO.
“Harry Philbrick’s diverse arts background and leadership in the Philadelphia arts community make him an excellent choice to guide FWM as we complete our strategic planning process and begin the process of searching for a permanent Executive Director,” says FWM Board President Maja Paumgarten Parker. “We are thrilled to have him join our team and are eager to see how his experience and creative approach will further the museum’s mission of providing a platform for contemporary artists to explore and expand their practice.”
Art about the relationship with the more-than-human world opening at Imperfect Gallery + events
5539 Germantown Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19144
Free and Open to the Public, Thursdays 1 – 5pm; Fridays 4 – 8p; Saturdays 1 – 5pm.
Announcent and Event flyer for Ephemeral Partner Image Courtesy of iMPeRFeCT Gallery
“The show is called “ephemeral partner” and it asks the question, “How should we live?” The 22 environmental artists in the show call for more reverent ways of walking with each other and the rest of the planet.
Their positive, hopeful vision of reweaving our cultural fabric is reflected in the many free or by-donation events related to the show.
The events include art-making workshops, cultural rituals open to all (including a Passover Seder immediately followed by Cuban Santeria rituals and live Afro-Cuban percussion jam/dance), an “open mic/open floor” event, a “Death Cafe”, a jazz series, a string quartet, several concerts/DJs, and more.”
With gratitude,
Vivian Lehrer, guest curator
More information about the exhibition here.
More information about the events here.
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens and Rosa Leff present “All the right Places: Works by Rosa Leff.”
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens, 1020 South St, Philadelphia, PA 19147
Opening Reception Friday, March 3, 2023 6-9 pm
On View March 3 – May 14, 2023
Using only a single sheet of paper and a knife, artist Rosa Leff creates intricate cityscapes based on photos she’s taken both at home and around the world. While studying papel picado (cut paper) in Puebla, Mexico, Leff contemplated the complexity of Mexican and American cultures and began to analyze the assumptions made about them. In the exhibition All The Right Places, Leff takes a deep look into these cultures as well as the misconceptions that can often arise from stereotypes and transforms them into highly-detailed cut paper artworks.
March 8 – April 22, 2023
Bridgette Mayer Gallery 709 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106
In-Person Opening Reception and Happy Hour:
Friday, March 10, 5 – 7:30pm
The gallery’s Spring Exhibition brings together the works of award-winning German photographer Jessica Backhaus and renowned Philadelphia sculpture Dina Wind (1938-2014) to create an exciting landscape of shape, color, and shadow. Abstract Dimensions features 16 photographs from Backhaus’s Cut Outs series, 15 of Wind’s sculptures from 1986 to 2006, and a short documentary video, The Art of Dina Wind, Screening in the Vault.
The Village of Arts and Humanities seeks Project Director – Applications due March 13.
We are looking for a highly motivated and talented candidate to join our team as the Project Director for “Advancing Equity Through Public Safety.”
The Project Director will engage community residents in building or adopting alternatives to policing that reduce violent crime in the Fairhill-Hartranft neighborhood in North Philadelphia.
This full-time position provides opportunities for both remote and in-person engagement. We are offering a competitive salary and a generous benefits package.
We’ve extended the deadline to apply until March 13. Please share this opportunity with your network!
For more information visit here.
Call for Submissions: The 2023 Photo Review Competition
Submissions due March 26, 2023
The Photo Review, a highly acclaimed critical journal of photography, is sponsoring its 38th annual photography competition, one of the oldest continuous photography competitions in the world. The Photo Review will reproduce accepted entries in its 2023 competition issue and on its website. Thus, the accepted photographs will be seen by thousands of people all across the world and entrants will have a tangible benefit from the competition.
Also, the prizewinning photographers will be chosen for an exhibition at Philadelphia’s noted Woodmere Art Museum. Plus numerous Editor’s Selections will be exhibited in several Photo Review web galleries.
Awards include a $1,000 purchase prize for inclusion in the Haverford College Photography Collection, one of the largest and most comprehensive college photography collections in the United States, selected by William Earle Williams, the Audrey A. and John L. Dusseau Professor in Humanities; Professor of Fine Arts and Curator of Photography, at Haverford College; a $500 gift certificate for printing at Booksmart Studio; a Wacom Intuos Pro Medium tablet; two $250 gift certificates to PhotoLounge; a $200 gift certificate from Shades of Paper, a leading supplier of inkjet photo paper; a $200 gift certificate for Red River papers; $225 in gift certificates for Think Tank camera bags; numerous fabulous items from Photogenic Supply; a 20″x24″ silver gelatin fiber print from Digital Silver Imaging; and a feature on the Laurence Miller Gallery’s Picture of the Week email blast.
The entry fee is $40 for up to three images and $8 for each additional image. In addition, all entrants will be able to subscribe to The Photo Review for $40, a 20% discount. (Higher rates apply for non-US subscribers.)
You can download contest rules and submit images here. For further information call The Photo Review at 215/891-0214, 340 East Maple Avenue, Suite 200, Langhorne, PA 19047, info@photoreview.org.
EVENTS
Streets Department’s Conrad Benner Teaches Online Only Public Art Class at The Barnes Foundation
This March, Streets Dept’s Founder/Editor Conrad Benner will be teaching a four-part online-only class about the art of Philadelphia’s public space with the Barnes Foundation!
Classes begin March 9 – 30 (Thursdays, 6 – 8pm, online-only) $220; members $198 (4 classes)
Philly is a bastion of public art. Widely recognized as the mural capital of the world and the birthplace of the modern graffiti movement, Philadelphia was also the first municipal government anywhere to create a Percent for Art mandate to spur public art creation. The city is currently home to the world’s largest public arts program and some 4,500 murals. It also has one of the country’s most talked-about street art scenes, with the ephemeral work by local artists admired not only on the streets but now across social media.
And that’s not to mention the countless neighborhood organizations, business owners, and residents that contribute to the art of the city’s public space. Art is in Philadelphia’s bones—its streets are brimming with commissioned and noncommissioned creative works that reflect and inspire the city’s histories, values, hopes, and interests. In this course, guest lecturer and Philly native Conrad Benner will walk you through key terms and definitions of art in public space and explore the past, present, and possible future of Philly’s public/street art.
Viernes Calientes: First Friday Dance Party at World Cafe Live, March 3, 9-11:30 pm Free!
Put on your dancing shoes and get to The Lounge for World Cafe Live’s free First Friday series, Viernes Calientes. Get ready to drink, dine, and dance the night away with live music from Guachinangos!
