Attention emerging writers and culture lovers: The New Art Writers Contest is back and better than ever with bigger prizes and a first-ever physical publication in the works!! This December 11, 2017 “From the Vault” post by last year’s contest winner, Leah Gallant, creatively combines the writer’s fascination with a renaissance painting from the PMA’s permanent collection with her desire to make sense of an infamously iconic image from our own time. Do you have things to say about the images and objects in your environment? Read on and submit your unpublished art writing to this year’s contest, open NOW!
Read MoreIt’s been almost a year since Opera Philadelphia commissioned poet and multi-disciplinary performer Marc Bamuthi Joseph to commemorate the tragic and brutal MOVE bombings with “We Shall Not Be Moved” — an original hip-hop opera. If you missed it then, you’re in luck because Opera Philadelphia is bringing it back for a public screening on September 29th as part of the 8th annual Opera on the Mall event. In this November 12, 2017 “From the Vault” post Imani Roach interviews Bamuthi on the heels of the premier.
Read MoreThe New Art Writers Contest is back for a 4th year! This October 12, 2016 “From the Vault” post by Anna Marie Gibertini takes us back one of the earliest public conversations that Artblog organized about the craft, culture and function of art writing. Do you have opinions about art in Philly? Read on and submit your new art writing to the 2018 contest, open NOW!
Read MoreArtblog is excited to announce the 2018 New Art Writers Contest – a FREE contest that supports emerging writers who are passionate about the arts in Philadelphia. Artblog, an independent online publication started by two artists in 2003, introduced the contest to get more people talking, writing and thinking about local art. Apply today!
Read MoreAs Labor Day fast approaches, its time to reflect on the kind of work that isn’t always visible. In this blast from the past, originally published October 1, 2016, Andrea Kirsh reviews groundbreaking “maintenance” artist Mierle Laderman Ukeles’ retrospective at the Queen’s Museum.
Read MoreThis week on Artblog Radio we’re featuring audio from the Blue Note Salon, an April 21st panel curated by Black Quantum Futurism at the Icebox Project Space. This interactive discussion covers a wide range of topics from the role of jazz musicians and jazz culture in paving the way for the Civil Rights Movement to current efforts by local artists to connect their work to social change movements addressing gentrification, displacement and cultural heritage preservation.
Read MoreOur advice column, Ask Artblog, debuted earlier this month with Dave Kyu’s column about should I go to graduate school. In June, we will be launching Ask Artblog twice a month with Beth Heinly answering your questions. See Beth’s note below and tell all your friends about this new opportunity for them to ask questions of a pro, whose advice will be honest, as she says, and could be pretty hilarious, too. The mailbox is open! Send your questions to Beth at ask@theartblog.org
Read MoreWe hope you have a wonderful 2018, beginning with love and ending with love and affirmation…and lots of art and art making and art loving, too! We love having your friendship and are thankful each year for your support!
Read MoreJust for you, we offer this annual curated list of notable people, groups, books, and other art world stuff from the outgoing year: The 2017 Liberta Awards!
Read MoreAll of us at Artblog wish you a Happy Holiday filled with friends and family, camaraderie and love. We give thanks for all the love and support you have given us through the years. Thank You!
Read MoreArtblog’s Imani Roach and Roberta Fallon talked with Taji Ra’oof Nahl about his complex art practice that includes collaboration at its core. Nahl ran his own gallery in Old City from the late 1980s to 2010, where he showed, among others, Terry Adkins’ work. Taji was a friend of Adkins, and their practices both involve music, found objects, and researching under-known African American historical figures. In the interview Nahl tells Imani and Roberta about discovering the Colonial-era polymath, Benjamin Banneker, who became the subject of his installation in ‘Unlisted,’ the big multi-curator, multi-artist show at Icebox Project Space in 2016. We interviewed Taji Nahl at Moore College of Art and Design’s TGMR radio station on Sept. 14, 2017, and the podcast is 37 minutes long.
Read MoreThis is the third year of the New Art Writing Challenge, a community-wide festival about the importance of art writing in Philadelphia. We invite you to submit your writings to our art writing contest. Five cash prizes will be awarded this year and we will be publishing the winning articles and honorable mentions on Artblog and on other publications partnering this year with us. Roberta Fallon and Matt Kalasky co-organized the Challenge again this year. Our partners this year are these great Philadelphia online publications: Curate This, Thinking Dance, Title, and Velvet Glove. Help us shine a light on Philadelphia’s great under-sung art writing community. Participate in the Challenge!
Read MoreCarl(os) Roa is bringing Andean Mountains, his Fringe Festival solo performance, to Taller Puertorriqueño Sept. 7-15, 2017. Roa tells Roberta and Imani that Andean Mountains is about a generational displacement between Latin youth who love anime and manga and their elders’ who love telenovelas. How can the children of immigrants reconcile the various streams of culture coming at them? By repurposing familial culture and making it your own, says Roa. Andean Mountains will have digital elements, movement, and storytelling, in English and Spanish. Get your tickets now, this is going to be great!
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