Colored Girls Museum joins Historic Germantown, Fabric Workshop and Museum April 1 Oops, Golden Sunrise Mummers invitation to make costumes, plus Opportunities!
Hello! The News today focuses on a couple Philadelphia museums and includes two great opportunities, one from Blah Blah Gallery and one from the Association for Public Art and the Parkway Council. Enjoy!
NEWS
The Colored Girls Museum, image courtesy of Historic Germantown website
Colored Girls Museum becomes 19th Member of Historic Germantown
Exciting News! 🎉 TCGM The Colored Girls Museum is now part of Historic Germantown!
We’re thrilled to join this amazing consortium of cultural organizations dedicated to preserving Philly’s rich history!
Becoming the 19th member of this prestigious group offers us invaluable resources and opportunities to collaborate with other institutions. It also allows us to share our unique mission with a wider audience and deepen our educational impact.
So, dear friends and supporters, as we embark on this exciting new chapter in our journey, we invite you to join us in celebrating the ordinary colored girl, the richness of Philadelphia’s history, and the transformative potential of community. See more at TCGM Facebook. More at Historic Germantown website.
Fabric Workshop and Museum Oops
April 1, we received a BREAKING NEWS MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT email from the Fabric Workshop and Museum (FWM). Of course it was a prank, but many in the art community pushed back against the snarky language and perceived dismissiveness of grandmas and the value of their crafts — crochet and needlework, etc. Later on April 1, an apology appeared from the FWM in a comment on the museum’s Instagram account. Below is the announcement and below that the apology. We thought you’d like to know.
FWM EXPANDS MISSION TO RESCUE GRANDMA’S TEXTILES FROM DEPTHS OF OBLIVION
We’re thrilled to announce an ambitious expansion of our mission to delve into the depths of every grandmother’s attic and unearth the forgotten textile relics hidden within. Collectively, the move is expected to reveal a patchwork of poorly recalled stories because you weren’t really listening and you didn’t write it down. To signal this change, the institution will be known as The Fabric Workshop and Museum and Memaw’s Attic (FWMMA), beginning one year from today.
Known for its collaborative and experimental approach to contemporary artmaking, FWMMA will soon venture into the realm of musty old quilts, moth-eaten shawls, and who-knows-what-else lies buried beneath layers of nostalgia.
“This announcement marks a major milestone in our institution’s nearly 50-year history,” says Harry Philbrick, Interim Executive Director. “Contrary to what the public expects from us, we’ve long insisted that we are a contemporary art museum and have begrudged the persistent confusion over our name. No more. As The Fabric Workshop and Museum and Memaw’s Attic, we’re finally ready to give credence to the old adage that the customer is always right. Maybe we should be the forever home of your Gam Gam’s heirlooms. I mean, really old stuff surely belongs in a museum.”
Founded in 1977, the institution was originally known as simply The Fabric Workshop. In 1996, after nearly twenty years of creating with contemporary artists, the word “museum” was added to its name to account for a growing collection of objects and process materials. In 2025, with this newly expanded mission and name, the organization will aim to deepen its connection with communities, fostering comfort by welcoming your donation of familial belongings to a museum you hadn’t heard of before a lazy Google search. An online portal will soon be created for prospective donors to submit hastily taken photos.
“Whatever Nana’s wedding napkins lack in artistry or historical significance, they surely make up for with sentimentality,” says DJ Hellerman, Chief Curator and Director of Curatorial Affairs. “Rest assured, as FWMMA begins clearing out its eighth-floor gallery to create its own Memaw’s Attic to better serve you, we’ll give Grammie’s textiles the same care they’ve been given for all these years: willful neglect with a vague patina of the oral history of some of the stuff that’s lying around in one of these boxes…somewhere around here.”
As for Pop Pop’s war memorabilia, FWMMA draws a clear line in the sand. “That’s just not our wheelhouse,” says Philbrick.
Instagram apology
Thanks for this feedback, everyone. We intended to make fun of ourselves and that we are frequently mistaken for a historical textile museum. It’s clear that we swung too carefree with this post and not only ridiculed the confusion, but the very idea itself. In doing so, we played into some harmful tropes that devalue textiles and the labor of women. For this, we apologize, as that was not our aim. Clearly there is a need—and desire—for this kind of preservation and storytelling. We appreciate those who have shared positive examples of work being done in the field. Per our mission, we’ll continue to keep these traditions alive through the act of making and skill-sharing, and to find ways to honor these rich legacies when we present the work of contemporary artists.
Installation of historical Mummers costume at the Mummers Museum, Philadelphia. Photo by Roberta Fallon
Mummers Costume building workshop, April 28, 1 pm
Golden Sunrise NYA
230 Greenwich Street Philadelphia, PA 19147 Register here ($15 suggested – covers cost of materials)
On April 28, Golden Sunrise N.Y.A. will be hosting suit-building and costuming workshop, free and open to the public, as part of the Da Vinci Art Alliance’s Everyday Futures Fest. More details and registration page.
OPPORTUNITY
Blah Blah Gallery Artist Residency and Exhibit – Application Deadline: May 31
Fee: $20 before April 30
$30 May 1 – May 30
$40 may 31 (final day)
Solo Exhibit – August, 2024
From their Instagram: Blah Blah Gallery is accepting applications for our Summer 2024 Residency + Solo Exhibition.
This opportunity is open to emerging and mid-career women and non-binary artists working in any medium. Artists will be provided a furnished room in Philadelphia with dedicated workspace for the month of July and present a solo exhibition in August 2024 at Blah Blah Gallery. More information and application here.
Ben Franklin Parkway, image courtesy of the Parkway Council.
Open Call, Art on the Parkway – APPLICATION DEADLINE: 11:59 P.M. EDT, MAY 3, 2024
The selected proposal recipient will receive an all-inclusive award of $15,000
On-site information session with aPA and the Parkway Council on April 9, 2024, from 5:30pm-6:30pm at Maja Park, information and to register here.
Open Call for Art on the Parkway, co-organized by the Association for Public Art (aPA) and the Parkway Council, in partnership with Philadelphia Parks & Recreation (PPR), invites artists, designers, and other creatives to propose a temporary public art installation in Maja Park on Philadelphia’s Benjamin Franklin Parkway as part of the annual summer Oval festival. Proposals are asked to explore the ways in which art can help create and define a sense of place. Information about the project here.
