The Daily News analyzes Paris Hilton's visit to the area yesterday, and comes to the rather surprising conclusion that she's a nice lady and her only real fault is that she's not punctual. The Philadelphia Museum of Art's exhibition of American artist Bruce Nauman has been selected to appear in the US Pavilion of the the 53rd Venice Biennale, "one of the most important art gatherings in the world." Mayor Nutter revoked a license given......

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While I would hate to date myself…oh, what am I saying, I date myself just about every time my wife leaves the house for 15 minutes: I am a member of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Being a member of the Art Museum has many benefits. Tops on the list includes getting to see tons of filthy rich white people doing their best Rocky impersonation, the privilege of being serenaded by a sketchy guy......

Did anyone else see where September went? It was Labor Day, we went to the closet to pack up our white shoes, and suddenly it's the terminal week. Next year, September, give us a little more transition time? Also, knock it off with the 90s. One good thing about September's passing is that October is beginning, and all the lovely holidays and festivals that come with it. This weekend kicks off Oktoberfest in our......

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The Philadelphia Marathon is fast approaching (ha!), and those fleet-footed folks are looking for volunteers to help support the thousands of athletes who will converge upon the Art Museum on November 18. Tasks range from stuffing runner bags two weeks out to distributing blankets and Gatorade on race day. You can sign up for a specific job or offer your services as a general volunteer to be dispatched where you're needed most. You can also......

Architecture of the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the nearby competition. Photo by author, SkyscraperSunset.com, July 26, 2006.......

As part of Sunoco's Welcome America! series, you'll be able to watch Rocky go the distance tonight on the steps of the Art Museum. And you'll get to watch it for free! This now annual event is a good time for all-- just be sure to bring a blanket. Those steps are hard whether you're pounding 'em or sitting on 'em. Sunoco Welcome America! Philly @ The Movies Rocky Thursday June 28, 9 pm Philadelphia......

Thomas FitzSimmons High School in North Philadelphia will graduate their first class of all boys this Thursday. The school went all-boys two years ago, and is the only all-boys public school in the state. Meanwhile, the Ada H. Lewis Middle School in East Germantown might be voted closed on June 20th by the School Reform Commission, due to declining enrollment and a $38 million repair estimate. But parents and teachers are fighting to keep the......

This week's quote is an explanation of the theatre once given by Beatrice Wood, pictured here with the inimitable Marcel Duchamp (who's got a lot of work in the Philadelphia Museum of Art). Now, on with the listings! I Sent a Letter to My Love - Incest is best. May 11-June 10. Ticket information online. Splittin’ the Raft - It’s like Big River, only not. May 9-June 10. Ticket information online. True West - As......

Monday The Philadelphia Art Alliance's New Music Mondays series presents works by Jan Krzywicki, Professor of Composition at Temple University. Philadelphia Art Alliance (251 S. 18th St.); 7:30 PM; $20 Wednesday The Philadephia Chamber Music Society Presents the American Quartet with Lydia Artymiw, piano, in a program of Haydn, Shostakovich, Dohnanyi. The pianist will even give a free pre-concert lecture at 6:45! Perelman Theater (Kimmel Center); 8 PM; $22 Thursday The Academy of Vocal......

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Reader F. Lennox Campello tips us off in his blog that our favorite unibrowed artist, Frida Kahlo, will be featured in an exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art sometime in early 2008. It will be "the first American exhibition solely dedicated to Kahlo’s work in over a decade... [and] will explore the relationship between her art and her life by examining hauntingly seductive and often brutal self-portraits in addition to works that amplify her......

Ah, Valentine's Day: refuge of the uninspired lover and bane of the singleton's year. Fear not! We present our annual offbeat V-day guide, guaranteed to add some flair to the red-heart holiday (whose idea was it to put a celebration of love and relationships smack in the middle of the great gray beast February anyway, we ask you?). Ancient Girls Gone Wild The Young Friends of Penn Museum present their second annual look into......

… and we’re back! Classical music is in full swing this week. From Vivaldi to Ligeti, Philly is popping with all sorts of concerts, including two Philadelphia premieres and several free concerts. Tuesday AVA continues with Von Weber’s magical Der Freischütz. Perelman Theater, Kimmel Center; 7:30 PM; $48 Thursday The Juilliard-bred Tokyo Quartet presents a program of delightful works by Mozart, Beethoven, and Debussy. Be sure not to miss the free pre-concert lecture. Perelman Theater,......

30th Street Station, the Cira Centre, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art stand over the Schuylkill to create one of the river's most picturesque areas. Photo by author via SkyscraperSunset.com.......

Don’t say I didn’t warn you - holiday concerts begin this week. But if you’re already sick of Christmas carols blaring at your nearby mall, there are other options for you as well. Tuesday The Philadelphia Orchestra continues with the Mahler 4 and Mozart Piano Concerto No. 23, with conductor Christoph Eschenbach at the piano. Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center; 8 PM; $28-$113 Wednesday The UPenn American Avant Garde Series presents “Dr. Guy's MusiQologY.” What is......

Choral season is upon us! With both Choral Arts Society and Singing City opening on the same night, it's a tough call. You'll just have to read the descriptions and decide for yourself. Monday 1807 and Friends, a musical ensemble dedicated to “the unusual gems in the great treasure trove of chamber music,” presents the Florian Trio, composed mostly of Philadelphia Orchestra members, in a program of Schubert, Paganini, and more. Academy of Vocal......

This week’s classical music events seem to cluster during the weekend, but no matter. There’s plenty to see and hear with the Opera Company of Philadelphia’s La bohème and an assortment of chamber music concerts. Friday Puccini’s La bohème, put on by the Opera Company of Philadelphia, is not to be missed. One of opera’s most famous and most tragic love stories (the inspiration for Rent) continues to move us to this day with......

On Wednesday, the art and architecture committee of the city's Art Commission voted on whether or not a bronze statue of Stallone as Rocky (donated by the actor during the release of Rocky III) would be moved to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and ended up returning a split decision. The application has been withdrawn, but will be brought before the committee again in a new form - and possibly with a......

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......

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Phillyist loves the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the summertime. It's airconditioned, quiet, and a great place to go when we want to feel smart. (Take one friend who knows less about art than you do -- even if you don't know much -- and it's amazing how intellectual you'll think you sound!) On top of all that, it's a great place to stay dry on rainy weekends like this last one. The one thing......

Organized by FightHunger.org, pedestrians the world over will be putting their feet to pavement to help raise funds and awareness for the number of children who go hungry; which Walk the World estimates to be about 300 milliion. Their goal: to end child hunger by 2015. Locally, this event will begin at the Art Museum, proceed two miles, then return to the Art Museum and culminate with a triumphant Rocky-like run up the Art Museum......

Try not to panic - but the dreaded pink, red and doily-clad holiday, St. Valentine's, is only a week away. If you're on the lookout for something to do other than you traditional dinner and a movie, Philly's got some less-than-ordinary Valentine themed attractions going on. (And to our single brethren, these events are also singles friendly): Q-Licious in the Park: Spiral Q Puppet Theatre will be bringing Cupid and their giant puppets to Love......

Shamisen musician Hiromitsu Agatsuma will be performing tonight at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of their "Art After Five" jazz program. The Shamisen is a traditional Japanes instrument; however Agatsuma's popularity comes from his ability to use it to perform in the what are traditionally considered Western musical styles: rock and jazz. We've got nothing snarky to say about this. In fact, we think it sounds rather cool. Shamisen Performance by Agatsuma......

Benergy? Is that like Joe-mentum or Bennifer? "Philly's Got Benergy!" is the brand-spankin' new motto of the tercentennial birthday celebration of Philadelphia's favorite inventor and founding father, Ben Franklin. The celebration officially kicked off on October 9 with a recreation of Franklin's arrival in Philly. Who says you can't amount to anything when you start out as a penniless runaway? The Philly's Got Benergy! brouhaha is a year long celebration in the City of Brotherly......

So maybe you went out last Wednesday, Wednesday being the new Saturday, and perhaps you met someone special in between drinks at Striped Bass... or just someone worthy of a few hours of your company. And maybe you want to take them out and act all classy before they figure out that your idea of a good time actually involves air conditioning, your underwear, two six packs of Yuengling and the weekend marathon of Best......

Wagers are being placed as to whether or not the museums, businesses, and residences along the Ben Franklin Parkway and surrounding areas will survive Live 8. Some of us are betting on looting, perhaps a plague of locusts, and some of us just think the crowd will erupt into a swarming crowd of miscreant arsonists. Whatever the case, we can all assume that the Parkway will be awash in urine. City officials are guesstimating......