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Artblog Atlas Excerpt – Ken Lum’s story! Opportunities at Icebox Project Space, Automat and free online Workshop ‘Making Your Life As An Artist’

Dear Reader, we do love you and can't stop saying it, sorry if you're tired hearing it! Thanks for pushing our Kickstarter over the goal. But we need more support to allow us to print more copies to distribute free to Philadelphia public high schoolers! Help us get there! We're also excited for three opportunities, including exhibit opps at two places we love (Icebox Project Space and Automat) and a free online workshop from Andrew Simonet, guru of artist empowerment through logic, common sense and taking charge of yourself and your practice. Enjoy!

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ARTBLOG NEWS

Thanks Again, Atlas Supporters! And a book excerpt – From Ken Lum’s story!

Dear Friends of the “Artblog Atlas of Art and Food in Philadelphia,” we have a new update for you on the Atlas! First, though, more thanks are in order! We now have 42 backers and $2,682 pledged in our Kickstarter campaign — with 9 days left for even more support! Hooray! To whet your appetite for the Atlas, below is an excerpt from the book:

Atlas Excerpt – Ken Lum’s Story

Color photo of a man, Ken Lum, outside in a park, surrounded by trees and grass and wearing a pale green shirt and tinted-glass, black glasses, looking up pensively.
Ken Lum, photo courtesy of the artist

Ken Lum — artist, writer and head of University of Pennsylvania Fine Arts — spoke with us in the summer of 2021, when restaurants were closed, and he was missing his weekly trip to the diner with his son Linus, for soup and sandwiches. Lum, a Vancouver-born, Philadelphia-based public artist, has done much traveling (pre-pandemic) and one part of his food story is about “Riz Cantonais,” or, Cantonese rice, and how it appears on menus all over the world. Here’s an excerpt from Ken’s story:

“When I was in Dakar, Senegal, they always serve Riz Cantonais, which means, in French, Cantonese rice, which is basically a Yang Chow fried rice. Yang Chow fried rice is a bit of barbecue pork, egg, peas and shrimp fried rice. I would go into a Senegalese restaurant, with Senegalese food, and then on the menu would be Riz Cantonais. Not only that, they would serve it in a Chinese patterned rice bowl.”

When he asked the Senegalese why Riz Cantonais was on their menu, the answer was always, “We like it.” But Lum knew there was a history to why it was there, unexpectedly, in Senegal. He explains: “It turns out there were contract Chinese workers in Senegal in the late 19th century, for the French [colonialists]. So, that’s likely how it was introduced.” — quote from Ken Lum’s story in the Atlas

Help us move past our Kickstarter goal!

The Artblog Atlas Kickstarter campaign is live until noon on June 3, 2022. We would love to receive more support to print more copies and distribute them free to high school students! If you have already pledged, THANK YOU! And if you’re considering it, please do join us in this campaign! A pledge of $10 (or more) by June 3 helps propel this book closer to publication! If you help us pass our stretch goal of $250, we will provide an additional surprise reward to all our backers!! We love our community, value your support, and believe in giving back.

Thank you for your help!
Artblog Atlas Team
Ashwin, Ilana, Morgan, Patrick, Roberta, Tessa

OPPORTUNITIES

Now, One With Everyone! At the Icebox Project Space
Here’s an opportunity we hope you ALL partake of. This open call show at the Icebox accepts all submissions for a brief 9-day show that could be a new type of Philadelphia Biennial (did we ever have one? We should have one!).

Now, One With Everyone!
Exhibition: June 17 – 26, 2022, Icebox Project Space
1400 N. American St., Philadelphia, PA 19122
ACCEPTING ALL SUBMISSIONS

Work Drop-off Dates: (In person)

  • 10am – 9pm Thursday, June 9th
  • 10am – 6pm Friday, June 10th
  • 10am – 6pm Saturday, June 11th

Suggested donation: $7
Drop Off Location: 1400 N. American St., Philadelphia, PA 19122
Closing reception on June 24th 5-9pm

Icebox Project Space presents, Now, One with Everyone! a group show that also serves as a group photo. We will be accepting artist submissions on the designated work drop-off dates and times, including the Second Thursday of June. Stay tuned and follow @iceboxprojectspace on Instagram for more updates! Email us with any questions.

Free workshop by Andrew Simonet, author of the book,Making Your Life as an Artist.”

Sustaining in a Time of Change: free online workshop from Artists U/Philadelphia – REGISTRATION LIMITED.

From the Media Notice:

This is a momentous year.
We are beginning the slow and complex transitions from lockdown and into—what? Many artists, by choice and necessity, are reassessing and shifting.

Let’s not do it alone.
This workshop, based on the book Making Your Life as an Artist, is an opportunity to build clarity around your artistic practice and the resources that sustain it. It is specific and practical: the principles, tools, and prompts artists use to make balanced, sustainable lives, and to create the art and impact that matters most to them:

Why artists are poor and why we shouldn’t be
Tools artists have used to make things easier
How to build a life that is balanced, productive, and sustainable
Register for the free series

Sustaining in a Time of Change
Four sessions on Zoom:

  • Monday June 13, 12-2 pm
  • Wednesday June 15, 12-2 pm
  • Monday June 20, 12-2 pm
  • Wednesday June 22, 12-2 pm

Questions?
How much does it cost? It’s free (but the class size is limited).
Who is it for? Philadelphia artists of all disciplines.
Do you have to attend all four sessions? Yes.

Open Call for submissions to AUTOMAT’s Open Call show — Submissions Due BEFORE May 27, 2022

AUTOMAT announces a call for artworks for their 2022 Open Call exhibition, open to emerging and mid-career artists working in any medium in the Philadelphia region and beyond. This group exhibition will be curated by our members and will run from July 9 – August 9.
Each artist must fill out the digital application HERE and pay the application fee at the bottom of this page. Both the application form and payment must be submitted before May 27th to be considered for exhibition.

​Artists may submit up to 3 artworks, and include up to 2 images per work. Video projects or documentation of other time-based work can be submitted via a public YouTube or Vimeo link. Please limit these to no longer than 10 minutes in length. We encourage experimental and installation works, though a detailed installation plan must be included. Full details here.

TIMELINE:

  • 5/27 — Open call application closes at 10pm
  • 6/06 — Applicants notified of their acceptance
  • 7/03-7/07 — Artwork drop off / Install (All shipped artworks must be received by 7/03)
  • 7/09 — Soft opening on first Saturday
  • 7/14 — Opening on Second Thursday 6-9pm
  • 7/09, 7/16, 7/23, 7/30, 8/06 — Gallery open Saturdays 12-5pm
  • 8/06 — Exhibition closes
  • 8/07-8/09 — Deinstall / Artwork pick up
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