Results tagged “finearts”

Exhibiting American art in a 19th-century grist mill, the Brandywine River Museum is internationally known for its unparalleled collection of works by three generations of Wyeths and its fine collection of American illustration, still life and landscape painting.

BalletX, one of our favorite dance companies in the city, is in the middle of a five-night run at the Wilma Theater—this time, featuring three female choreographers. If you have the time this weekend, we definitely recommend the show. See this video for why.

Anne d'Harnoncourt, the highly respected director of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a vibrant force as an arts activist and advocate for the arts in Philadelphia, died unexpectedly late Sunday night.

It's nasty out, but don't let the weather keep you from exploring all that this city's artisans and art curators have to offer!

Let us say up front that we buy into Virginia Woolf’s theory about women artists: it was/is often lack of opportunity, rather than lack of talent, that keeps the gender imbalance in the classic art canon holding steady. Controversy still abounds as to the placement and display of female artists, particularly whether it matters. If art is good, it is good, right, and will be recognized as such, regardless of gender. Would that it were so. However, in the midst of arguing why women are underrepresented in the artistic pantheons, we can sometimes lose sight of those women who managed to break through those barriers presented by societal and cultural expectations. One is the subject of an exhibition at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts: Philadelphia native Cecilia Beaux, who was once described by painter William Merritt Chase as “not only the greatest living woman painter, but the best that has ever lived.”

It's time again for First Friday. What's that you say? You don't like the looks of tonight's weather forecast? Silly readers! A little cold and wet never killed anyone (well, pneumonia and tuberculosis aside, at least). And besides, all those warm bodies packed into a little art gallery, accompanied by free wine? You'll be warm for sure, in no time flat! Here are a few places where we suggest keeping dry. Before jumping on the...

Fun around town, for $10 or less:

For the uninitiated, raised only on Bad Boy singles and Hype-William’s videos, hip-hop culture is typically said to break down into four "elements."

Moving on from there, we thought we'd maybe hit one of Headlong Dance Theater's First Friday performances (happening at 8PM and 9PM) at the Spirit Wind Studio, across from the Painted Bride. Phillyist loves them some Headlong, and this performance is free, which makes it especially worthy of our affection. Plus, there will be beer.

Even though the Philly Orchestra is off to Colorado, there are still some great midweek concerts to attend.

LAist was comped front row seats by the Dodgers due to Malingering being struck by a foul ball last week, and she came back with some great photos, and earlier made fun of 4th of July on Venice Beach. But the biggest stories of the week was that the Mayor's Hot Tamale was revealed, and that a Kwik-E-Mart was erected in Burbank.

It's the first First Friday of the spring, and the weather today promises to be perfect for walking around Old City. Which means today's probably going to be crowded, so if you want free wine and all the cheese and crackers you can eat, you should plan on hitting the galleries earlier in the evening. That's what we'll be doing, at the places below and other locations. (Free is the best kind of drunk to be...)

And now, a story of rebirth:

So says Post Midnight, host of Late Night Series: Philadelphia, as he speeds down the Jersey turnpike on his way to University City. Every Thursday Night he makes the 30 minute trek (“at least the way I drive”) to the Creese Center on Drexel’s campus. There he MCs between an eclectic mix of musicians, poets and comedians. It is not an enviable task. While many open mics tend to have their own niche, the wide open love bubble that is LNS draws performances of all energies. There is a lot to juggle.

What's new and/or interesting on TV this week.

Spoken word is usually not for us. Quality artists are few and far between, with most seeming to be about performing, rather than the words themselves. The artists add weight to dull selections through tone and inflection, but left alone on the page, their words become tepid.

The Pennsylvania Hmanities Council and local PBS station WHYY are collaborating on a new TV show called "Humanities Live," to be hosted by Tracey Matisak. The taping of the first episode of the show goes down this Thursday evening at WHYY's Civic Space, and will feature renowned dancer and choreographer Tania Isaac's program "Caribbean Social Dances." "Dances" is made up of performances by members of Tania Isaac Dance, and explores various dance forms, examining their social, historical, geographical and political context. You can attend the taping for free - just RSVP online here, or call 215-351-0511 - but beware! Apparently the live studio audience is expected to participate in some way in the performance. Phillyist is a little scared about that, but we plan to attend anyway, as we've seen Tania Isaac's work before, and it's always been excellent. In case you want to catch yourself on TV later, you should know that this episode will air at a future date (yet to be determined, apparently) on the recently launched Y Arts digital channel (Comcast Channel 241).

It's time to dust off that old manuscript in the shoebox under your bed. You know, the one you revised and revised until you forgot what the hell you were writing about in the first place. Tomorrow, bring your questions to the writing workshop at MilkBoy Coffee in Ardmore. Get your revision on.

Photographer J.J. Tiziou

This weekend, this Phillyist (along with my wife, co-editor Star, and her sister) had a ball running around the Philadelphia Museum of Art on a Watson Adventures scavenger hunt. Watson doesn't run traditional scavenger hunts, where you have to find and bring back certain items (the Watson people were careful to point out that we should not pick up any vases or paintings while we were in the museum). Instead, their hunts consist of a series of riddle-like questions which can only be answered by visiting specific places and examining your surroundings carefully. In this case, the theme was nudity (woo hoo!) and the stuff we were examining was pieces of fine art. Before the hunt begins, you break up into small teams and come up with a team name (which can be important, too - but more on that later). Getting a good combination of folks with different talents and areas of knowledge on your team is a good idea (hopefully you'll also have compatible personalities - being able to work together is also important!). Although you don't get extra points for being first to get done, you do lose points for being late to the finish line, so speed and ability to navigate is important. Answering the questions requires an observant eye, clever thinking, and knowledge of various types of trivia (you'd think art trivia would have been the most important for our hunt, but there was also stuff about TV shows and Christian saints). You might have to work through a bit of wordplay in your head, then crouch down to read something at the base of a statue, then run on to the next room and look for a naked man in chains.

Next week, Philadelphia will play host to the first Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit, which aims to inform business folks, artists and technology professionals about how the Creative Economy contributes to the economic future of the world.

now has a permanent home in Philadelphia; specifically at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Hooray for geographically appropriate art!

What topic is more interesting and more dear to your heart than yourself? None topic, that's what! So everybody should be able to enjoy the Fifth Annual First Person Festival, "the only festival of its kind dedicated to presenting multi-disciplinary works-of-art based on authentic, real-life experiences," especially since it opens tomorrow night with a gourmet gala called Edible World, which will feature food, secrets, and behind-the-kitchen-door stories from all of Philly's top chefs. There are plenty more events going on through June 11th, including talks, performances, movies, dinners, and workshops featuring various artists in various media and covering subjects ranging from tattoos to movie stuntwork to spying for the CIA. Like practically everybody else in the world, First Person Arts (the organization behind the festival) also has a blog (although it's sparsely populated right now) and a MySpace page, so you can check those for even more information.