It’s summer! But there’s still news, even in the art world. A new foundation, The Ruth Foundation for the Arts (Ruth Arts), today awarded $1.25 to 78 nonprofit arts organizations nominated for the grants. We congratulate the 5 local groups chosen for the new grants: Ballet X, Blackstar Projects, Taller Puertorriqueño, Twelve Gates and The Clay Studio. In other news, two videos we recommend for this hot weekend, and a call from the city for citizen participation in shaping the choice for the new public art Harriet Tubman statue.
Read MoreMorgan and Roberta check in with a 37-minute Artblog Radio conversation. They share how they’re coping, discuss a new Artblog community project, and talk Philadelphia’s community-based art scene.
Read MoreRoberta speaks with Mark Thomas Gibson, a new arrival in Philadelphia, about his powerful show of Sumi ink drawings and collages at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts. Among other things, the artist, who is an Assistant Professor, Tenure-Track, at Tyler School of Art, talks about his ability to use narratives from American history channeled in old masters’ paintings to subvert the story telling and tell tales from our times. His works are filled with humor and passion tinged with anger. Mark talks about Philadelphia and is very happy to be in our community. He’s a great speaker with a lot of big thoughts about history, contemporary art, teaching art and more. Take a listen. Mark’s show at Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery is up through March 8, 2019. The podcast was recorded on Friday, Feb. 8, 2019. Thanks to Morgan Nitz for the great audio editing!
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