Anne Ishii is a writer, editor, translator and the Executive Director of Asian Arts Initiative (AAI). As the leader of an important arts center serving the AAPI community, Anne is a big part of Philadelphia’s arts ecosystem. Roberta talks with Anne about her new role hosting of arts and culture documentary series, “Movers and Makers,” featuring regional artists and arts organizations. Anne and Roberta had a great 35-minute conversation that will introduce you to a fascinating, important and under-known leader in Philadelphia arts.
Read MoreDeborah Krieger interviews Kelsey Halliday Johnson, artist and current Executive Director of Portland, Maine’s SPACE (plus former Philly resident/ arts worker/ member of Philly’s DIY-alternative community). Kelsey is enthusiastically dedicated to her role at SPACE, a multi-disciplinary independent maker hub; in particular their grantmaking program, the Kindling Fund.
Read MoreArtblog solicited testimonials about the proposed cuts to the city budget that would axe the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy (OACCE) and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF).
Read MoreLogan Cryer interviews Laila Islam and Muhammad Gallashaw, the co-curators of The Future is Us Collective, which focuses on uplifting the artwork of young adult and youth artists throughout the Philadelphia area.
Read MoreSummertime! Time for new appointments to take their place; time for reading and enjoying it; time to go to a talk or two in a cool museum. Read all about it!
Read More“Activist Songbook,” a collection of 53 contemporary protest songs derived from community interviews, launches Thursday May 3rd at Asian Arts. Composer Byron Au Yong and Lyricist Aaron Jafferis speak with Imani Roach about collective action and how Asian American narratives complicate the American racial landscape.
Read MoreAn exhibition at Asian Arts Initiative, organized by artist and community organizer Jaishri Abichandani, suggests that blackness is experienced by all people of color, who deal with the experience in various ways. The show’s 20 artists confront complex issues about race and ethnicity and Ilana recommends everyone see the exhibit before it closes April 21.
Read MoreLots of happenings for you today in the news post, including a major event at PAFA from the Philadelphia arts and culture community. April is National Poetry Month, so celebrate with Yolanda Wisher at the Outbound Poetry Festival and the Sanctuary Poetry series at the Asian Arts Initiative. Also, performances by Wilmer Wilson IV, a talk by Artblog favorite Willie Cole, a new documentary about the seminal 1972 DNC, and RIP Pop art pioneer James Rosenquist.
Read MoreMost of the works focus on the results of gentrification that continues to take place in Philadelphia, where the the displacement of people and things have transformed them all into a kind of debris. While it’s not stated overtly, the emphasis on impoverished people and forgotten neighborhoods infuses the show with political meaning. Due to its political content and focus on urban decay, debris, and poverty, you won’t find pretty views of Philadelphia.
Read MoreI want more of this unself-conscious immersion in the moment from Nam rather than the cool and distanced views she mostly shows here.
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Support for Artblog has been provided by The Philadelphia Cultural Fund.