Roberta: Hi everyone, it’s Roberta.

Ryan: And this is Ryan and this is the Midweek News

Roberta: on Artblog Radio. Shall we get into the news?

Ryan: Sure, let’s get into it.

Roberta: Alright, let’s do the news. Okay, so I have one, two, and then I’m going to sneak three and four in there under one umbrella of shows closing. So, Big Ramp has the closing of The Sublime is Meow,

Ryan: Right.

Roberta: The kitty cat toy show. And Saturday, December 7th from 2 to 5:00 PM you can come and check out all the wonderful cat toys that are at knee level or below. Be prepared to stoop. Bravo to them for doing this show, I think has been a real crowd pleaser. A kitty cat pleaser. You know, they have walk-ins off the street, cats that come in and peruse the the show. I love that part.

Second show closing is at Facture Gallery. That’s Bill Gerhard’s Gallery up in Germantown, Sophie White and Lita Gray. The show’s over on the eighth and they’re having a closing reception on Sunday the 8th from 2 to 4:00 PM Sophie White is in Artblog’s Art Mkt, so you may have seen some of her work there. She makes paintings, little luscious oil paintings, small, about Kensington and Fishtown and gentrification and how it’s sort of a mess right there, right now.

They’re lovely paintings. You should go see them. They capture that street vibe. And Lita Gray has been working on a project on a tarot deck with animals, North American Wildlife, with mythological archetypes it says, and so you can go see the actual hand-painted. Work that she’s making of the 78 different images that are going to be in the deck.

And then ultimately these will be printed as a 78-card deck with a book delving into duality and the profound teaching of the natural world. Those are really interesting sounding shows that are closing. That would be good to see. And they’re both in north and northwest ish Philly. So Big Ramp and Facture, which everybody calls fracture, but it’s F-A-C-T-U-R-E, as in the facture of a painting, which is, it’s an art term. I’m not even sure what it means, but it’s an art buzzword, so Facture gallery (Facture means the artist’s handling of their materials).

Then I wanted to mention another event that is good to go to, especially if you had any connection as a teacher or student at University of the Arts, or perhaps also at PAFA, “How to file a Bankruptcy Proof of claim.”

This is a PVLA (Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts) webinar, free this Friday, Dec. 6, 1:00 pm-2:00 pm. I hope they’re recording it so that you’ll get to see it later if you miss it. I know it’s work time for many people.

A “Bankruptcy Proof of Claim” is not about you filing for bankruptcy. This is about if you have an interaction with an organization that is in bankruptcy and they owe you money, how do you file a proof that you have a claim against them? This would be very nuts and bolts sort of information to have for now, and hopefully not for the future, but definitely for people affected by the whole UArts crash and burn.

So Bravo PVLA for doing this for zero cost. They’re doing it as a public service. I love this organization. There is a registration. They would like you to register and if you have a particular question to ask, they would like you to submit it in writing so that they can give it to the panelists.

They have some experts who are panelists who are going to explain all the ins and outs So get your questions in ahead of time. We’ll put in the link to the registration so that you can register. And again, that’s Friday, this Friday the 6th of December from 1:00 to 2:00 PM online.

Okay. Then finally, my final little thing is I’m excited about a show opening in January. It’s the Keen Collection. At St. Joseph’s University Maguire Museum, which used to be the old Barnes Foundation Building, on Latches Lane in Merion.

I believe St. Joe’s either leases the building from the Barnes or perhaps purchased it at this point. Anyway, the show is from the Keen Collection. The Keen collection is outsider art made by those who have been making out but are untrained, or are incarcerated, have been incarcerated or institutionalized. Big names are Martin Ramirez, the Mexican artist who was institutionalized in California and made some amazing work. And Adolf Wolfli, Swiss artist, also institutionalized and also amazing. So just for those two alone, it’ll be worth seeing. But all of the art by these people is collected by. Mr. Keen in the Keen collection of outsider art at Bethany Mission, which is in Philadelphia, and we should probably do a safari there someday, Ryan.

Ryan: That’d be fun.

Roberta: Yes, I’ve known about the Keen Collection, and Molly Dougherty is the Director of the Keen Collection. I know Molly, shout out to Molly Dougherty. Hi Molly. Lovely person and so it’s going to have an illustrated catalog with discussion by some wonderful people. Richard Tochia, former Gallery Director of Arcadia University and Alex Baker, the current director of Fleisher Ollman Gallery, which has a history of working with outsider artists, self-taught artists. People of this nature. So they are experts in this type of work. Very excited for this. It’s going to be January 16th to March 30th, 2025, at the St. Joe’s University Maguire Museum, and we’ll put in a link to this so you know how to get there.

That’s it for me, Ryan.

Ryan: That’s a good list. It’s nice to have some lawyers on your side when you feel like you’re just an individual artist.

Roberta: Oh my gosh. Yes. Or an institution they have helped. They have helped. Artblog. When we had some issues that we needed help with, legal help, they were awesome and very affordable.

Highly recommend PVLA, to everybody, if you have any legal needs.

Ryan: Absolutely. They were easy to work with.

Roberta: Definitely.

Ryan: Okay. So for my list we are obviously into the holidays, which means people are looking to find some gifts for people in their life. Something that came up last year was the inaugural — so this is year two —  the Weaver House, fiber craft holiday market, at the basketball court at the Bok.

That’s Saturday, December 7th, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM There’s a lot of fun things there. Last year, lots of vendors already in their inaugural year I found a little mini loom for my daughter, so that was pretty nice. So something to check out. And it’s free to attend. It’s a holiday market there on the on the ground floor of the Bok building. And if you haven’t been to the Bok, that’s right around 1901 South 9th St. You can’t miss it. It’s a giant former high school building.

My theater pick is, is going to be Marguerite Hemmings, Make Ready Again, from Journey Arts. Journey Arts is the new rebranded Intercultural Journeys Group who have been around for a number of years. This is running from December 5th to the 7th. It’s a short run. There are just three shows, at Theater Exile. That looks to be a very interesting dance, storytelling and music show. Theater Exile is 1340 South 13th Street. Also, 13th Street has the lights that run across the street as well, if you’re interested in seeing that as well, if you’re in that neighborhood.

A work that we had covered here on Artblog before — Theodore Harris’s Hearing Justice. That’s in conversation at CFEVA on Friday, December 6th, and that’s going to be at 237 South 18th Street.

Who else? Someone else told me that they were going to be there doing music for that show. Ahh yes, Taji is going to be there. Taji Nahl is going to be there doing some music, which is going to add a whole thing. It is called Hearing Justice, a sonic response in solidarity with a colonial critique which is going to be a really interesting time. If you haven’t heard Taji, you can hear him pretty regularly. He often is on Germantown Radio. He’s streaming online on a regular basis and has live shows throughout the city on a regular basis. Taji is a recent Guggenheim Award winner. That again is December 6th, 5:30 to 7:00 at CFEVA.

Then if, if you are looking for some theater, there are plenty of shows that are closing. The Arden is about to switch on to the Peter Pan, so Intimate Apparel is out, and the Wilma is wrapping up as well. And the next week, if you haven’t seen my third event, Hot Cider and Hands-on Holiday Craft Tables — back to, things to buy. The Museum for Art in Wood has some hot cider and craft table. So it’s not just buying things, but also getting your hands dirty and working on your own things. Could be a fun for everyone, …Looks like it’s going to be really cold again this weekend good time for hot cider and crafting. And that is Saturday, December 7th from 12 to 5pm. And you can also walk around the current exhibit that’s there.

Roberta: So it’s indoors.

Ryan: It’s indoors,

Roberta: And are, is it going to be wood that you can get your hands on? That might be interesting. Usually you think of hands-on arts project, things in the public sphere, and it’s either clay or paper, but if it’s wood. That’s interesting.

Ryan: That would be interesting. I wonder how their insurance is going to cover that.

Roberta: Really

Ryan: Hammers to the public if you….

Roberta: No, no, no, no, no. Glue. Glue, gluing, wood,

Ryan: And then clamps. Still a lot of insurance issues anyway. So this Museum for Art and Wood, if you haven’t been there, that’s a lot of fun to see. You can go see the current exhibit for free during this time as well. That’s Saturday, December 7th, 12 to 5, and that’s 141 North Third Street. And it doesn’t say, I’m not quite sure what their crafting table’s going to be. I assume it’s paper and glue rather than wood and glue, but it could be, you never know. They, they could come up with some really clever ways to do some joinery, and then you just like tap it together with mallets. That could be all right.

Roberta: Mallets

Ryan: Be a lot of work.

Roberta: Mallets, mallets, mallets a lot

Ryan: Well, those are my three things slash five, six things. There’s a lot of things going on right now.

There’s a lot of interesting things, plus things we’ve already talked about, and

Roberta: maybe we knew it, maybe we didn’t know it. When we decided to have an art market starting October 4th and going to December 7th, it never occurred to me that the week of December, well beginning December, first through December, whatever.

There would be art market after art, market after art market after art market. Like there’s 15 of them out there right now. It’s a good thing. I just wasn’t expecting that. And I think some of these are new, like the organizations have not had. We had not had an art market in the past. It’s a good idea. It gets people to come see the art and think about buying it.

To put prices on it is a good thing to get people to buy it is a great thing. I just didn’t realize that there was this kind of avalanche of art markets, but there is now. Like two that you mentioned, Ryan, which I didn’t even know about, but there’s tons of other things out there right now where you can get good deals on art.

Beautiful stuff, handmade stuff. Very, very nice as gifts. So,

Ryan: And it’s one, it’s ian ndividual piece. They’re unique. You’re not going to find anywhere else. So if it strikes your fancy, there’s a lot of different things going on for the art lovers. A unique gift. Sometimes it’s hard to go shopping for, for specific people.

Roberta: Well, I shop for myself when it comes to art, and then I expect that I’ll give it to my kids. So.

Ryan: Well, you have good taste in art, so that’s fine. Other people may not, so, oh,

Roberta: thank you. I think I do. I am an omnivore. I have wide taste in arts. I love art so much.

Ryan: There’s lots to see and do lots of drinking and getting out even though it’s cold right. There’s plenty to see and do.

Roberta: You can go ice skating in Dilworth Park. I was over there the other day and there they were. Ice skating. The rink is a little small for me. I’m used to skating on lakes. I’m sure you did a lot of that too when you were younger. And skating on Olympic sized indoor rinks. Those are a blast. You can go so fast around those corners. Love it. Dilworth is fine. It’s fun to go ice skating.

Ryan: It’s like a little roller skating rink. It’s small and cute.

Roberta: It is small and cute. And then they probably serve Cocoa inside the warming house.

Ryan: And there’s a couple cafes right near there, and you’re right in Center City. There’s tons right there.

Roberta: Exactly. I want to give a shout-out to our friends at The LOCAL who came to our Art Market, speaking of holiday markets, and then wrote up a piece about it that is a whole page long about the wonders of the art market, and then this sort of why you should buy art. For example, you should support small business. It drives tourism and local spending, community identity, education and innovation, wellbeing and connection. The piece starts out with Artblog, but then it goes much deeper than that, and I just love them for doing it. They’re, they’re such good friends. So shout out to Steve and Carolyn at The Local. Thank you so much for your support of Artblog and all you do to support your community. If you don’t know about The local, you should try to pick up a copy. You might have to go to Germantown to get it, although they have copies that they place around the city in various locations, including at WHYY.

So just you wander in the front door of WHYY and say, “Hey, I’m here to pick up my copy of The Local, and you’ll find them in the little stacks right inside the front door. And you should read them because they have not only good articles that they write themselves, like the one they just wrote about the Art MKT, but they cover cooking and restaurant reviews, even sports, and it all has an activist point of view.

Like there’s one story in this issue that I’m looking at that says Touchdown for Title IX and it’s women’s sports. So you know, they’re feminist and they’re activists. It’s a good paper. I highly recommend it.

Ryan: Keeping your money local obviously keeps the money in the community longer. 35% more money stays in the local community, for every dollar spent. Local businesses are more charitable than larger organizations by percentage of their sales. So there’s a plethora of reasons to support your local businesses rather than your Amazons and your Walmarts and your Targets this season.

Roberta: Yes. Or your New York Times, or your Philadelphia Inquirer. If you want some arts coverage, support your little Artblog, which is pumping it out here for you and has been doing that for 21 years. It’s the end of our year, our fiscal year. We’re looking for support. We’d love to carry on through our 22nd year, 23rd year, 24th…

We’re going forward, but we need community support and we would love to have your support. There’s many ways to find out how to support Artblog. Mostly go to our PayPal. We’ll put a link into that in the transcript and make a donation. That’s safe and secure and at whatever amount you want. We have sustaining opportunities, $5 a month.

We have many subscribers who do that, or they’re not even subscribers, they’re supporters. We don’t have a subscription service except for the free newsletters that we have, ArtblogConnect.org and our Dear Reader newsletter that comes out, that’s the RSS feed of everything we published that week. So we don’t have a paywall.

We count on your support. We do get grants, and we’re happy with that. And we sell ads. You wanna take out an ad on Artblog, get in touch with Ryan. He’s happy to help you, so support local journalism, arts journalism if you can. We love you anyway, even if you can’t, God bless you, and we hope that you enjoy what we do.

And I’m going to stop talking now.

Ryan: And also, our market’s open through December 7th, so if there’s something you want to get. This is your last week to take a look.

Roberta: We’ll put a link to the catalog, the online catalog in the transcript so you can actually eyeball what some of the selections are.

There have been sales, we’re happy to say there have been sales. There are other beautiful works that are not yet sold, but you might like. You might love it. You might want it. So take a look. All right?

Ryan: All right.

Roberta: I think that’s it for me, Ryan.

Ryan: That’s it for me, Roberta. Okay.

Roberta: Well, we’re unified in that. Thank you everybody for listening. This is Roberta saying goodbye. See you next time.

Ryan: And this is Ryan and this has been Artblog’s Midweek News. We’ll see you next time. Bye-Bye

Roberta: bye.