"Woman Laughing In Indiana," Ridge Avenue and Tenth Street. Photo from artmostfierce.blogspot.com.

Rewind 10 years: Zoe Strauss is given a Canon Rebel, the tool to finally start creating the beast of an installation she has been envisioning for years. Hoping to transform the space under I-95—which has itself transformed Strauss’s South Philly neighborhood—and to capture the changes over time that this community has undergone, Strauss set up ten annual exhibitions under the highway, with prints for sale of the many Philadelphians she’s taken portraits of, and prints of the many places in the city and elsewhere she has found inspiration.

Fast forward to January 14th, 2012: Questlove is performing at the 10 Years opening to a crowd that can’t quite believe they’re at a PMA reception. Waiting in line to get your photos taken at the party booth, you only wish your prom had been this cool, complete with fabulous Conestoga Angels drum line performances.

Zoe Strauss in office.

Fast forward about ten days: I’m sitting on the floor with Strauss during her office hours eating chips and asking about the three paintings around us. Back to that “what the hell” portrait behind Strauss of a young man with dark hair and a wine colored scarf who glances backwards at the viewer. She forgets on the spot who it’s by and admits she doesn’t even necessarily like the painting that much. She simply embraced the chance to keep looking at it in her office and perhaps figure out its intrigue. This small painting exudes a mystery that I pick up from Strauss’s more abstract work, in addition to her shots of empty storefronts and faded signage and graffiti. Trying to understand any messages behind these images, I ask Strauss if they’re piecing together a mixed-up urban poetry to match the social landscape she’s imagined for us. She tells me the messages are “open and available for repurposing.” Just as Strauss converted expanses under I-95—not unlike the FDR skate park and Boat People guerrilla farmers’ markets continue to do in similar expanses—she’s moved on to repurpose commercial billboard space. These works on the billboards tell “an epic narrative about the beauty and struggle of everyday life”—Strauss’s words.

While the billboards evoke the Love Letter series of murals by Steve Powers, which Strauss was a champion and documentarian of, the billboards’ likely fate in a few months is to turn into a new string of tasteless ads for Delilah’s. Their inevitable evolution mimics the mutability—intrinsic to Strauss’s work—of signifiers, community, and individuals. One empowering adoption of a mutable image, “We Will Win,” represents a very specific and deeply personal sentiment of AIDS advocates over the past 30 years. Strauss confirmed that the repurposing of her visual message in the Witness exhibition that long-time friend David Acosta did at the Asian Arts Initiative perfectly represents her willingness to let her photos’ messages reincarnate many times over. Not enough can be written about the impact of Strauss’s work, which resonates with Philadelphians today, but which has the power to reach communities other artists and institutions can’t and won’t.

Zoe with Alice Neel's "Last Sickness"

Turn around: The Alice Neel painting behind me features the face of the elderly woman in a patchwork bathrobe which must read differently by everyone from the public who has visited Strauss in her office (PMA Director Timothy Rub’s satellite office, which he gave to Strauss for the duration of her exhibition). She takes a moment as we’re talking to admire the complexity of emotions expressed by the woman in “Last Sickness,” which, not unlike her work, is up to the viewer’s interpretation, subject to multiple reads, and void of pedantic descriptions.

Cello music sounds faintly down the hall, and I ask Strauss about the fate of the Megawords room where I waited before entering her office, and where Philadelphia Orchestra’s Hai-Ye Ni, propping her cello against plush pillows on the ground, is practicing for the afternoon show.

Hai-Ye Ni in Megawords

The Megawords installation runs kitty-corner to her retrospective, and like the artist’s office hours, serves as a new programming model for the PMA. Visitors from 10 Years and Van Gogh mill in and out of the installation wondering “what the hell” happened to the “scary,” old ATM/phone booth dug-outs. Megawords, “an experimental media project,” raises eyebrows with an explosion of photos, zines, chalkboard, and publications for sale in the tiny alcoves. Megawords also seeks to document the “ongoing narrative” of urban life with their installations and concurrent events.

Hai-Ye Ni in Megawords

Fast forward ten more years? Strauss makes no predictions for what will become of the new spaces—possibly now with chip crumbs in the carpets!—created for her exhibition inside the PMA and all over the city. My hope is that this wonderful experiment (please, include more dance parties!) produces many more experiments in its wake. Philly deserves thought-provoking and purely awesome “what the hell” moments for many more than ten years to come.

Billboards, dances, office hours, Megawords installation, the artist’s own blog–these may seem like the sideshow for Zoe Strauss’ photography exhibit, 10 Years, at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. But we think it is an integral part of the art itself. After all, Strauss conceived of her Under I-95 exhibits, which lasted 10 years, before she even owned a camera.

The photographs were a part of something bigger, part of a grand vision of uniting all the people of Philadelphia–especially the forgotten, the uneducated, the ones who never crossed the threshold of a gallery or art museum, the ones whose faces and scars, tats and bullet holes, boniness and fat are not part of the visual vocabulary of the culture or the way the culture prefers to represent itself.

Zoe Strauss, Two Women, Camden, NJ, 2006; image courtesy PMA and artist

The photographs were and are her GIFT to her neighborhood, her friends, her admirers, to Philadelphia, to the world, and not just to people who love art.

Under I-95, Strauss refused to charge big bucks for those photographs–$5 xerox copies was how she began selling them in 2000, and how she ended in 2010. Plus the digital print versions, the larger, higher-resolution versions, which she hung as the exhibition on the pillars under I-95, were FREE for the taking at the end of the one-day exhibit, and they, too, never got more expensive.

That these photographs of everyday Philadelphia people, some beautiful, some troubled, are hanging in the Philadelphia Museum of Art is not, for Strauss, about her photographs hanging there–although make no mistake she is thrilled. It’s that her people are hanging there. She did it. She inserted them into the record. Their lives matter because they lived and were loved, but now they matter to people who don’t really know them, as a part of art history.

Zoe Strauss, I Love You, Philadelphia, PA, billboard at 34th and Grays Ferry Ave.

But how many of those people will make it into the museum to admire themselves and their people? Some did on Saturday night, the night of the first dance party. For some of them you could tell museums were not their native habitat.

That’s where the 53 billboards come in. In all honesty, if we were choosing where to look at Zoe’s work, that’s the place. (By the way, the foursquare app lets you enter a contest based on seeing and sharing your photos of the billboards on twitter at #zscontest).

The billboards deliver the photographs in all their glory, ginormous, heroic, without frames or fancy mats. Strauss chose the pictures for the locations based on ideas and she imagines you will get those ideas. An oil spill picture is near a PECO plant. In the La Corona billboard, an Italian woman, to be succeeded two months later by a Mexican man, is on a South Philadelphia billboard, in a neighborhood occupied and transformed by Italians, only to be succeeded by later waves of immigrants, including most recently the Mexicans. These are her neighbors and her friends.

Zoe Strauss, Mom Were OK, Biloxi, MS, 2005, image courtesy PMA and artist

Best of all, the billboards are for people who might otherwise never cross the museum threshold, the ordinary people who work from dawn til way past dusk, who don’t have time to think about art, but who might wonder at why a beaming woman is up on a billboard instead of a pair of goth bimbos selling Pabst Blue Ribbon or a bag of Lay’s potato chips. The billboard art show is FREE to the public, the whole public.

Plus the billboards are word- and product-free,  with no cartels or corporations pounding out the commercial messages, urging us all to consume the goods and the not-so-goods, whether we can afford them or not.

?uestlove performing at the Saturday dance; behind him slide show including pictures of guests at the party.

The events at the museum–Can you believe ?uestlove, David Dye, Cosmo Baker and Jerry Blavat spinning at multiple dance parties? 1800 people dancing on opening night? the Conestoga Drum Corps performing? Zoe available for conversation as she takes over museum Director Timothy Rub’s office for office hours.  It all seems shocking in an institution that in many ways is dowdy and proper. But there’s method–even art–to the madness that is bringing in diverse crowds larger than the museum is used to handling.

Clifford the guard is on crowd control at Zoe Strauss' first PMA dance party. Photo by Cate Fallon

During Saturday’s dance party, the guards were on crowd control duty. They looked a little stressed, and who could blame them. But the feel-good factor was off the charts and love was in the air as people posed for pictures that got inserted into slide shows of Strauss photos, which were flashing in several museum locations. The wine and beer came at a price, but the soft pretzels and mini-cupcakes were FREE, and true to Strauss’ own populist bent (she has been known to serve chewy Mary Jane candies and red Twizzlers) at her openings. Really! We wonder if anyone had ever served soft pretzels with mustard for a show at the PMA!

If you are not familiar with Strauss’ photographs, you owe it to yourself to see them. You can see nearly 150 of them on the gallery walls in the art museum. You can also look at them in several slide shows at the museum. You may be wondering about the night-time projections for MLK weekend that appeared on the front and back of the PMA–they also are of Strauss’ work.

But if you can get to the billboards, talks, office hours, dances and other programs, you will experience the core of the art and see the scale of the vision.

That all this happened is a result of Strauss’ enormous personal charm, which plays a major role in her art. She convinced people at the PMA it could get done. They got it done. She was convinced she could take noteworthy photographs before she owned a camera. She wants to change the world. She already has.

The day I talked with Sarah Stolfa of PPAC, their website had briefly crashed from all the traffic they were getting from Living Social, a coupon site, where they had some half-off coupons on offer for their upcoming workshops. ($30 instead of $60). The fact that they’re using a coupon site for class coupons tells you how web- and business-savvy this organization is.

Sarah Stolfa, photo courtesy of Workman publishers, publishers of Stolfa's book, The Regulars

PPAC opened in late summer 2009. It opened because while there were co-op dark rooms for hands-on professional photographers in Philadelphia, “No one in the city was running a nonprofit, high end digital equipment center for the creation of work,” Stolfa said. And, for one photographer to purchase the digital scanners/printers needed made no sense — it was not affordable and took up too much space. But to share the equipment in a community art center made a lot of sense. As with many organizations, PPAC grew as its mission grew. From a space with equipment it is now a place with an educational program, a gallery to show work, and a lot of free or low-cost programming open to the public. Here’s the interview I did with Sarah, by phone, on Dec. 22.

Sarah Stolfa, photo courtesy of Workman publishers, publishers of Stolfa's book, The Regulars

Roberta: Are you a membership organization?
Sarah: We are free and open to the public but also a membership organization.

You are an active photo community with lectures and other programming, and an art gallery. What printing services do you provide?
PPAC makes museum quality prints 60″ wide for practicing artists.

Tell me about printing for other artists. You printed the Zoe Strauss show at the PMA.  It’s a great coup to print a museum show.
We created two sets of prints – one for the museum and one to travel (the show will travel)….and we did match prints for the book. We did everything. Zoe got to choose who printed [the show]. She’d never worked with us before and was very excited about it. She wanted the work [the printing] to stay in Philadelphia. She’s giving back to the community. It’s really a great way to highlight Philadelphia, the community, support the community.  Peter Barbarie was on our advisory committee. But he had nothing to do with it. It was great to work with him in another capacity.

How did the printing go?
It was a lot of proofing and talking to see how the images should feel…it’s a process. It’s a great project.

How many works in the show and do you frame it too?
There are 170 photos, different sizes-”20×30″ to “8×12″ in the show. Framing is done in house at the PMA.

How about the book?
I just got an email today [Dec. 22]. Zoe has the book in her hands.

When did the project begin?
We started on the project in April or May…it’s roughly 8 months of work.

Have you printed this massive quantity for an artist before?
It’s the first time we worked with an artist for this big a show.

Who else have you printed for?
We were printing and scanning with Daniel Traub since May 2009 [even before PPAC opened and the equipment was in her house in Fishtown]. We worked with Janelle Lynch, a New York artist. We do scanning for her.

Are artists hard to work for?
Working with artists is our favorite thing.

Where do you teach?
At Penn and PPAC. Everyone [at PPAC] has teaching experience and is an artist. We understand that practice. It’s in our tool sets. We do this because we’re part of the community.

How many photographers here in Philly
That’s hard. Many artists wear many hats. The census form doesn’t capture it…

How about community…How does everybody get along…Light Room, Basho?
With the Light Room there’s no competition and no overlap. They support us and come to our events. We go to theirs. They are the opposite of us [not digital]. They have a really great darkroom. Basho…We have a healthy competition. Our lectures are drastically different. It’s like fast food chains close together. But helping each other.

How about your programming?
Laura Heyman is giving a talk on her Haiti photos. We’re sponsoring a screening with the Free Library of the film “War Photographer” about photographer James Nachtwey. Zoe is doing a free lecture Feb 18. There’s a show and panel in February…”Of the Ordinary” features artists who use photographs in their work that were never meant to be shown in a gallery context. Our Book Fair is April 28. The Slide Luck Pot Show…there’s a call [see website for more]. Last year more than 125 people came. This year we’re going to have it outside in the garden.

How are you doing with the recession?
It’s a tough economy now. Running PPAC is a tough challenge. I anticipate us continuing to grow. We want to expand things. We will be announcing an artist in residency program in Jan. 2 people per year will come and use the facility for one month.

Is this a residency with housing for out of towners?
Ultimately we’d like to do housing.

What else?
We expanded Philly Photo Day. And next year we will start being a collecting facility…we will get a print from the artists in residence.

How is it being a photographer in Philadelphia?
It’s a hard time to get a job as a photographer. Philadelphia is affordable to live in…it’s a friendly and open community. If you come to events you’ll be in the community…There are great resources for artists. Even if there’s not a lot of jobs there’s space for you to do your own thing.

Do it Yourself?
People can do it; It’s easier [to be a photographer] in NY where the film and fashion industries are. There are photo opportunities there. But I know people who set up here and can work for 10 years.

There’s teaching jobs?
At PPAC! If you have a great idea for a workshop or class, send me an email. There’s a lot of opportunity if you make it…like the fact that PPAC opened.

In the Media Iain Ball‘s show Pangea: Rare Earth Sculptures at Extra Extra is featured in this month’s issue of Art Papers. Joe Girandola‘s duct tape paintings look great in a Stylelist.com article. Zoe Strauss‘s photo-billboards appear in an editorial in the Philadelphia Daily News that compares them favorably to the city’s many murals. Amber Dorko Stopper is named Craft Editor at InCultureParent Magazine.

Joe Girandola's duct tape art.

Philly.com teams up with artblog for content sharing
artblog joined with Philly.com for some content sharing. On the arts page, artblog content is now featured under the section entitled ‘From Our Partners’ and we will soon be streaming their RSS feed here.

Tim Bowen Memorial Art Show
We are sad to bring the news that Tim Bowen – artist and founder of Falling Cow Gallery – passed away on Monday. There will be a memorial art show on Saturday, February 4 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM at 729 South 4th Street, with a silent auction and time for people to share their reminiscences of Tim. George Manney is preparing a video to be screened at the event.

Wikipedia blackout in protest of SOPA/PIPA, Megauploads and Anonymous

In case you missed it, on Wednesday January 18, Wikipedia spearheaded a blackout protest in opposition to the SOPA and PIPA bills in congress. These bills would not only do little to protect copyright holders, but also impose unnecessary and potentially devastating censorship of information on the web. We are with Wikipedia and legal content sharers all the way on this one — read more about the issue here.  And in other internet news, yesterday the FBI and Department of Justice seized the file-sharing site Megauploads for copyright infringement and the hacker’s group Anonymous brought down the Department of Justice for a while in retaliation.

Creative Vitality in Philly town hall
Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy is hosting its second annual town hall meeting on Thursday February 9 at WHYY from 5:30 to 8:30 PM. The meeting is for all Philadelphians who wish to address the topic of how we can make Philadelphia the best possible place to work, play, learn and live creatively.

Opportunities

Tyler Arboretum invites artists and groups to submit proposals for Sit A Spell, Seats That Tell a Tale. Cash prizes will be awarded for artists who design seats selected for the arboretum. View the open call for submission details. Deadline is February 17. Thanks Philadelphia Sculptors for the tip.

Fleisher Art Memorial opened its call for entries for the 35th Annual Wind Challenge. Nine artists will be chosen for three separate three-person shows, with a cash prize of $750 for each selected artist. The deadline is March 1.

Friends of the Print and Picture Collection and the Free Library are sponsoring a call to exhibit for three solo shows between April and December 2012. The jurors are Blaise Tobia, Eli VandenBerg and Susan Viguers. The deadline is March 1.

The 5th Annual Gettysburg Festival invites mid-Atlantic artists to submit applications for four different artistic components including a juried artist colony, a plein air “paint out”, a quick draw competition, and a juried exhibition. The deadline is March 30.

Apply for several internships at MoMA including publications, spring and summer programs, and 12-month internships. Thanks to a tweet from artnet for the lead!

Dacia Gallery in NYC has an open call for figurative art and portraits (via wooloo.org). We don’t know much about this gallery except it’s on the Lower East Side, opened in 2010, and shows figurative work. Deadline is January 26.

Author Chad Stone needs a designer for the cover of his new Kindle book “Confessions of a Middle-Aged Babe Magnet”. Find all the details on his blog. The deadline is February 24.

The Midwives Collective is seeking writers to write a 30-sentence text for the theme of their show Many Entendres. The text will be interpreted by participating artists. For any questions, please e-mail themwc@gmail.com for more info. The deadline is February 24.

Artist News

Emmy Thelander at Hungryman.

Emmy Thelander, artblog’s Brooklyn correspondent, is currently in a show at Hungryman Gallery in San Francisco. The show closes on January 28.

Sarah Archer, the new curator at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, has curated the new exhibit “Bright Future: New Designs in Glass” at Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York. The show runs Feb 10-May 5, with an opening reception Feb 9, 6-8pm.

Anonymous Gallery

Andrew Jeffrey Wright is part of a group exhibition that opens April 9 in Mexico at Anonymous Gallery. The entire gallery will be redesigned to look like a pawn shop and address topics of art value and economics.

Sarah McEneaney, "Al Ain Oasis", UAE 2011.

Sarah McEneaney‘s solo show at Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New York opens January 28.

Amze Emmons, one of the founders of Printeresting, joins other founders, Jason Urban and R.L. Tillman for a panel discussion at the Baltimore Museum of Art on April 29.

The Nicola Midnight St. Claire (temporarily The New, New Masses)

The gloriously quirky art publication The Nicola Midnight St. Claire held an auction in order to change the site’s name for a month. So if you go to the website looking for the St. Claire you will instead find The New, New Masses with a funny–but slippery–video message about the spirit of giving, consumerism, and internet freedom, plus some holiday “gifs” for everyone to enjoy. Macaulay Culkin, anyone?

The Masses (1914), followed by The New Masses, and now The New, New Masses

Madam chairwoman
After nine years in his role as Chair of the Museum’s Board of Trustees, H.F. “Gerry” Lenfest announced the Board’s election of Constance H. Williams as his successor. Williams, a former Democratic state senator who still is a political powerhouse, is an entrepreneur with a background in marketing, publishing, and public service. She was first elected to the Museum’s Board of Trustees in 2006. Lenfest will continue to act as an active trustee, joining Raymond G. Perelman as Emeritus Chair. We’ve got to be honest. This happened back in April. But we woke up to it yesterday.

ONWARD photographers announced

Project Basho once again has made a video to announce this year’s selected photographers for this year’s ONWARD show, ONWARD Compé 2012. Juror Todd Hido narrowed 2,434 submitted photographs down to a final selection of just 57 photographs from 50 photographers. This year was also the widest international participation, with submissions coming in from 25 countries. We recognize a few names like Sarah Moore, and we’re excited to see a load of Japanese names, so the show promises to be great. The opening will be Feb. 11 from 2 -4 PM.

Megawords and Zoe Strauss at PMA
Do you want to dance? We do. Zoe Strauss has the opening dance party for her show at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Jan. 14 from 8 PM – 1 AM. Tickets at $8 and music will be provided by WXPN’s DJ David Dye. There will also be snacks and a cash bar. Also, from Jan. 21 through April zine-peddlers and publishers Megawords will be setting up shop at the PMA. Visitors to the space can write on the walls, converse, draw in sketch books, take photographs, make publications and browse their collection of books and magazines. The Megawords installation space is in the South Auditorium Gallery every Friday between noon and 6pm.

New Observations reawakens after 10-year slumber
After a 10-year dormancy, New Observations is back with the help of Artist Organized Art Inc. (a Massachusetts non-profit). They will provide a forum for self-organized artistic expression. If you’d like to help with their relaunch, check out their support page!

Is Drawing Dead?
Really? This is a question? Yale School of Architecture will be hosting a forum on traditional techniques in the age of the internet. The symposium begins on February 9 from 6:30–8:00 PM in Yale School of Architecture, Hastings Hall, in Paul Rudolph Hall.

Tyler MFA fundraising
The fundraising goals for Tyler School of Art’s MFA program have been met but that doesn’t mean you can’t help them out some more! Check out their Kickstarter to help them out.

Slingluff benefit for Penn Treaty Park

Penn Treaty Park

A group benefit show Jan. 7 from 6 – 9 PM, will raise money for Fishtown’s Penn Treaty Park. Slingluff Gallery is the organizer, and if you like art and public spaces, come out and show your support.

Fabric Workshop breaks attendance record
There has been a surge of record breaking going on these days (see also: Temple Gallery’s attendance quintuples). The Fabric Workshop and Museum has reported that its attendance for Nick Cave’s performance Let’s C pulled in an audience of nearly 800 people. This is surely a testament to the vibrant and dedicated Philly art lovers and community. Congratulations to the Fabric Workshop on its milestone!

OPPORTUNITIES

Art of the State, Pennsylvania’s annual juried art exhibition has opened its call for entries for 2012. You can find the application here but it must be submitted via snail mail. The deadline is Feb. 29.

Professors are called to nominate students or recent grads for an upcoming project in Portugal as part of the Neu New Festival.

Harpo Foundation will review proposals submitted by non-profit institutions and fiscal sponsors who seek support on behalf of under recognized visual artists. You can find more information on their grant page. The deadline is Feb. 1.

Here are a few public art opportunities available:
#1 – Tough Art Artist Residency Program is currently accepting applications for the summer of 2012. This program seeks to connect artists from across the spectrum of all the arts to the resources and visitors at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. The deadline is March 16.

#2 – The Bureau of Public Art in Lancaster seeks to commission an artist/team to create an original work of art that will be permanently installed outdoors and integrated in a renovated public park. Send digital portfolios and web links with “NEA/Sprite” in the subject line to jlustig@cityoflancasterpa.com. The deadline is Jan. 30.

#3 – NextFab Two is currently accepting applications for projects. They should have some physical, material component to them but otherwise the project is open-ended. Art, science, invention, or the amazing but inexplicable are all welcome. Visit the submission page to apply by Jan. 6.

ARTIST NEWS

Carol Cole, Steinway Mandala.

Carol Cole has her work featured on Inhabitat’s blog about green design.

A rendering of Peeples' proposed project at Lincoln Financial Field.

Sarah Peoples initially had her project “Bread & Circuses” approved for display at Lincoln Financial Field. The installation included 2,800 white balloons spelling out the words BREAD & CIRCUSES. According to an article in City Paper, the project ruffled some feathers at the Eagles camp, and they revoked her approval. She is currently seeking a new (and potentially better) venue for her artwork; last we heard, maybe Franklin Field.

Photo by Phil Jackson.

We already told you that Phil Jackson was moving to NYC, well here’s what he’s up to now: he was recently interviewed for We Are Wild and he is also part of an upcoming show at Paradigm Gallery in Philadelphia entitled Dirt is Dirt.

That’s all folks! Have a good one.

A very Krampus Christmas
We heard about Krampuslauf from Amber Dorko Stopper and also on WHYY. Who is Krampus? Why is he having a Christmas parade? Well, Krampus represents the opposite of Jolly Old St. Nick. He’s a Christmas devil that punishes naughty children during the holidays. It’s an alternative to the ‘everything is so sweet and lovely’ Christmas attitude; ‘a little salt to go with the sugar’ says Krampuslauf celebrator Janet Finegar. There will be Krampuslauf parade and festivities in Northern Liberties tomorrow, Sat. December 10, 4pm at Libery Lands Park, 913-961 north 3rd Street.

Amber Dorko Stopper's children Claudia and Bela showing some love to their Krampus doll. Amber is one of the movers behind the Philly Krampus movement.

Stanley Whitney receives first Robert De Niro Sr. Prize

Stanley Whitney

The first annual Robert De Niro Sr. Prize for achievement in painting will be awarded to former Tyler School of Art painting teacher Stanley Whitney. Whitney will receive the $25,000 award, administered by the Tribeca Film Institute, for his considerable contribution to the field of painting.

Masters of the Visual Universe
In contrast to an exhibition that seeks to find the next art star, Masters of the Visual Universe at Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts explores the constellation of artistic mediums, concepts, and practices rotating around the region’s MFA programs. Five local artists were selected for the show: Emily Erb (PAFA), Elizabeth Hamilton (PAFA), Guy Lorraine (UArts), Erica Prince (Tyler), and Ted Walsh (PAFA). The exhibit runs through February 5. Also check out their blog here.

Murals Set in Motion
Organized by Sean Stoops and presented by InLiquid in cooperation with the Mural Arts Program, Murals Set in Motion is an exhibition of videos and on recent mural projects created in Philadelphia and other cities. Artist Christopher Davison’s Brawler video — from his recent University of the Arts exhibition — is in the mix and not to be missed. The opening reception is December 14 at 6:00 PM at International House.

Space #1 – What’s your favorite public space?
Hidden City’s Nathaniel Popkin published an article Dec. 5 asking Philadelphians what their favorite public space is. Public spaces are crucial to urban and social life, and Hidden City wants to know anything you have to say about your favorite haunts. Post a comment on the article or send an e-mail to editor@hiddencityphila.org.

Space #2- Space Savers are here this weekend

The traditional (read: boring) way to save a parking space in Philly.

We told you before about the Space Savers Project – an initiative to make saving parking spots in the city more artistic and fun – well the winners have been announced and tomorrow, Sat. December 10 from 10 AM – 4 PM, 10 space savers will be holding down the fort in public parking spaces around the city. Check the map for the a location near you! Here’s who’s participating:
Piper Brett 
Thomas Buildmore
Michael Konrad
Chris Landau
Jebney Lewis and Maria Möller
Isaac Tin Wei Lin
Christopher P. McManus
Benjamin Monette
Brent Wahl and Oscar Wahl
Linda Yun

Pool art fair shut down
The Miami Herald reports that the Pool Art Fair in conjunction with Miami’s famous Art Basel was shut down for unscrupulous dealings by the hotel owner. Apparently he did not get a special events permit, and was also running the hotel illegally as well. Artists showing at the hotel really got the short end of the deal, as they traveled from all around the globe to participate in the events.  Thanks Joanne Mattera for the tip.

You voted and Grizzly Grizzly heard you!

Samantha Mitchell, "Old Wood Butte", 36" x 38", 2010.

The results are in! Grizzly Grizzly announced Samantha Mitchell as the winner of the popular vote in its juried show,”Other Possible Titles.” Mitchell’s “Old Wood Butte” was the viewers’ choice and she will be awarded a solo show at the gallery in 2012.

Opportunities

Art in the Open is seeking submissions for its May 18 – 20 2012 event along the banks of the Schuylkill River. The works can be in any medium, but must be able to be made outside, on site.  More information about applying here.  The jury this year includes Molly Dougherty (of Philadelphia Art Alliance), Jong Kyu Kim (of Fleisher Art Memorial) and Eileen Tognini (independent curator).

Crane Arts Old School has studios available! Fill out the application on the site (click link in this post) and return it to info@cranearts.com if interested.

Artist News

Philadelphia fibers artist Gail Cunningham was a 2010 resident artist for ten weeks at Cow House Studios, Wexford, Ireland and also participated in an exhibit at Monster Truck Studios in Dublin.

Philip Zuchman and Deborah Gross-Zuchman are in the Art in a Box Benefit Holiday Art Exhibition for Children at Risk at New York’s Masters & Pelavin Gallery.

Philadelphia design guru Jenny Sabin (you can see her space-age greenhouse at the Jefferson Garden of the APS Museum) and regional fiber artist extraordinaire Sonya Clark (who just finished an exhibit at Snyderman Gallery) are among this year’s USA Fellows. Other Philly fellows from previous years’ selections include: Kukuli Velardi, Terry Adkins, Judith Schaechter, and Zoe Strauss.

Eduardo Calmon's Free2Fly app

UArts Student Eduardo Calmon received the 2011 Collab Student Design Competition award for his Free2Fly app which suggests garments based on the weather forecast at a traveler’s destination and then transmits files to a knitting machine near the traveler’s hotel, which produces garments that are available on arrival.

Kevin Finklea is in a group show at Conny Dietzschold Gallery in Sydney, Australia.

Zoe Strauss, "4th of July BBQ", 2011.

Thomas Devaney paired one of his poems with a photo by Zoe Strauss on BOMBLOG.

Zoe Strauss

Download audio file (Zoe_promo2.mp3)

Zoe Strauss 40-second sample

Download audio file (Strauss_edit1.mp3)

full 14:27-min. interview with Zoe Strauss

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This episode is edited by Peter Crimmins. The music is by Eric Biondo. The slide show is edited by artblog Intern Alison McMenamin. Thanks to the Knight Foundation for helping us get the ball rolling on this project. Thanks also to J-Lab‘s Enterprise Reporting Fund and William Penn Foundation for additional support and to our partner WHYY NewsWorks for their ongoing support and for sharing artblog radio episodes on the arts & culture page of their community news site NewsWorks.org. You can subscribe to artblog radio on iTunes.

Below is a sample from our interview and you can listen to the full interview next week.

Zoe Strauss 40-second sample

West Collection launches $300,000 art acquisition project–$100,000 set aside for Philly artists
It was all about money outside City Hall the other day as Occupy Phladelphia protested economic issues; and it was all about money inside, too, when Paige West, with Mayor Nutter by her side, announced plans for a $300,000 arts acquisition project on the part of the West Collection, with $100,000 earmarked for Philadelphia artists. “West Collects” has no fee to apply, and the winners will be selected in April 2012. Any artists over the age of eighteen working in painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, installation or video mediums may apply online at the West Collection website, starting Oct. 10. The Collection is housed at SEI Corporation in Oaks, PA. They are looking for a building in the city to house some of their art and offer educational programming.

3rd Ward comes to Philly

Former artblog contributor and current PMA curator John Vick wrote us recently that Brooklyn-based arts collective 3rd Ward — which offers studio space, classes and more – will be opening a branch in Philadelphia. With the massive influx of creative people and young professionals to Philadelphia in recent years, 3rd Ward’s new Philly location seems like it was meant to be.

Live Cinema makes a move to Perelman Building
Adelina Vlas told us the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s Live Cinema program, which she runs, is moving to the Levy Gallery in the Perelman Building.  Live Cinema opens its first show in its new digs on Oct. 15. “Peripheral Stages” features photographs and video by two European artists.

Tina Barney speaks at PPAC
World-renowned photographer Tina Barney speaks at Philadelphia Photo Arts Center October 19 at 6 PM.  There is a $5 recommended donation.

E-mail scam reported by Philadelphia Sculptors
Leslie Kaufman, president of Philadelphia Sculptors, has announced there is an e-mail scam circulating. Members have been getting messages from a man saying he is interested in work he saw on their website. The point of the scam is that you will send him money and he will send a check. It may be poorly conceived, and full of bad grammar, but just be aware!

Knight/NEA Community Arts Journalism Challenge winners
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation along with the National Endowment for the Arts are set to announce the 2011 winners for their Arts Journalism Challenge. Over 233 individuals or organizations applied from the Knight’s eight pilot communities including Philadelphia. The five finalists and honorable mentions will be announced in their live webcast on October 10, 2011 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time.

TLC’s Collection Obsession
TLC has a new series called “Collection Obsession”. They are currently casting for their first season, and are on the hunt for serious and dedicated collectors that would like to showcase their prized collections and share their passionate pursuits. Contact Jessica Ribeiro at jessicas@sharpentertainment.com if you think you fit the bill!

Old City Windows 2011
Old City Business Collective is launching the third installment of Old City Windows. The project seeks to bridge the gap between design and commerce by having artists redesign storefront windows in Old City. These collaborative efforts with business owners and the community are set to be part of the larger DesignPhiladelphia events going on citywide. The window project will begin on First Friday, October 7.

Opportunities

“Installation view #2 of CFEVA Fellows exhibition “Construct” at The Icebox at Crane Arts”

The Center for Emerging Visual Artists has an open call for its Career Development Program Fellowship. The fellowship is great exposure, and offers direct connections and career counseling. The application deadline is November 1.

Vox Populi is currently accepting membership applications until October 14. Get a chance to show your work and help curate shows and plan programs through this popular member-run artist member gallery. Find all the details on the membership application page.

Vox is also holding a workshop entitled “An Artist’s Guide to Statements & Bios.”  The workshop is 6 PM on Sunday, October 9.

HGTV is casting for a new show “Design Star”. If you are creative and passionate about design, come to the open call on October 16. For more information, visit the casting page.

Artist News

‘Hanging Flowers’, Mixed media photograph, Edn of 25, 101.6 x 76.2 cm (40 x 30 in)

Thomas Brummett‘s ”Hanging Flowers” is currently on display in the Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro.

Artist and former artblog intern David Muenzer has a show on the 14th and 15th floors of a New York skyscraper near where Bernie Madoff’s office used to be. It was covered by the New York Times as a sort of recession-era “Alice in Wonderland.” If you want to see it, e-mail fourteenandfifteen@gmail.com for more info.

Daniel Hoffman has created some glowing, aquatic public art for Crystal City, VA.

James Ulmer

James Ulmer is leaving Philadelphia to move to New York. Come check out his last show at Reward Project in Old City opening First Friday, October 7.

Zoe Strauss

Zoe Strauss is teaching a workshop at CalArts in LA. She also has some lectures planned and will be there for three weeks.

We heard it through the grapevine – Bridgette Mayer Gallery, whose expanded space on Walnut Street re-launches in November,  has picked up a number of excellent local artists to add to its stable.  Stay-tuned for more.

Grizzly Grizzly artists are doing an exchange exhibition with Public Fiction in LA. They will be moving into Public Fiction’s gallery and will set up a hotel room in which they will make art and be there for visitors. In 2012, Grizzly Grizzly will host the Public Fiction people at their space in Philly.

Tiernan Alexander's sculpture from the Chris White Gallery show.

Tiernan Alexander has a solo show, “Spoils of the Ottoman Empire,” at Chris White Gallery in Wilmington, DE.

Philadelphia Museum of Art highlights ten local artists
Starting September 10, the PMA will host Here and Now: Prints, Drawings, and Photographs by Ten Philadelphia Artists.

Left: Disco Mosul, from the Amman Portfolio, 2006 by Daniel Heyman. Right: Walking from CVS, West Philly by Hannah Price

The local artists include Astrid Bowlby, Steven and Billy Blaise Dufala (who operate in collaboration), Vincent Feldman, Daniel Heyman, Isaac Tin Wei Lin, Virgil Marti, Joshua Mosley, Serena Perrone, Hannah Price, and Mia Rosenthal. They range in age from 25 to 50 and exercise a broad array of pictorial strategies in their work.

Kansas governor eliminate arts funding
Over Memorial Day weekend, Republican governor Sam Brownback of Kansas eliminated state funding for the arts. The move to privatize the arts in Kansas effectively makes it the only state to return to pre-National Endowment for the Arts legislation. The state’s art commission had been established in 1966.

Museums provide free admission for active military personnel, families
From Memorial Day (May 30) until Labor Day (September 5) 2011, Blue Star Museums across the country will provide free admission to active service military personnel and their families. There is a map of all the participating locations. The PA list can be found here.

Faux taxidermy makes its way to Art Star!

Jordan with some of her not-quite-taxidermy

Instead of stuffing and mounting real animals, artist Jordan Elise Perme creates creatures of her own called Horrible Adorables. The one-of-a-kind foam and felt animals (with real glass taxidermy eyes) are often mounted like actual hunting trophies, but with colorful, patterned exteriors. Read more in Jordan’s interview with Art Star!

Enlivening abandoned buildings and Reading Viaduct
The long empty Goldtex on 12th St. just north of Vine is showing signs of new life. The south face of the building is now dominated by a giant, fluttering green arrow, and plans to include a nighttime video projection on the east face of the structure are right around the corner. An arrow is always intended to point something out, and in this case that something is the Reading Viaduct – the abandoned elevated train track nearby. The groups Reading Viaduct Project and VIADUCTgreene are working to draw attention to this disused urban gem with the goal of renovating it.

Art + Soul Food in Brewerytown
On June 11th in Brewerytown there will be a celebration entitled Art + Soul Food from 5 – 8 PM.

Opportunities

DesignPhiladelphia – the largest design celebration of its kind nationwide – has opened a call for submissions. The festivities will take place October 13 – 23 2011, and submissions are due by July 15.

To coincide with her April 2012 show at the PMA, artist Zoe Strauss is seeking 10 Philadelphia teachers who would be interested in having her speak to their students. Email Zoe at info@zoestrauss.com.

Portrait by Zoe Strauss

On Saturday July 30 from 12-6, Arts Garage will host its first Art in Your Junk flea market. Registration for this indoor/outdoor event is $20 and they are seeking trinkets and art items of all types and mediums.

The theme of Projects Gallery‘s September show Máscara (Mask) juried by Henry Bermudez is the use of masks in contemporary society. The deadline for applications is July 25 and the full prospectus can be found here.

Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh is seeking short films for its 2-Minute Film Festival whose theme is The Labor Party. The deadline is June 20. If you have any questions, contact 2minutefilms@carnegiemuseums.org

FLUXspace will host an Art Swap on Saturday, June 18 from 2-6 PM (setup starts at 1). Have extra stuff in your studio that you don’t use? Come join the swap meet for some beer and art haggling! To register (for free!), contact info@artmakingmachine.com

Artists

Caleb Weintraub‘s show entitled The Good Old Bad Old Days is up now at Eggman & Walrus in Santa Fe.

From Caleb's show in Santa Fe

Kip Deeds is part of a group print exhibition at IPCNY from June 9 – July 29.

Stephen Talasnick will be showing his works at the Katonah Museum of Art from June 5 – September 18.

Justyna Badach is part of a group photography show at the Center for Photography at Woodstock from June 11 – August 28.

Diedra Krieger will be displaying Plastic Fantastic at Figment NYC on Governor’s Island from June 10 – 12.

Alex da Corte is part of the Nicole Klagsbrun show Spirit of the Signal from June 9 – July 28 as well as Team Gallery exhibition Re: Empire from June 30 – August 5, both in NYC.

Ditta Baron Hoeber has nine poems that were selected to be part of the May/June issue of The American Poetry Review.

Drawing by Ditta Baron Hoeber

Henry Bermudez has a painting on display at the Dick Blick art supply store on Chestnut St. and a print in the Philagrafika 2011 invitational portfolio. He is also hanging a cut paper assemblage at the airport on June 10!

Lesley Mitchell and 31 artists in the Guild of Book Workers participate in a show at the Athenaeum from June 3 – 30. The show travels to Venice in the fall to the Scuola Internationale di Grafica, Oct 5-28.