At 91, Lorrie Goulet’s dedication to the carver’s art is unwavering, even though she cannot wield the carver’s tools like she could as a young woman. Throughout a recent wide-ranging conversation I had with her at her home and studio in Chelsea, I was struck by Goulet’s deep commitment to the physical work of carving, its tools, techniques, and materials. Her eyes light up and her gestures become animated when talking about stone, its myriad types, colors, and textures. For Goulet, stone–her primary material–is alive, and each stone has its own personality. “I put my life with the stone’s life,” she told me, following up with “I don’t have many stones left.”
Read MoreIf you haven’t done so you should read Hammam’s essay, Cultivating Competition: A Small Note on the Art Writing Challenge. After reading Hammam’s essay, I wanted to pull out a few points and add a few comments of my own.
Read MoreOne question that emerges is the following: is competition the most progressive way of cultivating an artistic-intellectual community, one that focuses on the reception of artistic initiatives and activities that occur in a particular place?
Read MoreIt seems to me that NMAAHC has the opportunity, not yet fully realized, to bring to African American artists the attention and recognition they deserve, and to place them squarely in the cosmos of American art, and at the same time to “privilege the black voice.” Indeed, the museum brilliantly has accomplished that in its other Culture Galleries.
Read MoreIn London for a week of art hopping and beer tasting, I found myself in one of my favorite galleries that combines both–The approach. This sleek contemporary space not only exhibits one of my favorite collage artists–John Stezaker–but also sits above a warm and friendly pub just off the Bethnal Green Tube station in East London.
Read MoreFriend of Artblog and teacher of our Artist and Social Responsibility Project class, Theresa Rose has a wonderful community project she’s curated. 9th Street Stock Exchange, with a title punning on the financial markets, is a collaboration (not competition) between merchants in the Italian Market. Get a ticket for a guided walking tour of the project, only ($5) here.
Read MoreMany submitted, but only 12 were selected as finalists for the Artblog/St. Claire 2016 New Art Writing Challenge! Keep your eye out for all of the winning articles–we’ll be publishing one a day starting soon. From the Colored Girls Museum to the Mormon Tabernacle, you’ll find something to love from these great Philly-centric pieces of writing.
Read MoreSee, when the Art Commission finds fault with a proposal, the relationship between jury and design team becomes that of teacher to student. Desperate for the Commission’s approval (which is required to receive a building permit in Philadelphia), increasingly flustered groups of architects look for hyper-specific guidance from the Commissioners: what materials to pick instead of what they proposed; how many more trees to include on a plan–essentially, “if this is proposal is wrong, tell us how to make it right.”
Read More
