This summer has been filled with News, and our Midweek News Podcast has kept you abreast. Meanwhile, here's the old fashioned News Post, with a couple great opportunities - one of which closes today (don't despair, there is a wait list for those who apply late)! Also, in case you missed it, information about Asian Arts Initiative, Anne Ishii and The Velocity Fund! Stay well out there, people. Covid cases are rising.
NEWS – ICYMI
Anne Ishii. Photo courtesy of Anne Ishii.
Asian Arts Initiative 1 – Anne Ishii to depart Asian Arts Initiative after six years as Executive Director
After six years of serving Asian Arts Initiative (AAI) as its executive director, Anne Ishii will be leaving the North Chinatown-based arts organization on August 15, 2024. AAI was founded in 1993 by Gayle Isa as a Black and Asian poetry coalition in response to the national social unrest following the Rodney King trial. The resolution of this work continues to compel the organization, and will animate its programming and services through the coming years. Ishii will stay on as a part-time consultant to oversee music programming and the SOUND TYPE festival, which culminates in November. Director of Programs Dave Kyu will be deputized as interim director following Ishii’s formal departure, and will brook the transition of the organization as it looks forward to new permanent leadership in 2025. An executive search process will begin imminently.
Kyu comes into interim leadership at AAI after a long relationship with the organization that begins with his tenure as a Social Practice Lab artist-in-residence in the 2010s. Kyu’s background in Philadelphia city works and experience leading AAI’s 2017 cultural plan (People:Power:Place) make him a natural steward for the organization’s mission to build community through the power of art. Kyu understands that making material change in the neighborhood through cultural affect is a generational project.
The board, led by chair Tuan Nguyen, is in total unison in its enthusiasm and confidence in the staff and its leadership, looking forward to seamless transitions through the coming year. Ishii leaves an organization in a tremendous state of fiscal and structural health, mutually buoyed by neighbors, constituents, artists and caregivers. Interim Director Kyu will be joined by Managing Director Matt Nelson in executive oversight, and will be supported by a directors suite that now includes a newly designed role of Director of Marketing filled by Jeanette Lloyd, previously of the Village of Arts and Humanities. Key updates in the staff also include the promotion of Dominique Chua to Programs Coordinator, Daniela Galindo to Lead Teaching Artist (which also speaks to the expansion of AAI’s education programs), and longtime designer to AAI Jino Lee is now its Brand and Publicity Director.
Asian Arts Initiative 2 – Velocity Fund now hosted by Asian Arts Initiative
Dear Velocity Fund Grantees, Project Partners, and Friends,
An announcement! The Velocity Fund is now hosted by Asian Arts Initiative, a multidisciplinary arts center in Chinatown North that offers residencies, space rentals, and fiscal sponsorships, in addition to their regular exhibitions program.
For our grantees, and grantees-to-be, this means that the purpose and function of the Velocity Fund are still vitally the same — we remain a Regional Regranting Program, funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. But, some operations have changed, toward simplicity and access: For one, we’re offering $5000 grants only this year — no longer $2500 and $5000, as more and more of you requested the larger amount, over the past few years. Another shift is that we’ll be starting our application cycle in the Fall, rather than the Spring — which means that payment schedules may be more aligned with your project timelines. And, your dear newsletter-writer will remain — that’s me, Connie, your Program Manager.
I’m looking forward to plenty here, in the next few cycles — including the opportunity to more wholly consider accessible approaches: to bring the application to more people, to support the application process with info sessions that cover grantwriting elements. And, to offer more opportunities for grantees to gather, share the knowledge they already hold, and learn from each other.
I’m so glad that financial support for Philly artists can continue with the shared vision of Asian Arts Initiative. Onward, to this next moment of the Velocity Fund.
May you catch — or be near to catching — a breeze!
Connie Yu
they/them
Project Manager
OPPORTUNITY
Open Call for artist vendors – Bala Avenue Art Walk Sept. 15, 2024, 11am-4pm; DEADLINE TODAY! JULY 30, 2024 – Market curated by Art Star
About the Bala Avenue Art Walk
Along Bala Ave between Montgomery Ave & Cynwood Rd
225 Bala Ave (for GPS) Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004
Sunday, September 15th, 11am-4pm
30+ Curated Craft Vendors, Live Music, Food Trucks, Pop Up Art Galleries, Interactive Crafts, & More!
In partnership, Bala Avenue of the Arts and City Avenue District with curation by Art Star. Apply ONLINE TODAY (LAST DAY TO APPLY IS TODAY, JULY 30, 2024! However, there is a wait list for those who apply after today.)
Application Fee – $15
Open Call for two-person juried exhibition at Peep Projects – Deadline Sept. 6, 2024 11:59pm
Peep Projects invites all interested artists to submit their work to our first juried open call after three and a half years of programming. All applications will be considered for a two-person exhibition opening in mid-December 2024. Please review and fill out all fields. The submission deadline is September 6, 2024, with jury results expected in early October. Application link
All submissions will be considered for:
– The two-person exhibition
– Future solo and group exhibitions at Peep
– Spotlight feature on our social media Submission Fee: $25
Deadline: September 6, 2024, 11:59 pm
Jurors:
– Leah Triplett Harrington, Director of Exhibitions and Contemporary Curatorial Initiatives at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (PAFA)
– Jacob Todd Broussard, Artist, previously exhibited at Peep Projects.
Eligibility & Terms
– Artists working in all mediums are welcome to apply.
– Artists must arrange drop-off and/or shipping their work to the gallery at their own cost.
– For artists working in new media, film, or video, you may be required to use your own equipment for exhibitions.
– Artists will submit up to 5 works that are either available for the exhibition or give a good example of what they will make for it (if the artists choose to make new work)
About Exhibition:
– The theme of the show will come from the work submitted.
– Selected artists will be notified by early October 2024
– The exhibition opens on December 12, 2024
– Exhibition closes on January 18, 2025
– The exhibition will be open for a reception and Philadelphia’s citywide Second Thursdays programming at the Crane Arts Building.
– All artwork in the exhibition will be for sale, with artists receiving 50% of the final sale.
About Peep Projects
– Peep predominantly organizes solo, two-person, and thematic group exhibitions with national and international artists, focusing on site-specific installations.
– As an ode to Marcel Duchamp’s Étant Donnés (on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art), a peephole was installed in its former location—a renovated studio in Viking Mill—for viewers to peep into the exhibitions from the hallways. Now at Crane Arts in Olde Kensington, Philadelphia, visitors can view the exhibitions from a large window in the door.
– Peep was founded in December 2020 by artist Libby Rosa
Poster by Derick Jones, author of “Nose Bleed” on Artblog!
Covid
A friendly reminder from Artblog. Please take good care of yourselves, since Covid is on the rise.
