March continues to be an exciting month for Philly arts & culture, and today we’ve rounded up a curated list of even more opportunities, events, news, and some Artblog announcements that weren’t included in last week’s news post! March has also generated quite a bit of information surrounding Covid-19 vaccinations and the future for fully-vaccinated Philadelphians. In case you missed it, here’s a quick summary.
Philadelphia’s Covid-19 vaccination roll-out has been frustrating to say the least, including the recent news revealing that white people are receiving the majority of available vaccines. But things are getting better in Philly- as cases continue to decrease, FEMA continues to vaccinate thousands of Philadelphians. Next week Philadelphia’s vaccine allotment will nearly double, hopefully helping the city address the vaccine deserts that are disproportionately affecting vulnerable people communities, elderly people, and people of color.
Now back to news in Arts & Culture….
NEWS
Anula Shetty film-in-progress, ‘Cosmic Egg,’ awarded funds from Center for Asian American Media
Philadelphia award winning filmmaker, educator, 2017 Pew Fellow in the Arts (and more) Anula Shetty, is a winner of the 2021 Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) “Documentaries for Social Change” award for her film Cosmic Egg! Anula’s film is of eleven documentary films that CAAM is supporting in 2021. You can watch their video announcement about the Documentaries for Social Change awardees on Youtube.
Tiger Strikes Asteroid leader Alex Paik announces new project Correspondence Archive
Alex Paik, Founder and Director of Tiger Strikes Asteroid, just announced a new conversational project that will center and archive important conversations about topics such as race, diversity, and marginalization, amplifying the voices and experiences of non-white artists. The project will launch soon; until then you can follow them on Instagram @correspondencearchive!
Launching Soon! – Correspondence Archive is an ongoing collection of written conversations/interviews between racialized artists talking about each other’s work and careers. Our priority is to center the voices and practices of those who have been traditionally marginalized by the art world. Collectively, these conversations will become a way to share and archive a diverse and nuanced range of ideas and individual practices from communities that have often been flattened or erased.
Check out this (partial) list of participants that will be featured in the first batch of conversations! – Paolo Arao, Zoë Charlton, Cecile Chong, Jodie Lyn-Kee Chow, Andrea Chung, Ayana Evans, GOODW.Y.N., Christopher Ho, Hong Hong, Prima Jalichandra-Sakuntabhai, Mary Kang, Heidi Lau, Yujin Lee, Natalia Nakazawa, Nazanin Noroozi, Alex Paik, Megha Ralapati, Naomi Reis, Tiffany Jaeyon Shin, Elaine Su-Hui, Jina Valentine, Derrick Velasquez, Didier William, Samira Yamin
EVENTS
Valerie Cassel Oliver in conversation with Howardena Pindell – ConSortiUm (CSU) – Mar. 11, 5:30 PM
On Thursday, March 11, 2021, at 5:30 PM, Valerie Cassel Oliver, Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts will speak with Philadelphia-born artist Howardena Pindell. Howardena is a brilliant artist whose experimental and groundbreaking work surrounding destruction/reconstruction has been hugely influential and is included as a permanent fixture in a host of international, and local institutions (PAFA and the PMA to name two in our town!)
The conversation is presented by ConSortiUm (a collaborative project of California State University art galleries and museums) as part of PLATFORM, an event series of socially engaged artists, collectives, and curators in conversation.
Register for the Zoom webinar – PLATFORM presented by ConSortiUm, Thursday, March 11, 2021, 5:30 PM (PST), FREE
OPPORTUNITIES
[Ed. Note: ICYMI in our February 24th News post– or if you are preparing your submission– the deadline for AUTOMAT’s 2021 Group Exhibition Open Call is this Friday, March 12, 2021.]
Visual Artist Fellowship – Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA) – Deadline: Mar. 15, 2021
The Visual Artist Fellowship is designed to help artists in the Philadelphia Region reach new levels in their career. Artists will be asked to demonstrate a vision for the next stage of their professional or artistic practice and a clear plan for CFEVA’s proposed role in reaching it. Artists will be selected by an independent Board of Artistic Advisors based on the merit of their artwork and a demonstrated ability to reach stated goals. Four artists will be selected to receive a full range of career support during the two-year Fellowship period. In addition, selected artists will receive a $1,000 award and up to $3,000 to cover expenses related to the proposed activity. We invite all artists to apply with their current needs and ideas, regardless of their status as emerging, mid-career, or established. Artists within 150 miles of Philadelphia are eligible to apply. Please note each application is reviewed carefully and all applicants are also eligible for exhibitions, sales, teaching, and other opportunities through CFEVA.
For more information or questions about the application process, please contact Genevieve Coutroubis, Executive Artistic Director at CFEVA: (215) 546-7775 x 11 or genevieve@cfeva.org.
Job Opportunity – Public Programs Manager – Friends of the Rail Park
About the Friend of the Rail Park
Friends of the Rail Park (FRP) is the 501(c)3 organization working to make the 3 mile vision for the Rail Park a reality through cross-sector partnerships and community collaboration. For more about FRP, check out therailpark.org.About the Public Programs Manager Position
The Public Programs Manager will collaborate with a wide range of people to create programs and experiences that explore, translate and bolster FRP’s vision, mission and values to a diversity of audiences and interest groups. More specifically, the Manager will lead FRP’s 2021 public programs, which includes two key projects: 1) the creation, launch, and content development of the Rail Park Digital Hub, a digital archive and cultural asset map of the 10+ neighborhoods that the Rail Park vision transverses; 2) the intergenerational Parks for Chinatown + Rail Park Youth Ambassador program, focused on Phase One of the Rail Park and supporting the multifaceted communities and networks that surround it. This is a ten month contract position, with possibility for extension.Compensation
Commensurate with experience. This is a project-based, contract position and does not include benefits.To Apply
Send a cover letter, resume or CV, and work samples or portfolio to jobs@therailpark.org. Please PDF and name your files “[Last Name_First Name]_Resume”, “[Last Name_First Name]_Cover Letter” and follow the same naming convention or link to work samples or portfolios. FRP will begin reviewing applications on March 12, 2021, with phone screens to begin the week of March 15, 2021.
ARTBLOG ANNOUNCEMENTS
Artblog to be featured on Arts Access TV – Friday, Mar. 12, 6-7 PM
This Friday, March 12th, 2021 between 6:00 and 7:00 PM, Artblog will be featured on Arts Access TV, a brand new program from The Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) in collaboration with PHLGovTV. Artblog’s segment (one of three segments) features Roberta Fallon’s recent podcast and Zoom interview with Jodi Throckmorton and Brittany Webb, co-curators of Taking Space: Contemporary Women Artists and the Politics of Scale at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (on view at the Fisher Brooks Gallery, School of Fine Arts Gallery, PAFA until September 5, 2021).
Artblog is one of three featured local artists and organizations, alongside Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers and Art Time With Albe Artist by Alberta Gibson. Arts Access TV airs weekly on the free local Channel 64 PHLgovTV (Comcast channels 64 and 1164, Verizon channels 40 and 41). You can also watch online free of charge.
Watch ‘Talking about ‘Taking Space’ with Brittany Webb and Jodi Throckmorton of Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts’ on Arts Access TV, March 12 at 6:00 PM
Kemuel Benyehudah to moderate virtual panel on African Diaspora Dance, Mar. 22, 2021
Artblog contributor Kemuel Benyehudah both organized, and will moderate, a panel conversation on “The Therapeutic Benefits of African Diaspora Dance for College Students” featuring India “Ingine” Bernandino, Co-Founder, Great on Skates, Thomas Defrantz, Professor, Duke University, Crystal Frazier, Professor, Point Park University, Vince Johnson, Founder, Urban Movement Arts, and Beverly Pittman, President and CEO, We Shall Be Moved.
The event will take place on Monday, March 22nd, 2021, 12:00PM – 1:15PM (EST) and is hosted by The Samuel DeWitt Proctor Institute for Leadership, Equity, and Justice at Rutger’s University.
Register to attend ‘The Therapeutic Benefits of African Diaspora Dance for College Students’ on Zoom
Check out Kem’s Artblog essay about panelist and Urban Movement Arts Founder Vince Johnson: Urban Movement Arts (UMA), nourishing Philly House Dance culture and surviving the pandemic
