Securing Artblog's Future
Board of Directors Challenge Grant
Dear Friends, we made it! We met our goal of raising $10,000 to match our Board of Directors Challenge Grant! Thank you for valuing what we do. Your vote of confidence buoys our spirits and keeps us energized for the future. If you have not yet joined the campaign, there is still time. Your contribution today will help Artblog's tomorrow!
Artblog's Board of Directors has issued a $10,000 challenge grant with one goal—to professionalize Artblog and its commitment to communicating the riches of Philadelphia art and artists!
Specifically, Artblog will hire a new managing editor, the first paid professional leadership position ever for our beloved online publication!
Because I know you care deeply about the artistic community in our region, I invite you to help us secure the $10,000 challenge grant by making a donation to Artblog today. Your donation will be matched, dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 by the Board. Your contribution by June 30 will help speed up the search for this crucial new leadership position!
We are looking to the future—to new audiences online and beyond. The new Artblog leadership position is critical for the future of arts news and coverage in Philadelphia.
I hope you will join with me and the Artblog Board, by making a donation to Artblog today. Your contribution will help us add a passionate arts editor to our management team, someone with the ability, spirit and vision to steer the ship going forward.
Thank You!
Roberta Fallon
Executive Director and Editor, Co-Founder, Artblog
Special Thank You Gifts for your donation to the Securing Artblog's Future Board Challenge!
$500 - Unique meal for 4 prepared by French-born chef, in her home or yours ($240 value, $260 is tax deductible)
$1,000 - Unique meal for 4 prepared by French-born chef, plus private viewing of selections from an Old Master print collection ($440 value, $560 is tax deductible)
Extra special Thank You Opportunity!
For the first 20 contributors to the Securing Artblog's Future Board Challenge — You will be invited to a special Artblog-hosted Artist Studio Visit. Join us for light fare and beverages this fall at the artist's studio. More information to come!
There is nothing like it in the area to learn about what exhibitions are "must see" in Philadelphia.
— Judy Herman, emeritus director of the Main Line Art Center
Thanks for your long term project which has been such a generous resource for Philly's art community.
— Jennifer Johnson, Tyler MFA 2016
Artblog is a voice of what's happening in the city at this moment.
— Rob Blackson, Director, Temple Contemporary
Cities of the 21st Century are for the creation of culture. And I think it's playing out here. The Artblog is right on top of that, and I value it for that.
— Nathaniel Popkin, author, Co-editor, Hidden City Daily
Art can be difficult at times; art can be challenging. Artblog writes in a manner that tries to make it accessible to a lot of people.
— Dave Kyu, artist, Manager of Neighborhood Time Projects for Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
Artblog's two major strengths are its inclusiveness and independence. Because of that inclusiveness and independence the organization can exist as an inviting and open "neutral territory" amidst a cultural landscape that is fragmented and partitioned by school affiliation, artistic difference, generation, and especially the heinous forms of social stratification that disenfranchise communities along racial, cultural, and socio-economic lines.
— Gee Wesley, Curatorial and Research Fellow, Slought
At Knight Foundation, we believe the arts are one of the most effective ways to bring people together and challenge them to build a better community. Artblog's class will instill that mission in artists as they begin to form their practice, fostering a commitment to strengthen the community through the arts.
— Dennis Scholl, Former VP for arts at Knight Foundation
I think what I really, really, really love about Artblog is that it considers everything… What Artblog does is the universe of the arts in Philadelphia
— Thora Jacobson, Director, Philadelphia Art Alliance
I go to a lot of things and see a lot of things. I can't see everything, so I can find out about things I'm missing by going to the Artblog.
— Sarah McEneaney, artist, Philadelphia
The activist story of Artblog
Libby Rosof and Roberta Fallon met in Philadelphia in 1986, when their daughters attended kindergarten at the Albert M. Greenfield elementary school. Fallon and Rosof, who love art and love to talk, began collaborating on art in 1989 making autobiographical sculptural objects out of concrete, wood, plaster and paper mache. Half-seriously, the two labeled themselves, The OK artists and went on to win recognition for their art in solo and group exhibitions and public commissions in and around Philadelphia.
But the artists, rooted in the activism of the 1960s, were frustrated at not reaching a larger audience, so they took their art to the streets, giving away hand-made art created under their new label of the Zero .1% For Art Commission. Their goal was to bridge the huge gap between the general public and Art. The artists were at home in the public sphere and got into wonderful conversations with people about why Art could be a paper throwaway or even a conversation. After 6 successful giveaways, including one in Pittsburgh, they were once again frustrated, this time by the drastic reductions in arts coverage in the Philadelphia media at a time when they saw the art scene exploding with excellent art everywhere.
Propelled to action, they created a blog, online, that debuted in 2003 as Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof's artblog. Instantly, the artist/writers had an audience for their opinionated reviews and musings, and a community of artist/writers who volunteered to contribute their thoughts and ideas. Artblog incorporated in 2010 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.
Tech-savvy and innovative, Artblog was an early adapter of video reviews and audio podcasts. The online publication quickly became a leader in the visual arts community in Philadelphia, with awards and grants from the Knight Foundation and others. In 2005 Artblog was a finalist for the prestigious Warhol/Creative Capital Arts Writers Award.
Now in its 13th year, Artblog is committed to the future and to mentoring the next generation of Artblog writers and editors. Please help us Secure Artblog's Future by contributing to this campaign.
Thank you!
