Artblog | Museums

June 16, 2016 by Andrea Kirsh

Magician of Light and Space – Robert Irwin at the Hirshhorn Museum

I had the wonderful experience of taking a dozen college classmates and their spouses through the exhibition recently. Only one person had any background in art history and none of them recognized the artist’s name. I explained that Irwin’s work takes time–literally, time for the eyes to adjust. They concentrated on the floating sphere bisected by a dark, horizontal line which disappears towards the circle’s margins–and the magic began. The painting creates a series of changing optical effects which it would be useless to try to explain, and because the effects depend upon presence and time, the artist refused to have his work photographed for many years–he has since relented. Anyone who knows Robert Irwin’s work only from reproductions has no idea of what the work is about.

June 14, 2016 by Roberta

Congratulations 2016 Pew Fellows + Organizations – Sharon Hayes, Tiona McClodden, Erin Bernard, Kelsey Halliday Johnson, Monument Lab, Temple Contemporary, ICA, PMA, Barnes! Plus Brandywine Workshop Happy Hours with the Arts, In/Out Symposium at Moore and Opportunities

The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage spreads $10 million in 53 grants to individuals and organizations. We’re especially happy for these strong women in the mix – Sharon Hayes and Tiona McClodden, who are new Pew fellows; Erin Bernard and The History Truck and Kelsey Halliday Johnson for her exhibition about women’s art and technology from 1970-85 – yay! Congratulations, all!

June 10, 2016 by Roberta

Our America – Great show of Latino artists recently in Delaware opens June 24 in Allentown

The curated show of paintings, sculpture, video and works on paper from the 1950s to the present is notable for works with fierce pride in Latino identity and for works with unabashed political underpinnings. The show and its catalog shed light on contemporary artists who would stand out in any group.

June 7, 2016 by Roberta

Center for Creative Works, Allens Lane benefits, Sarah McEneaney in Portland, OR, Blackstar Film Fest and Wall Writers movies at International House, Crane Arts Archive Space closes Philly space+opens elsewhere, Plus Brown Bag it with ICA and Opportunities

Allen’s Lane Art Center’s Second Annual “Night of the Arts” This Saturday, 6PM – Immerse yourself in this vibrant community art center in Mt. Airy – and spend time with their gallery exhibition by photographer Harvey Finkle, whose socially-activist works Artblog has long admired.

May 29, 2016 by Michael Lieberman

The Woodmere Art Museum – Past, Present, and Future

I came away from our meeting April 6 with the impression that Valerio is a thoughtful and imaginative person who is dedicated to engaging the community in the arts. He seems willing to take risks. He has an eye for the overlooked, for the unexpected, and he is committed to promoting local artists who are working outside of the mainstream. When so much of the art world is focused upon celebrities and established artists, and has become international, it is not a small blessing that the Woodmere is focused upon telling the story of the art and artists of Philadelphia.

May 17, 2016 by Roberta

Congratulations 2016 NEA awardees, Artist-at-Sea Rebecca Rutstein, Blum+Poe exhibitors Quentin Morris and Julian Hoeber; Brent Burket on Barnes’ new Digital Initiatives guru Shelley Bernstein, Peek at the SI’s new African American Museum, Pepon Osorio’s reForm ends with Fairhill Fun Day, some Good Reads by John Muse, Stan Mir, the New Yorker, plus Opportunites

NEA awards $807,000 to local arts organizations to foster learning and engagement. Congratulations, all!

May 10, 2016 by Roberta

Woodmere’s Big new Dina Wind sculpture, PAFA’s ICreate lectures with Brandywine Workshop, Delaware Art Museum’s new E.D., Taller P+History Truck+reForm Bobcats honor Fairhill, Donald Trump tombstone mystery unwrapped, Kathryn Pannepacker at Coleman Library, (Pictures of) Cats and Birds at Main Library, Drexel’s Jesse Rosenstein throws benefit for Art Reach at Blokes Barber Shop, Plus Opportunities

Museum News 1 – Public Sculpture by the late Dina Wind debuts at Woodmere Art Museum – It’s big!

From Woodmere’s Gabrielle Turgoose, the piece by Dina Wind is a 30-foot steel sculpture, titled, Spring & Triangle. “…this is a fabrication based on a maquette of 1986 and the realization of the artist’s dream to see her work made on a public scale, interacting with trees, the sky, and the grandeur of nature,” said Turgoose, Director of Communications at the Museum.

May 5, 2016 by Jennifer Zarro

Artblog Radio – Vashti DuBois of The Colored Girls Museum

Most rooms in The Colored Girls Museum are dedicated to women of color; their names are framed in the doorways. This is a museum of Herstory told through art, through shout outs to accomplished and heroic women, and through everyday stories about ordinary and extraordinary lives.