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Midweek News, Lunar New Year, Secretary to the People, Guadalupe Maravilla, Gabardine, Eric Marsh, Loud & Queer, Spiritual Experience, and more

Episode 296 - Roberta and Ryan are joined this week by our University of Pennsylvania master's students in the Nonprofit Leadership Program, Anjali Miller and Chi Yan. Roberta returns safely and Ryan embraces the Go Birds spirit.

Episode 296 – Roberta and Ryan are joined this week by our University of Pennsylvania master’s students in the Nonprofit Leadership Program, Anjali Miller and Chi Yan. Roberta returns safely and Ryan embraces the Go Birds spirit.

Guadalupe Maravilla RAIR fellowship - Gongs
Guadalupe Maravilla RAIR fellowship – Gongs
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Roberta: Hi everyone, it’s Roberta.

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

Roberta: On Artblog Radio. Okay, let’s start again. Hey, Ryan. How you doing?

Ryan: I’m doing great, Roberta. How are you doing?

Roberta: I’m back from Virginia, so I’m terrific.

Ryan: Good. How was your drive?

Roberta: Not as bad. A nail biter going down. Going down I take the Pennsylvania turnpike to Harrisburg. That is a trucker’s paradise route. And there’s the 18-wheelers and they make these convoys and they make barricades where two of them drive side by side, and you have to just wait for one of them to pass the other and then you can try to scoot around. Oh my gosh. It’s such a nail-biter for me.

But coming back, it was smooth sailing. All the 18-wheelers were going to Harrisburg from Philly, and nothing was coming to Philly from Harrisburg. So that was great. And then the road down to Virginia from Harrisburg is very easy. It’s a really easy peasy. Highway 15, do you know it? Goes through Maryland, very pretty horse country and farm country, and the Blue Ridge Mountains in the background. And then you cross over into Virginia at Harper’s Ferry, you know, the very famous Harper’s Ferry for the Civil War, John Brown, et cetera. And you continue on these little teeny tiny Virginia roads through vineyards and horse farms, and you finally get to my daughter and her family’s place in Round Hill, Virginia, which was the site of a Civil War battle, I don’t even know that it’s commemorated anywhere. It was not like Bull Run or Manassas or any of those battles, but it was in Virginia and there is Civil War history there. Anyway, I had a very nice visit with the family and I’m back.

Ryan: Welcome back. Smart to bypass the beltway.

Roberta: Yes, I do not like 95. It’s a terrible, scary road, prone to crashes and backups for hours and hours when there’s a crash. People drive kind of crazy. So give me the PA turnpike and 15. That’s my sweet spot.

Ryan, we should mention that we’re talking with our friends and student compatriots from Penn today, Anjali and Chi. So welcome you guys.

Anjali: Hello everyone.

Chi: Hi everyone. I’m Chi I used to be a listener, but I was really excited to be involved this time.

Anjali: Yes, same here.

Roberta: You can continue to be a listener, haha. I want to say that.

Ryan: You’ll see them in forthcoming videos too from our ArtMkt show and some interviews with other artists. So that’ll be exciting.

Roberta: Yes. Welcome guys. We’re really happy to have you here. And how was your break? You just came back from winter break and you both did amazing things. So who wants to go first?

Chi: Well, I went to some museums and art galleries, like the Met and it’s the year of the Snake, I think they have a collection. They adjusted the Chinese or Asian section into an exhibition for the year of the snake. I think everyone should, if you’re interested in Chinese zodiac, you should go and see the collections.

Anjali: And I went to India over break for a class for our nonprofit leadership program. So I was studying microfinance in Karnataka state.

And it was a really great trip. It was amazing.

Roberta: So where is Karnataka State?

Anjali: It’s in the south. So we were not really in any major cities. And each day we would visit a self-help group, so a group of women that are receiving loans. And then we would either, you know, visit the bank and talk to the bank officials as well or in other cases, the temples would facilitate the microfinance loans. So we would speak to the heads of the temples and kind of compare and contrast the different models. So it was amazing. It was pretty exhausting — days from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day. But it was really, really great. It was really broadened my perspective in a lot of ways.

Roberta: Can you explain two things? Where does the money come from? I mean, what is the big source of the money that comes to either the banks or the temples and also the women. What do they do?

Anjali: So for where the money comes from for the banks, the banks, they have a charitable trust that is connected to them, and that’s how they run their micro-finance schemes.

They’ll give groups of, I think it’s greater than 10 women loans. And then the women pay back those loans on a weekly basis. For the temples, that money, I believe, mostly comes from donations to the temples, but then the temples are also more of a facilitator between banks and the womens’ groups, so they’re not putting up all of the money themselves as the temple.

It’s not really that groups opt to either get their loans directly through the bank or through the temple. It’s more just like what’s accessible near your village and where you can get a loan. And there’s definitely pros and cons to both. Like the bank loans are largely subsidized by the government.

So women in effect don’t actually pay any interest on the loans that they receive. They pay the interest upfront, but then they get that money back that they paid. So that’s really great. The same isn’t the case with the temple scheme, but there’s still value in it. Really, all these loans go to women, not men.

A lot of it’s about women empowerment and women starting their own businesses. So some of them are tailors. We’ve visited this fishermen’s village where many of the women were fishermen’s wives, who dried and sold fish and a lot of them have created schemes where they have internal loans. So that’s how they make more money for themselves as a group. They will basically give each other internal loans when a bank loan won’t come in time, but they’ll receive interest from that member. And then they’ll have a pot of money that’s growing. So it’s really, really interesting because they’re empowering themselves also by helping each other.

So it was really great.

Roberta: Thanks for sharing all that.

Anjali: Of course. Sorry, I really got into the weeds there, but…

Roberta: Well, I dragged you in, haha, no problem, but you went willingly.

Anjali: Yes, I did.

Roberta: Well, shall we bring ourselves back to Philadelphia after we’ve been in India? I’ve got a couple things I want to talk about.

There’s a performance and an exhibit. And hold on, a project and a shout-out. So those are four things, and I’ll try to make it as quick as possible. So first on the list is the Painted Bride has a world-premier poetry theater performance by David A Gaines. This is in February, the 14th to the 16th, and it’s going to be at Icebox Project Space. Painted Bride has a small space on 52nd Street in West Philly a storefront, but I guess because they want to do this multimedia poetry, theater performance, which involves video projection and movement, it’s going to be in the Icebox.

The performance is called “Gabardine.” The performer and creator is David A. Gaines, and the subject is black queer artist engaging in inner child healing. Three performances, and it’s a film projection, immersive sound in various technologies, whatever that means, to subvert audience expectations and explore dimensions of black grief, shame, and joy. That sounds like a really important sort of thing.

My second is an exhibition at the Parkway Central Library. We love the library and they have a really good art program. This is the exhibit Secretary to the People, Postcards to the President. A project of Sheryl Oring, who uses a typewriter, an old fashioned typewriter, and engages people to get the feelings — and she’s done this in 50 states — of people’s evolving hopes, fears, and expectations for the nation. She was apparently at the Parkway Central Library during November’s election day, and she interviewed a bunch of people, typed it all up, and all those responses are going to be available to see at the library in this exhibit up through April 30th. So get on down to the library.

Another project I want to tell you about is Guadalupe Maravilla’s Gongs. Guadalupe is a Pew fellow. We covered his art in Lane Speidel’s piece in 2023, I believe, when Guadalupe had a show at Arthur Ross Gallery. Anyway, Maravilla is in a Pew sponsored fellowship at RAIR, Recycled Artists In Residency up in Tacony. Maravilla is collecting scraps from the recycling of industrial waste –It’s an industrial waste recycling plant — and turning them into gongs by hammering, forming, smelting, sanding, grinding, and over Memorial Day weekend they are inviting anyone who’s interested to experience the sound ceremonies at RAIR. So mark your calendar for Memorial Day in May and follow RAIR on Instagram for updates.

And here’s my final thing, and that is a shout out to Eric Marsh, our N.I.C.E. leader. Artblog is a participant in the N.I.C.E. program at WHYY, sponsored by Lenfest Institute and the Knight Foundation. Eric was our leader in chief for that program. And he is now in a new role as Director of Operations at Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence and Reporting. He’s an outstanding organizer and he’ll be absolutely tremendous at whatever he’s doing. So, hello Eric. We miss you already, and good luck with your new position.

And that’s it for me. So turning it over to you now, Ryan.

Ryan: And did you see the Philadelphia’s 14 semi-finalists for the James Beard Award? For the restaurants award? That was interesting for all you foodies out there. Yes.

Roberta: We should put that list in.

Ryan: I have the list and I’ll put that in there. And then there’s also that new restaurant award show they want to do. Did you hear about that?  I’ll put that in conjunction too. It’s a whole bunch of foodie things happening in the city. Also UArts buildings being up for sale, did you see Curtis purchased one of those?

Roberta: Yes. The Art Alliance. They beat out Temple. Temple University wanted that building. It has a performance space. It is fabulous. It’s just a fabulous building. It’s a great building. Falling apart (not really, but needs some love), but fabulous.

Ryan: So it’s a great opportunity for Curtis and expanding what they do.

Roberta: And it’s right around the corner from Curtis.

Ryan: And they seem to have an endowment that seems to be okay. So let’s keep fingers crossed, keep that going. Yeah,

Roberta: Definitely.

Ryan: No more surprises. And then I  also saw that there’s an opportunity at Box Spring Gallery if you’re interested in that. It’s a Chrome theme car theme show that they’re doing. So that’s open through March if you’re interested in that. I know some people are interested in shiny glitz and glamor like that.

Roberta: Is that in conjunction with the auto show at the convention center? It should be. That sounds like a perfect counterpoint. (Philly auto show wass Jan. 11-20)

Ryan: I don’t actually know when the auto show is, but it might be. She might have had that planned anyway. Gaby might had that planned. I don’t know.

So I have three picks obviously.

This is the beginning of the Lunar New Year, and so we had previously talked about that and shared the Philly Suns Parade calendar, and I can do that again in case you have misplaced that. But there are still a few shows. They did one last night in Chinatown, and then there’ll be more today and more over the weekend, and then there’ll be a few more coming up in the following weeks in February as well, eight and nine. And I’ll post that list again so you can see that if you, if you’ve misplaced that.

So one thing that I’ve been doing in my house is trying to reorganize to try to get cozy. I think we talked about that in the fall. And Dyke+ Art House has “Loud and Queer”, a read aloud night, which sounds really interesting. And they are doing a show which got my attention because from 7:15 to 8pm is going to be reading, listening, and being cozy. That got my attention very quickly because maybe they have a good idea of how to get cozy. So I’m hoping to see how they do their cozy. And that’s upcoming. And that’s February 1st from seven to eight.

And then my number two pick is a theater show that I can’t quite describe. It’s called Spiritual Experience. It’s at the private theater at 3408 Brandywine Street. It is a two person show. So you buy one ticket. And they’re relatively expensive, but you get two seats. It is a private performance with seating for two designed to be viewed by friends and familiars or by one person alone, like a restaurant with only one table.

It’s described as not frightening. It does not involve audience participation, but I’m not sure I’ve heard of anything else like this. So. if you’re interested in something unique.

Roberta: It sounds like a psychic reading to me. I’m sorry.

Ryan: Yeah. There’s also that new documentary that’s about New York City psychics that looks really interesting.

Speaking of that, could be interesting. That one, the documentary is called “Look Into My Eyes.” I’ll put a note for that too. But anyway, could be really interesting. I mean, especially with that name, “Spiritual Experience,” could be really interesting.

Roberta: It is a psychic. I think so.

Ryan: I think it could be a lot of fun. If that sounds intriguing. I’ll have links for that. And then we’re getting into February. February is Black History Month. Philadelphia Film Society is doing Black Cinema Week. You’re going to see a lot of classic films.

And some that you may have seen and some you may have never even heard of. So they’re starting Friday, this Friday, January 31, and Menace to Society is Happening and a few other shows through. And this is going to go through February 6th, so it’s just one solid week of shows. I’ll have a list of those and the link to, to find those as well at the Philadelphia Film Society and see all of those interesting films that haven’t been out for years and years and years and really worth a rewatch if you haven’t already.

So those are my three picks and I kept it the three this week plus a couple sneak-ins, but still three’s my number. That’s it for me on my picks of the week.

Roberta: Chi, you were telling us earlier about the dinner you cooked last night. Last night was the evening before the Lunar New Year.

Chi: Oh well, as a tradition, like people will gather, like it’s usually family members. It’s a really big family dinner. And people just in like, on New Year’s Eve and we just get together and cook together. So last night I cooked with my friends from China. It’s like the dinner is kind of like a mix of Eastern style and a Western style, and my friends cooked a really traditional, like Chinese chicken soup and I’m more, I was more responsible for the Western style.

I cook, I actually got a steak. And my parents told me, oh, you should have some wine to like match with the steak. And by the way, I got the red pockets from my parents, like I still got the red pockets. So it’s really great to have this like it’s best wishes for my parents.

Roberta: And it is an envelope with money in it. Right?

Chi: Wow. Since I’m in the States, it’s like not in the envelope, but usually when I was in China, when I visited my grandparents, or I said, Happy Chinese New Year to my parents. They will give me like a physical red envelope with money in it.

Roberta: Got it. Very cool. There’s a new show coming to the Barnes Foundation, Cecily Brown. We’re excited about that. We’re going to go see that There’s a press opening, but that’s not till March. Everybody should run out and see Ann Min show before it closes. Friday is the last day. And we are going to be publishing and, sorry it’s so late, but there’s a beautiful review of the show by Logan k Crier that will be up today, hopefully.

So you should read it, think about it, and then run on over and see that show. It’s Anne Minich. We’ve written miles of commentary about her on Artblog, so you can look her up. See about her art. She’s 90 years old, still working every day. In her home studio, and she makes exquisite constructions, painted constructions with insets, lovingly placed objects in the paintings and whatnot.

And there’s psychologically, very deep, very sort of elliptical, spiritual, anecdotal a little bit, but they’re about life and death and bodies. It’s wonderful work, so be sure you go see that. The last day is Friday. [Ed Note: The last day is Saturday February 1, 2025] The show is open. We’ll put the link to the website, which has their hours so you can see it.

But it would be shame to miss this show.

Ryan: And I guess we should also mention that the Philadelphia Eagles are going to New Orleans, to play in a football game of some kind in a week and change. And I anecdotally I was I guess Monday, I was holding the door open and some people came through or whatever, and instead of like a thank you or some sort of sense of gratitude, they’re like, go birds.

The city is in that kind of mood right now. I guess the mayor’s decided not to grease the polls this year, so

Roberta: You’re kidding. The mayor usually greases the polls?

Ryan: Maybe not. Maybe, I don’t think so. Yeah. Maybe not her specifically, but somebody, somebody greases the poles, the pole climbers.

Roberta: Grease the poles, yeah, go Birds. I don’t really follow football except the Packers, but they sort of got washed out. But go birds!

Ryan: Go birds. So yeah, we’ll talk about that again. Everyone’s going to talk about that. We don’t need to talk about that. But yeah, no, the city’s very po positive and vibrant about it, I guess. So, yeah,

Roberta: I was walking in and I noticed all the barricades on either side of Broad Street, although to keep people on the street and not climbing up the buildings and the poles.

And they’re taking those down. But I mean, February, whatever, sixth, ninth, whenever the date is of the Super Bowl, they have to put them out again. because it’ll be mayhem no matter what happens. Okay, well go birds. We’re going to end on Go Birds, go. Go Birds. All right, see you next week everybody. Thanks for listening.

Ryan: Thanks for listening. This is Ryan, and this has been Artblog’s Midweek News to see you next time.

Meet Our Hosts

Artblog-Roberta-Fallon-photo-by-Steve-Kimbrough
Roberta Fallon makes art, writes about art and thinks about art probably too much. She enjoys making podcasts and sharing art news. She’s the co-founder of Artblog with Libby Rosof and now is Artblog’s Executive Director and Chief Editor.
Ryan deRoche - Managing Editor - Artblog
Ryan deRoche is the Managing Editor. He continues his work with youth theater with SchoolFreePlayers.org and as a cycling coach at Kensington High School working for Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia’s Youth Cycling program.
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