FiberPhiladelphia gets underway
March is fast approaching, and so are a number of events as part of FiberPhiladelphia, the annual Philadelphia textile and fiber arts festival. In fact, Mayor Nutter will kick off the March 2 ceremony at Moore College of Art and Design by proclaiming March 2012 as Fiber Arts Month. The first event is the opening of In Material: Fiber 2012 on Friday, January 27 at Arthur Ross Gallery.

Mi-Kyoung Lee, "Untitled", 2011 (detail) Twist ties, wire

New curator at Woodmere
Matthew U. Palczynski is the new curator at the Woodmere Art Museum. Palczynski was most recently the Staff Lecturer for Western Art at the Philadelphia Museum of Art and specializes in 20th and 21st Century art, which he continues to teach at Temple’s Tyler School of Art.

In the Media
Details.com has an intriguing article entitled “How the Art Scene Replaced the Nightclub” which recounts how art locales in NYC are replacing clubs as the new nightlife destination.

Curbed Philly just launched as a go to hub for all things urban and Philadelphian. The editor is Liz Spikol, the long time Philly Weekly blogger who runs a page about mental health issues.

Title Magazine put out its latest issue, and artblog is also pleased to announce we are running their RSS feed on our front page.

Temple Gallery silence

The sound of silence this month at the Temple Gallery is that of tape 342 from the White House office complex under Richard Nixon. Occurring on June 20, 1972 – just days after the Watergate break-in – the discussion in Nixon’s office is suddenly and dubiously replaced by electronic clicks and hissing. Nixon’s secretary took the blame for apparently pressing the wrong button at the most convenient of times.

Fourth Friday on South Street

Arts on South does Fourth Friday from 5 – 8 PM on January 27 (via Flying Kite).  Most of the action takes place between the 500 – 700 blocks where a number of unrented retail storefronts have been turned into spaces for art.

Student show season
Tis the season for MFA and BFA shows, starting with the opening of Safeword at UPenn. The show highlights work from PennDesign MFA Class of 2013.

Opportunities

Ceramics Monthly plans to feature the works of emerging clay artists. Submit up to (no more than) five 300 ppi images, a color print of each image, descriptions of the work, and contact info to:  Emerging Artists, Ceramics Monthly, 600 N. Cleveland Ave., Ste. 210, Westerville, OH 43082. E-mail materials or questions to: epfeifer@ceramics.org. The deadline is February 21.

Triple Canopy has an open call for artists in six project areas (which are detailed on the proposals page). The staff will work closely with contributors as they develop the best approach to realizing their projects on the Web. The deadline is February 13.

Xanadu Gallery has a virtual book club–why not?  Everything else is online. Registration is free. The next book up is the Pulitzer Prize-winning de Kooning: An American Master. Visit the registration page to become a part of the book club.

Artist News

Bruce Wilhelm

Bruce Wilhelm, one of the Grizzly Grizzly founders currently completing his MFA at RISD is having a February 3 opening at Mulherin and Pollard in NYC.

Mark Price

Mark Price, a member of Space 1026, has an upcoming show at Kesting/Ray in New York entitled “Hyper 20XX”. The opening is February 9.

Celia Reisman will teach landscape painting for two sessions of the summer program at the International School of Painting, Drawing, and Sculpture in Umbria, Italy.

Stuart Lorimer, Tyler MFA 2011 graduate now living in Brooklyn has been working to install art for collectors and contribute paintings to a show in Paris. Most recently he helped decorate Tommy Hilfiger’s mansion in Connecticut.

The day I talked with Sarah Stolfa of PPAC, their website had briefly crashed from all the traffic they were getting from Living Social, a coupon site, where they had some half-off coupons on offer for their upcoming workshops. ($30 instead of $60). The fact that they’re using a coupon site for class coupons tells you how web- and business-savvy this organization is.

Sarah Stolfa, photo courtesy of Workman publishers, publishers of Stolfa's book, The Regulars

PPAC opened in late summer 2009. It opened because while there were co-op dark rooms for hands-on professional photographers in Philadelphia, “No one in the city was running a nonprofit, high end digital equipment center for the creation of work,” Stolfa said. And, for one photographer to purchase the digital scanners/printers needed made no sense — it was not affordable and took up too much space. But to share the equipment in a community art center made a lot of sense. As with many organizations, PPAC grew as its mission grew. From a space with equipment it is now a place with an educational program, a gallery to show work, and a lot of free or low-cost programming open to the public. Here’s the interview I did with Sarah, by phone, on Dec. 22.

Sarah Stolfa, photo courtesy of Workman publishers, publishers of Stolfa's book, The Regulars

Roberta: Are you a membership organization?
Sarah: We are free and open to the public but also a membership organization.

You are an active photo community with lectures and other programming, and an art gallery. What printing services do you provide?
PPAC makes museum quality prints 60″ wide for practicing artists.

Tell me about printing for other artists. You printed the Zoe Strauss show at the PMA.  It’s a great coup to print a museum show.
We created two sets of prints – one for the museum and one to travel (the show will travel)….and we did match prints for the book. We did everything. Zoe got to choose who printed [the show]. She’d never worked with us before and was very excited about it. She wanted the work [the printing] to stay in Philadelphia. She’s giving back to the community. It’s really a great way to highlight Philadelphia, the community, support the community.  Peter Barbarie was on our advisory committee. But he had nothing to do with it. It was great to work with him in another capacity.

How did the printing go?
It was a lot of proofing and talking to see how the images should feel…it’s a process. It’s a great project.

How many works in the show and do you frame it too?
There are 170 photos, different sizes-”20×30″ to “8×12″ in the show. Framing is done in house at the PMA.

How about the book?
I just got an email today [Dec. 22]. Zoe has the book in her hands.

When did the project begin?
We started on the project in April or May…it’s roughly 8 months of work.

Have you printed this massive quantity for an artist before?
It’s the first time we worked with an artist for this big a show.

Who else have you printed for?
We were printing and scanning with Daniel Traub since May 2009 [even before PPAC opened and the equipment was in her house in Fishtown]. We worked with Janelle Lynch, a New York artist. We do scanning for her.

Are artists hard to work for?
Working with artists is our favorite thing.

Where do you teach?
At Penn and PPAC. Everyone [at PPAC] has teaching experience and is an artist. We understand that practice. It’s in our tool sets. We do this because we’re part of the community.

How many photographers here in Philly
That’s hard. Many artists wear many hats. The census form doesn’t capture it…

How about community…How does everybody get along…Light Room, Basho?
With the Light Room there’s no competition and no overlap. They support us and come to our events. We go to theirs. They are the opposite of us [not digital]. They have a really great darkroom. Basho…We have a healthy competition. Our lectures are drastically different. It’s like fast food chains close together. But helping each other.

How about your programming?
Laura Heyman is giving a talk on her Haiti photos. We’re sponsoring a screening with the Free Library of the film “War Photographer” about photographer James Nachtwey. Zoe is doing a free lecture Feb 18. There’s a show and panel in February…”Of the Ordinary” features artists who use photographs in their work that were never meant to be shown in a gallery context. Our Book Fair is April 28. The Slide Luck Pot Show…there’s a call [see website for more]. Last year more than 125 people came. This year we’re going to have it outside in the garden.

How are you doing with the recession?
It’s a tough economy now. Running PPAC is a tough challenge. I anticipate us continuing to grow. We want to expand things. We will be announcing an artist in residency program in Jan. 2 people per year will come and use the facility for one month.

Is this a residency with housing for out of towners?
Ultimately we’d like to do housing.

What else?
We expanded Philly Photo Day. And next year we will start being a collecting facility…we will get a print from the artists in residence.

How is it being a photographer in Philadelphia?
It’s a hard time to get a job as a photographer. Philadelphia is affordable to live in…it’s a friendly and open community. If you come to events you’ll be in the community…There are great resources for artists. Even if there’s not a lot of jobs there’s space for you to do your own thing.

Do it Yourself?
People can do it; It’s easier [to be a photographer] in NY where the film and fashion industries are. There are photo opportunities there. But I know people who set up here and can work for 10 years.

There’s teaching jobs?
At PPAC! If you have a great idea for a workshop or class, send me an email. There’s a lot of opportunity if you make it…like the fact that PPAC opened.

Photo courtesy of Locks Gallery.

Across all the walls are floor-to-ceiling projections and interspersed amongst the few round columns in the big room are projectors, speakers, wires, headphones, and some small seats. A few flat HD monitors lie between the larger projections. Smaller, brighter, and higher resolution than their larger projected counterparts, the little monitors offer a welcomed degree of variance to the flow of moving pictures.

Some of the most immediately apparent images are those of Chinese parades and Communist regalia, some of which are glitchy and crisscrossed by rotating 3D cubes. The title 1967 is a reference to Jean-Luc Godard’s film La Chinoise which deals with a group of French students planning to change the world in a Communist revolution while studying Mao. Hironaka and Suib’s installation is a looped montage of clips from Godard’s film, original video, archival footage of the 1967 World Exposition in Montreal paired with Shanghai’s 2010 Expo, protest scenes past and present, and of course images from China’s cultural revolution.

In the wake of the Arab Spring, Occupy, and similar protest movements worldwide, the themes of this show are aptly timed to say the least. The installation acts as an intrigue into the roles of the artist and the revolutionary in society. Ideas of social orthodoxy, equality, and belief systems all come to mind. At times political upheaval is warranted, at other times dissent is quashed; sometimes revolution is widely supported, other times it happens by coup d’état. Regardless of the means for or reaction to social shifts, their inevitability looms outside the realms of political affiliation. In a universe where entropy rules, the only real guarantee is change.

The yin and yang of protest as illustrated by Ram Dass in Be Here Now.

As the images break down, the prevailing power structures emerge as targets of ridicule in much the same way as the protests themselves. This inherent yin-yang image of action and reaction has been similarly noted by Ram Dass in his “hippies create police/police create hippies” musing from 1971’s Be Here Now. In situations as diverse and interrelated as governing a country, it would appear that neither side has a monopoly on truth.

The characters in La Chinoise are dilettantes in a way, as young people romanticizing the concept of revolt. Much can be said about the need for economic equality or restructured government in the United States, but one also wonders how many supporters of either Ron Paul or Occupy Wall Street are on their respective bandwagons for questionable or superficial reasons. Thinking back to the beginnings of revolution in Tahrir Square, it is not hard to believe that the cinematic broadcasts on news and infotainment channels the world over helped to spur similar protests, in part, because of their excitement and danger. The mundane ennui of middle-class American youth can at least not be ruled out as a cause, in any case.

Photo courtesy of Locks Gallery.

When the silly, almost childish images of roosters and other animal “comrades” are displayed on the cover of Mao’s Little Red Book in place of his idealized face, the absurdity crests and begins to give way to other relevant questions. The phrase “Is it important to take action?” appears as the game-changing caption. Of course the artists provide no concrete answers, and pose only the question. However this is arguably one of the more important responsibilities of artists: to test the waters of antithesis and throw wrenches into the gears of established social mechanisms. Artists and revolutionaries – sometimes one in the same – have quite regularly shared many similar goals such as exposing outdated concepts, offering new ways of viewing surroundings, and often subscribing to a brand of humanism with a thirst for justice and equality.

Locks Gallery’s exhibition of 1967 dissects the topic of protest in a way that only artists can. With revolution being, by its very existence, bound to its intended target, an absurd presentation seems fitting – perhaps necessary. Protest is distorted through media channels and personal interpretations, and it is certainly no science. Dogma is dogmatic regardless of political preferences. Hironaka and Suib demonstrate that, no matter what side you’re on, the complex schisms of human argument and opposition are not quite as objective and clear cut as they seem.

There will be a live performance in the installation on January 28 at 5 PM by contributing artists C. Spencer Yeh and Aaron Moore; and another reception on Feb 3.  Check the website for more information and events.

Rivane Neuenschwander 'I Wish Your Wish' (2003) installation detail

The exhibition was held in the domestically-scaled rooms of the IMMA’S New Galleries, the area open during the renovation of the primary spaces in the Royal Military Hospital, Kilmainham. The initial room held At a Discrete Distance, a series of precisely-painted and rather cheerful landscapes which emphasized patterning of floor tiles, roof beams and stairs; they were painted on small panels which the label related to Brazilian devotional paintings, although they gave no clue to wished-for desires.

Rivane Neuenschwander 'The Tenant' (2010) video still

A room full of Involuntary Sculptures (Speech Acts) (2001-10) held vitrines full of of small, hand-made objects that Neuenschwander had found, abandoned, in various bars and restaurants. These small sculptures, three-dimensional doodles really, had been fashioned from corks, plastic straws, matches, toothpicks, paper napkins, chop-stick wrappers, pop-tops and champagne cork wires that had been twisted, folded, shredded, crimped and burnt. They were by-products of social activities whose excess energy had been channeled through manual activity. While they bore signs of varying degrees of craftsmanship and imagination, Neuenschwander’s interest was in their association with sociability, hence the second part of their title, Speech Acts. Intriguing as they were, it struck me that almost anything laid out carefully in vitrines comes to resemble art.

The protagonist of the video, The Tenant (2010) is a large soap bubble which meanders through the rooms of an empty house, and the conceit is so charming that it doesn’t matter how it was effected. I was willing to accept the agency of the wobbly sphere, always a moment away from bursting, that magically refracts light at its periphery. The wonder at soap bubbles does not diminish with age.

The widely-appealing, interactive installation, I Wish Your Wish (2003) is again based upon vernacular, devotional practice, where the faithful bind their wrists with ribbons which they then leave tied to the church gates. Neuenschwander’s adaptation had visitors leave a wish in exchange for a ribbon printed with a previous visitor’s desire, which ranged from the individual to the universal, the selfish to the profound: wishes for a dog, to get into grad school, for family’s understanding, for respect for native people’s sovereignty, peace in the Middle East, not to die completely alone. Participants were forced not only to declare their own wishes, but to choose among those offered by their predecessors, and while the process was something of an exercise in ethics, it was surprisingly effective. I left with my wrist wrapped in a turquoise ribbon inscribed I wish to find pleasure in things as much as I used to as a child; it struck me as particularly appropriate to Neuenschwander’s art.

Rivane Neuenschwander 'A Thousand and One Possible Nights' (2008)

A Thousand and One Possible Nights are collaged images of constellations, created from confetti punched from an edition of Scherehazade’s tales, A Thousand and One Nights. Images of the stars are always beautiful, as are these; the printing on the tiny dots only becomes visible at close range. Yet a second thought reminds us that Sherehazade told her stories to forestall death, something behind much art, perhaps, but the connection is rarely so literal and immediate.

Lygia Pape installation view of 'Ttéia 1 (The Web)'

I had hoped to get more context for Neuenschwander’s work in London, where the Serpentine Gallery is showing Lygia Pape: Magnetized Space, organized by the Reina Sophia (through Feb. 19, 2012). Pape’s two and three-dimensional work obviously derives formally from Constructivism, and some of it resembles Bauhaus pedagogical exercises. The large installation, ‘Ttéia 1 (The Web)’, whose illuminated wire shafts create an otherworldly atmosphere, looks like a stage set for a play about heavenly revelation.

Lygia Pape detail of 'Livro do Tempo (Book of Time)' (1961-63)

The 365 small wooden reliefs of Livro do Tempo (Book of Time), that covered a large wall, formed an irresistibly-fascinating grid of variations on a square; small sections had been excised from each and displaced on top of the original, with varying colors emphasizing the variations in forms. It and a room of black and white prints and drawings combined seductive elegance of both formal interest and execution. Yet the connection between this work and the interactive, communal performances for which she is known was unclear, nor did labels to several filmed performances provide much help. This was disappointing, since with many recent artists working communally and sociability an ongoing topic, the comparison should have been illuminating.

Lygia Pape 'Divisor' (1968), still from a filmed performance

For understanding the social and political implications of working in a repressive state for Pape and her fellow Brazilians, it was very useful to read the recent publication: Subversive Practices; Art under Conditions of Political Repression: 60s-80s / South America / Europe, Edited by Hans D. Christ, Iris Dressler (Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern, 2010,  ISBN 978-3-7757-2755-6 ). The catalog to an internationally-curated exhibition held in Stuttgart in 2009, it illustrates work by some 80 artists working in Latin America, Spain and Eastern Europe. Much of their surviving work consists of publications, documentary photographs and ephemera printed in connection with communal events, so reading the book might be almost as illuminating as seeing the exhibition.

Collective Actions Group's performance 'The Appearance,' one of their 'Trips Out of Town' in the countryside outside Moscow (1976)

The catalog is an extremely valuable complement to a number of recent publications addressing conceptual practices beyond the U.S. and Western Europe (such as Global Conceptualism; Points of Origin 1950s-1980s, the Queens Museum, 1999, and anthologies by Camnitzer, Albero and Stimpson, Breitwieser, Katzenstein and others). It includes essays by the editors and their 13 co-curators, and provides the first translations (into English and German) of numerous artists’ statements and manifestos. They give valuable context for a range of art practices and activities in public spaces that were inherent affronts to state power, despite seeming tame and unobjectionable in a Western European and North American context. Examples are Collective Actions Group’s Trips out of Town (above), which were nothing more than organized outings to the countryside, and the gathering organized by Edgardo Antonio Vigo in La Plata (Argentina) in 1968. Vigo advertised in the newspaper and on radio for people to meet at a specific time at the corner of a major intersection in the city; the object of their assembly: to contemplate the traffic light as an aesthetic object.

Tim Belknap 33 second promo

David Hockney painting "Felled Trees on Woldgate", 2008, Photo Credit: Jean-Pierre Gonçalves de Lima © David Hockney

Hockney is first out of the gate with the launch of A Bigger Picture this past weekend [and some rather feisty jabs at Hirst’s integrity as an artist because of his use of assistants]. The current show features the artist’s depictions of the landscape of his native Yorkshire, many specifically made for the Royal Academy’s grand spaces. Hockney links himself with England proper in responding specifically to its geography. Is this allegiance to the countryside meant to invoke a modern reference to British landscape painting? The artist also revives his original Polaroid/proto-cubist joiners project by mounting paintings in multiple parts and creating multi-faceted videos. The artist, thus, in a way reminds us of his earliest projects, transposing his artistic vision throughout his oeuvre. For me, however, Hockney’s strength lies in the paintings of his American period and his role within the Pop Art movement. I can’t help but feel that the current show falls short of representing England here and now. Hockney just seems to be one of those long-lingering stalwarts of British art, whose golden age has passed.

Damien Hirst, The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, 1991

While the Hockney show has been forcibly underlined to not be a retrospective, the Tate Modern’s upcoming show of Damien Hirst announces itself to be just that. It is tough to include Hirst in the cannon of British sculptors such as Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth and Lynn Chadwick.  Yet, he has – for better or for worst – been a defining force of British (and international) art of the 1990s and 2000s. Just as his complete set of spot paintings currently on display in every single Gagosian Gallery worldwide is polarizing opinions, the most prominent of the Young British Artists (YBAs) has always been a sensationalist playing with the art market. In his art, he has articulated and preserved an era of the art world much like – forgive the analogy – a shark suspended in formaldehyde.

His 2007 skull encrusted with diamonds called For the Love of God was created at the height of the art market bubble and remains the most expensive work of art ever created. Controversy aside, Hirst’s work does draw from a British tradition, prominently influenced by the great Francis Bacon. For his part, Tate Director Nick Serota understood the importance of billing a prominent contemporary British artist in 2012, to capture the world’s attention. I have no doubt that the Hirst show will be a podium-worthy exhibition, an Olympic event in its own right.

Hirst at his usual antics with For The Love of God, 2007

The truth, I think, is simple: big names capture attention. And it is difficult to encapsulate national identity with just one artist – controversy and discussion will always tag along. Even group exhibits will inflame discussion as to omissions (the Royal Academy’s uneven Modern British Sculptors show of last year is a prime example). Museums elsewhere in London have chosen different strategies for the big year: The Hayward Gallery will install contemporary artist Jeremy Deller’s first retrospective while The National Portrait Gallery will mount the unnervingly well-timed exhibit of portraits by the late Lucian Freud. The National Gallery will stage a Turner show earlier in the year but will focus on Titian during the Games, and the V&A will go the group-route, surveying British Design from 1948 to 2012. Freud is probably the best choice for 2012, honouring a fallen hero and a great of British art.

The duality of collective national identity and individuality is especially appropriate in an Olympic year, when solo athletes distinguish themselves from a group representing their country. However, the very foundation of contemporary art today, in my opinion, transcends national barriers. Which begets the question: Am I only scrutinizing the offerings of the art world in 2012 and testing their British-ness because of the abundance of Olympic news floating around?

Bonnie Brenda Scott's Installation in Bambi's Lovely Things at Projects Gallery

“Untitled," Matthew Osborn

Drawing seems like an everyday activity for Matthew Osborn, using whatever surface is at his disposal. Whether drawing on a late payment notice or on notes during phone conversations, his fantastical drawings are an escape from life’s tedious details. Many of his works have a dark humor. On the late payment notice, two ailing figures cry out in anguish for water with the announcement that the pipes will be shut off. In another untitled work, “GRAVE” is written on a tombstone and on the container that sits nearby, “GRAVY”.

Besides the words themselves, the gravy’s placement seems illogical as a token of respect. However, as an offering, it can be seen as one of life’s simple pleasures, or more pessimistically, one of its few.

“From the “Craftsmen Series," “Mallet” and “Wrench," Stacy Lee Webber, pre-1982 Copper Pennies

In her Craftsmen Series, Stacy Lee Webber uses coins as a source of metal to create tools. Her “Wrench,” “Mallet,” and “Clamp” are beautifully crafted out of copper metal, reflecting a respect for manual labor and blue collar workers. Her decision to use pennies as a sculptural material also acknowledges the low compensation for physical work and the lack of value it receives. While the work can be appreciated for its earnestness, it seems overly moralistic.

One of the artist’s “Samples”

The artist also has small sculptures that appear in shadow boxes. Despite being studies, these sculptures use materials in more interesting ways, and reveal a more complex process.

Bonnie Brenda Scott’s installation

Bonnie Brenda Scott’s installation resembles a ceremonial site with its inclusion of occultist imagery, ghostly apparitions, and skeletal remains. Confessions, unspoken desires, and thoughts are written on the walls in a misty haze of spray paint, giving them the appearance of ghost writing. Overall, the installation reads as a yearning for the supernatural power and wish fulfillment.

Jim Garvey, From Here to There

In “From Here to There” by Jim Garvey, a wooden structure casts a shadow and partially obscures a looping projection of mashed-up television footage. The structure is composed of ladders, and their placement at unusual angles creates a feeling of uncertainty and confusion. Red lights attached to the wooden structure also add to this sense of chaos in the darkened space, and the video’s quick cuts and booming soundtrack create a sensory overload. Although the video is partially hidden, violence, celebrities, and other subjects of cultural fascination are still visible. By partially obscuring the video, Garvey draws attention to our continuous consumption of these images through a mediated experience.

Overall, the show seems like a nod to Bambi’s past, and a desire to continue supporting artistic production.

In the Media Iain Ball‘s show Pangea: Rare Earth Sculptures at Extra Extra is featured in this month’s issue of Art Papers. Joe Girandola‘s duct tape paintings look great in a Stylelist.com article. Zoe Strauss‘s photo-billboards appear in an editorial in the Philadelphia Daily News that compares them favorably to the city’s many murals. Amber Dorko Stopper is named Craft Editor at InCultureParent Magazine.

Joe Girandola's duct tape art.

Philly.com teams up with artblog for content sharing
artblog joined with Philly.com for some content sharing. On the arts page, artblog content is now featured under the section entitled ‘From Our Partners’ and we will soon be streaming their RSS feed here.

Tim Bowen Memorial Art Show
We are sad to bring the news that Tim Bowen – artist and founder of Falling Cow Gallery – passed away on Monday. There will be a memorial art show on Saturday, February 4 from 6:00 – 9:00 PM at 729 South 4th Street, with a silent auction and time for people to share their reminiscences of Tim. George Manney is preparing a video to be screened at the event.

Wikipedia blackout in protest of SOPA/PIPA, Megauploads and Anonymous

In case you missed it, on Wednesday January 18, Wikipedia spearheaded a blackout protest in opposition to the SOPA and PIPA bills in congress. These bills would not only do little to protect copyright holders, but also impose unnecessary and potentially devastating censorship of information on the web. We are with Wikipedia and legal content sharers all the way on this one — read more about the issue here.  And in other internet news, yesterday the FBI and Department of Justice seized the file-sharing site Megauploads for copyright infringement and the hacker’s group Anonymous brought down the Department of Justice for a while in retaliation.

Creative Vitality in Philly town hall
Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy is hosting its second annual town hall meeting on Thursday February 9 at WHYY from 5:30 to 8:30 PM. The meeting is for all Philadelphians who wish to address the topic of how we can make Philadelphia the best possible place to work, play, learn and live creatively.

Opportunities

Tyler Arboretum invites artists and groups to submit proposals for Sit A Spell, Seats That Tell a Tale. Cash prizes will be awarded for artists who design seats selected for the arboretum. View the open call for submission details. Deadline is February 17. Thanks Philadelphia Sculptors for the tip.

Fleisher Art Memorial opened its call for entries for the 35th Annual Wind Challenge. Nine artists will be chosen for three separate three-person shows, with a cash prize of $750 for each selected artist. The deadline is March 1.

Friends of the Print and Picture Collection and the Free Library are sponsoring a call to exhibit for three solo shows between April and December 2012. The jurors are Blaise Tobia, Eli VandenBerg and Susan Viguers. The deadline is March 1.

The 5th Annual Gettysburg Festival invites mid-Atlantic artists to submit applications for four different artistic components including a juried artist colony, a plein air “paint out”, a quick draw competition, and a juried exhibition. The deadline is March 30.

Apply for several internships at MoMA including publications, spring and summer programs, and 12-month internships. Thanks to a tweet from artnet for the lead!

Dacia Gallery in NYC has an open call for figurative art and portraits (via wooloo.org). We don’t know much about this gallery except it’s on the Lower East Side, opened in 2010, and shows figurative work. Deadline is January 26.

Author Chad Stone needs a designer for the cover of his new Kindle book “Confessions of a Middle-Aged Babe Magnet”. Find all the details on his blog. The deadline is February 24.

The Midwives Collective is seeking writers to write a 30-sentence text for the theme of their show Many Entendres. The text will be interpreted by participating artists. For any questions, please e-mail themwc@gmail.com for more info. The deadline is February 24.

Artist News

Emmy Thelander at Hungryman.

Emmy Thelander, artblog’s Brooklyn correspondent, is currently in a show at Hungryman Gallery in San Francisco. The show closes on January 28.

Sarah Archer, the new curator at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, has curated the new exhibit “Bright Future: New Designs in Glass” at Pratt Manhattan Gallery in New York. The show runs Feb 10-May 5, with an opening reception Feb 9, 6-8pm.

Anonymous Gallery

Andrew Jeffrey Wright is part of a group exhibition that opens April 9 in Mexico at Anonymous Gallery. The entire gallery will be redesigned to look like a pawn shop and address topics of art value and economics.

Sarah McEneaney, "Al Ain Oasis", UAE 2011.

Sarah McEneaney‘s solo show at Tibor de Nagy Gallery in New York opens January 28.

Amze Emmons, one of the founders of Printeresting, joins other founders, Jason Urban and R.L. Tillman for a panel discussion at the Baltimore Museum of Art on April 29.