Roberta: Hi everyone. It’s Roberta.

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

Roberta: on Artblog Radio. Oh, my weekend. What did I do this weekend? Oh, I went to the half marathon because Max my son, Max, our son Max, ran the half marathon and he had a personal best. Max. I’m going to out you here at one hour, 50 minutes and 12 seconds.

That was his personal best. He’s done six or seven half marathons, a couple marathons, never again the marathons, but he likes the, the half marathons and the shorter races, and it’s always fun to be down there with that big crowd. Everybody’s so exuberant, you know? Yeah. Cheering their fellow humans on as they run across the finish line and all that stuff. And it was a brisk day. It was really cold and windy, but I guess it was great for running. I. As in Max’s personal best time.

So yeah, that was fun. And then I babysat on Sunday. That’s always a blast with an 18-month-old child. That’s fun. That’s, that’s about it for my weekend. So the tickets booth, you know, like Times Square tickets, where everybody goes to get their half price, 30% off tickets for plays.

It’s coming to Philly. And I thought they were only in New York, but apparently they’re in other cities as well, but not a lot. The Visit Visitor Center. Has been in talks with them for a while, nine months apparently, and they decided they’re going to come and the booth is going to be inside the visitor center or on, you know, adjacent to it on Independence Mall.

So the tickets will be 30 to 50% off and it’s going to be Philadelphia shows. So, Bravo, right. Kathleen, Catherine OT Lovett, who’s the president and CEO of the visitor Center. Said the, you know, there’s always tickets that are left over from every performance in Philadelphia. It’s just the way it is these days after the pandemic.

It didn’t use to be this bad before the pandemic. And so she sees this as filling houses and unnecessary thing to help the theater community recover. So this is going to happen. I’m not sure when. We can look this up. It’s I found this in the Enquirer and there’s a link and I think it’s a shareable link, so we can put that in and you can read more about it.

But it’s a really good thing for the theater community. I’m very, and music, I mean, I think you can get music tickets right at the tickets booth, like the symphony and the chamber

Ryan: and ballet.

Roberta: Oh, ballet.

Ryan: Ballet.

Roberta: Oh, Nutcracker. Well, I hope it comes soon for all your Nutcracker lovers.

Ryan: The orchestra is, is on here as well, and then also Penn Live Arts.

Roberta: Wonderful. So is it up and running already?

Ryan: That was just the list of collaborating theaters and companies.

Roberta: Oh, cool. That’s very great. Great to know.

Ryan: That looks really good. That that looks interesting.

Roberta: Yeah, totally. Looking forward to seeing that happen. And then I just have a couple other like art things.

One is. The Quilt show is coming to the Kingsessing Rec tennis courts again on December 7th, 1-4:00 PM We love the Quilt Show. This is a scrappy group of West Philadelphia young people who loved quilts and be together doing it. We told you about how they did a take o, well, I won’t call it a takeover.

They didn’t take over, but they were at the Art Sanctuary at Fleischer Art Memorial for 24 hours. Quilt-athon. These are very interesting, wonderful young artists and people. And anyway, if you haven’t been to the quilt show this year, there are 65 quilters. So it’s going to be mega quilting show and it’s only one day weather permitting.

I guess they probably don’t have it if it’s raining. But once 4:00 PM on whatever day that is, Saturday, I think December 7th. So Bravo Quilt show. I’m going to try to go, I’ve gone a couple times. I really love it. It’s a community gathering. It’s very nice. Yeah. I want to congratulate all the Leeway, foundation Art and Change Grantees.

Leeway just announced they’ve distributed $62,500 to 30 women for projects and they served trans. Gender nonconforming and women artists, and they’ve been doing this for 20 years. So congratulations, leeway, and congratulations all your grantees, and we’ll put a link to that so that you can see it.

Finally, I wanted to talk about the eco social Club, eco Social. This is an organization started by Daniel Tucker. Daniel Tucker is an artist and educator and writer who led the Social practice Arts Master’s program at Moore College and then transitioned over to University of the Arts shortly before it closed.

So Daniel has an eco social ser series. He’s doing, which has popped up. It’s a popup event series and right now, starting October 1st and going to January 28th at the Arts Lounge inside Penn Live Arts, which is used to be called the Annenberg Center. I guess I was not aware that it changed its name.

That’s where it is. 36 80 Walnut Streets. There’s an exhibition. They, Daniel and his cohort pulled together out of the University of Pennsylvania art collection. Ken has an art collection. Everybody knows, most universities have their own art collection, so they were allowed to go into the collection and select things, and they’re now on display.

They’re art that has to do with. Ecology and eco themes that the people selected. And then on January 22nd, this is an interesting event. They’re going to allow the audience to confabulate stories about what they’re seeing now. I don’t know about you, but I’m all about confabulation. I think that sounds an audience participation.

It sounds like something that I may actually go to confabulate about art, because you look at art and there may be a story that the artist had in mind, but every mind brings its own story to a piece of art, and I have. Found many, many stories in many pieces of art that I don’t think the artist intended, but I found it and it gave me pleasure and joy.

So I love confabulating about art, so I would, we’ll try to, I don’t know what time of day this is. I don’t have that information yet, but as soon as we get it, we’ll put, put it out there. Maybe get them to put it on the ArtblogConnect.org calendar. Be a good thing. So that wraps it up for me.

Ryan: Those are good things.

Roberta: Yeah, I’m excited. I’m excited.

Ryan: So this week, obviously with Thanksgiving coming up, we’ll say Happy Thanksgiving. Is coming up on the 28th, really late this year. It’s kind of unusual. So there are a few things. Obviously the, with that holiday, a lot of people take that off. They’re expecting this to be the busiest traveling Thanksgiving ever.

Yeah. Which is interesting. Yes. Be, you know, if you’re not aware of that, be aware of that.

Roberta: Right. Stay home is the message. Stay home.

Ryan: So, but there are plenty of shows that are coming up. Beginning next week or that are one-time shows or shows that are ending. Obviously we’re getting into the holiday seasons and that usually means there’s a lot of fun, exciting, interesting shows that are happening.

My sister is a big Elf fan, so Elf is running on at Walnut Street Theater through. The end of December. It’s a, it’s a funny show. It’s not my show, but she loves it. So I will mention it for that. Something else that’s coming up on December 3rd is the mission story. Slam it. I know a lot of people that are interested in those tor sort of stories and slam events.

This one is a, a family specific one. It’s coming up December. Third, that’s Tuesday. That show is at seven, and that’s at National Mechanics. That’s 22 South third Street, if you’re interested in those kinds of events. But really, obviously the important news that also happens on December 3rd is in Philadelphia.

That’s Rocky Day, December 3rd, that is the release of the, the original film, and everybody gets super excited about that.

Roberta: So, okay, so I, yeah, can you, I need to back you up to Mission. Story slam. What is the mission? Why is it called Mission Story Slam? Do you have to have a mission to participate?

Ryan: It is part of video with a mission, and so it’s storytelling competitive for the nonprofit sustainable business communities.

And so you, the storytellers tell five minute stories and they’re competing for $250 judges awards, and then there’s a hundred dollars crowd favorite award. All of that money goes towards the winner’s favorite nonprofit.

Roberta: Got it.

Ryan: So, yeah. So think of Artblog if you go out there and vote

Roberta: right

Ryan: as your favorite nonprofit.

Roberta: Okay. Another question. Yeah. The Rocky thing. Where is the movie being shown?

Ryan: Or you have to screen it on your own devices.

Ryan: I’m sure people are going to be doing it on their own devices, but there are of course Rocky Fest. I think the, the visitor center itself is doing some, some events.

I’m not sure if they’re showing the film. Sometimes the art museum has shown it. But it is, it will be available at the Philadelphia Film Society. They are going to have, I think I was seeing one of the days coming up. They’re going to toot all of them. Oh my goodness. Secondly, in the, I know.

It’s terrible. Wow. Yeah, I’ll, I’ll have to look up the exact date, but I remember I was looking at it and thinking, you know, it’s one of those fun things, like someone says, I would like to do a tour of all the baseball stadiums in the country, or football stadiums, or something like that. I. This is like, I’m going to sit through all the Rocky films.

Yeah, here it is. You can see Rocky one and two Friday, December 6th at Philadelphia Film Society. You can go to Philadelphia film adelphia.org and see their schedule and they will be showing them and. So there’ll be quite a few different things going on. But yeah, I think you can see them all in a theater.

And if you are interested in cinema, one show that they’re showing that my, my son really enjoys. Did you ever see RRR Roberta? No, I missed it. What is it? It is a epic Indian Bollywood film. It’s three hours. But it’s really a fun show. It’s RRR three letters, and it was released a couple years ago and I haven’t seen it in theater or in the cinema.

I think that’d be a lot of fun. That’s coming black Friday, 1129. So November 29th at the Film Society. Huh. If you’re interested in that. Huh. Just a couple reminders. Obviously the Christmas Village is open and running and will be open and running throughout the season for those who are interested.

I know my kids are interested. They love going to see the Macy’s displays, so that’s always fun too. In Center City

Roberta: in the windows. The Windows displays.

Ryan: They, they do enjoy the decorations, and there’s miscellaneous zoos as well that are also our lights up starting this Thanksgiving through the.

Through the holiday season.

Roberta: Yeah, I’ve noticed some lights on houses in my neighborhood, so people are getting into the, I guess they do it before Thanksgiving. I don’t remember in other years when the lights pop on, but I think everything is speeded up now. You just got to do your thing, fast. Yeah. Get it out there.

Ryan: Stay competitive with the lights.

Roberta: Yeah, maybe. I’m sure there are competitions. Oh, I know there are. Oh yes. In New Jersey, there’s a a, I think in the suburbs of Cherry Hill, maybe there’s all kinds of competitions for the lights and people go crazy wild over there.

Ryan: Yeah, I’ve actually gotten to a couple of those.

They’re, have you, they’re pretty intense. Yes. Well, my kids love those kind of things. It’s sort of like, okay, let’s go see. Sure. And people are out there like redecorating while you’re watching. Oh, no kidding. It’s, it’s intense. Yeah. They’re really into it. So you know, that’s more the merrier. Have a good time with it.

Roberta: Oh, subcultures. Don’t you love the subcultures of the world? They are just so. There are so many of them.

Ryan: There are a lot of different things. Speaking of subcultures, I’ll, I’ll talk about it in a couple weeks again, but John Waters is coming to town.

Roberta: Oh, I love John Waters. Where’s he going to be?

Ryan: December?

December 17th. He’s going to be at Union Transfer.

Roberta: Really?

Ryan: So, yep. So if you’re interested in that kind of thing, mark on Condor,

Roberta: does he have a new book out or something? I wonder? Or does he just do a circuit?

Ryan: I’m not sure what kind of show it is. Huh But it is, it is specifically aimed at a, as a Christmas show.

Roberta: I saw him at. The Annenberg Center in the auditorium. I-C-I-C-A was honoring him. There was some, I forget the exact tie in, but it was a number of years ago, and we got some comp tickets to sit and see John Waters. He’s an amazing performer. He’s a storyteller. Just a, a lovely, lovely sense of the world, you know? Human comedy.

Ryan: Yeah.

Roberta: Yeah, he’s great. He’s great. Oh, cool. John Waters very nice. I like to hear that. I want to shout out Libby and I went to the Barnes Foundation and to the PMA two Fridays ago, and we saw the Michellin Thomas show at the Barnes. Definitely worth going people if you haven’t seen it already.

And it’s powerful. The, the work is. Drop dead gorgeous multimedia paintings. It’s a painting show. She’s a painter, but collages and very provocative. She riffs on art history. There’s a lot of art, historical references and a fascinating abstraction that skews cubist in some of the works where she’s got lines that.

Cut through, like they’re almost sword strokes that cut through and diagonal and up and down and even over some of the faces figurative, beautifully done provocative. Why it is that way. It made them mosaic like in a way. And also electric. It conveyed the sense of electricity that the images are, they would’ve had it without those lines, but that really did it for me.

So very, the show is well hung. It’s a beautifully hung show. It’s not overhung and there’s not too much work. There’s just enough work. It’s great. Then up at the PMA, we saw the Afrofuturist show. The time is always now that had a cast of phenomenal again painting show. There was one piece of sculpture, I think only, and the rest was painting.

Henry Taylor. Harry, James Marshall, Cheryl, Amy Sherrod all the portrait painters that, you know, plus a bunch of them that you don’t know. Fantastic imagery of African-Americans through, you know, commenting back on slavery, futuristic, sort of all over the place in terms of the time, which I guess the show title tells you that as well, that.

The time is now. It’s always now, and these, I want to say, are really important paintings to see and really important people to know. A lot of the names I did not know, it’s a large show. There’s some 25, 27 artists in it from all over the United States, but it’s, it’s important to go, this is like, hasn’t been in the art history cannon forever and so.

We need to know these people and need to know their works. It’s beautiful work. It’s provocative work kind of haunting. It’s a haunting show. It’s a haunted show. Very well done. It’s very large, very large show. Unlike the Michel and Thomas, which was not so large. This show at the PMA is very large, so it, it bears a second viewing, actually, I want to say both of them do, but to go through it once is.

Take some time and it would be, I want to go back and see it a second time, so I’ll, we’ll put the dates in. I’m not sure when they close. Both of those shows have been up for a little while now, so I’m guessing through the end of the year, but maybe not a lot after that. So get up and see them. If you haven’t,

Ryan: that sounds great.

Roberta: So I hope everybody has a really good Thanksgiving. If you celebrate, I was at an event at the Senior Citizen Center last week. We did a, a workshop, a collage workshop with the seniors. It was wonderful. I met some good people. It was a terrific time. Anyway, someone said. If you celebrate Thanksgiving, and it reminded me that not everybody does celebrate Thanksgiving.

Some people don’t like it as a holiday. Some people love it as a holiday. It’s just the way the holiday has been presented to us through the years and how you came up with it in your family. So if you celebrate the holiday, have a good celebration with your family and friends, and if you don’t. Have a good alternative celebration with your family and friends and just remember family and friends.

Those are the key words.

Ryan: Absolutely.

Roberta: Well, is that it, Ryan? Any outtakes for us?

Ryan: You know, it’s a light week, so it’s a Thanksgiving week. So when we come back, we’re going to get into first Friday. So we’re going to get, we’re going to get right into everybody’s new openings for December. Things that are wrapping up.

Good. There’s just a little lull of a week. It is.

Roberta: It’s a funny week when you have a holiday on a Thursday, you know, it just, and the schools are closed on Wednesday and Friday, so.All of your parents have your kids all over your house and can’t get anything done and can’t focus. And if you’re listening to this podcast, God bless you.

Thank you for listening. You know, we understand you’re having a week. Absolutely. We’re having a week too. We all are having a week.

Ryan: Yeah. And this one, you know, you’re busy for other reasons. So next week you’ll have things to see and do. This week is making food and hanging out, and

Roberta: Yes, eating food,

Ryan: enjoying and or surviving family time.

Roberta: Both of that,

Ryan: your results may vary.

Roberta: Yes. From community to community.

Ryan: That’s right. So find yourself some space as needed.

Roberta: Alright, well that’s it for me everybody. Thank you for listening. Love you so much and we’ll see you next week.

Ryan: See you next week everyone. This is Ryan and this has been Artblogs, midweek News.

See you next time.

Roberta: Bye.