News
Lee Rosenbaum of Culture GRRL decided to have some fun with the recent slew of faux Pollocks, and bought a pair of Crocs decorated in the spattered-studio-floor style of the artist. Aside from the fun wearable-art factor, it was a charitable move: proceeds went to the Pollock/Krasner House.
Two from University of the Arts – 1. Andy Heisey and Andy Walker have teamed up with UArts to build a very cool, sustainable and interactive project: the Renewed Urban Studio Tent (RUST) at the vacant lot at 313 S. Broad Street across from the Kimmel Center. They’re asking people to help build it with recyclable objects on August 1-3. The opening is Friday, August 3 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm, complete with food and music. Once that show’s over, the structure moves to the Mt. Airy Art Garage in November, supplemented with a curated show of work, a film on the building process, the reconstructed tent, the cement collages added to the tent by the public, and the clay tiles, along with artwork displayed by artists that worked inside the structure. 2. This summer, Corrina Celeste Mehiel’s Bike (Ph)ix project ‘fixed’ Philly’s notorious array of stripped bikes by replacing their missing parts with non-functional (and funky) parts. Although the last chance to see the Bike (Ph)ix project has passed (the mayor’s office sent a task force to remove and recycle these stripped, abandoned bicycles on July 23), you can see the bikes by contacting Corrina Mehiel at corrinamehiel@gmail.com.
In case you haven’t heard, the great collector Herb Vogel, one half of Team Herb and Dorothy died on July 22. Vogel, along with Dorothy, was a legend who’s left over 4,000 works of art to share with people around the world. Fortunately, the 50X50 gift project is continuing. Messages of support can be left at Herb and Dorothy’s Facebook page.
We love all the programming going on in art galleries across the city this summer! Vivant Art Collection just had a free screening of “Half-Past Autumn: The Life and Work of Gordon Parks,” on Wednesday, and they’ve got a showing of a documentary on African singer Fela scheduled for Aug 29. Although their movie nights are free, RSVP due to limited seating.
Great Philly press from out of town: Art Fag City’s road trip to Philly saw Whitney Kimball paying a visit to Fjord, Gallery 102, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, Tiger Strikes Asteroid, Bodega, Grizzly Grizzly, Napoleon, Vox Populi, and Marginal Utility.
The Olympics wouldn’t be complete without a dose of clever London street art. A number of artists have been creating pieces around town in defiance of strict control of the Olympic rings logo, and, perhaps inevitably, one piece by Criminal Chalkist has been mistaken for a Banksy (which he’s wryly denied). Banksy, though, has actually created one of his own works, called “Outdoors.” The website Is This the Future has a collection of these pointed street art images.
Opportunities
via Kip Deeds – Soaring Gardens Artists’ Retreat is offering a retreat to visual artists, writers, and composers between May and September. Located an hour outside of Scranton in the hills, Soaring Gardens has two facilities, the House and the Church, open to visual artists, writers and composers. Soaring Gardens is part of the Lerman Trust, on whose site the application can be found. The deadline is March 10.
via Leslie Kaufman – It’s almost time for the New Hope Arts Center’s Works in Wood 2012. Open to all woodworkers, the deadline is October 1, 2012, and selected artists are notified October 13-14, 2012 by email. The artwork delivery is TBA upon acceptance. The opening reception and awards ceremony are on Saturday, November 10, from 6-8pm. All the info for applying can be found here.
The Take Back Vacant Land Coalition is dealing with one of Philly’s most persistent issues, launching “Philadelphia’s Best and Worst Lots Contest.” Beginning now and continuing until August 31, 2012, they’re asking for residents to photograph and describe either the best lot or worst lot in their community. Entry is free. To enter the contest, submit up to 3 photos, a short description and contact information to takebackvacantland@gmail.com; you can also mail entries to Take Back Vacant Land c/o Liberty Resources, 714 Market St., Phila PA 19106; or upload to www.facebook.com/CampaignToTakeBackVacantLand. No empty talk in this contest – and winners receive home/yard improvement gift cards as well as clean-ups for the worst lots!
Artist News
It’s summertime and everybody must be on vacation, but we want to tell you about industrious Artblog friend Anabelle Rodriguez-Lawton’s new “Cur-art-orial” gig at the Crane Arts Building. She’s at the LAB, part of the International Curatorial Exchange, which she’s using to build a powerful calendar of upcoming exhibitions from international artists at the Crane Old School. Her work ethic is impressive: she’s also managing to do this while in New York on a research fellowship at Hunter College, and sharing a studio in Dumbo!
