Arts and Culture : In The News

Pop City takes a look across the state at assets in Philly that Pittsburgh would love to make its own.

Making the most of Philadelphia's identity as the cradle of liberty is a single-subject museum that speaks to the city past and present. The National Constitution Center opened its doors in 2003 and shines a light on the four-page document from every conceivable angle.

In a city fueled by immigrants, food is on everyone's lips. Restaurateur Stephen Starr has leveraged that in recent years, opening a slew of stylish concept eateries in and around Center City. Eating his lunch of late are chef-driven restaurant groups helmed by Iron Chef and James Beard Award winner Jose Garces and fellow Beard award recipient Marc Vetri.

Original source: Pop City
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The Bucks County Playhouse, which closed in December after more than 70 years, will get a new life thanks in part to a locally managed nonprofit, reports the Associated Press.

A new nonprofit called the Bucks County Playhouse Conservancy is raising funds to buy the property from the bank and renovate and reopen the theater. Bernstein said he and his Broadway colleagues are developing programming for the theater's 2011 summer season.

A bank took over the playhouse last year after finding Ralph Miller, the theater's owner for more than 30 years, in default of about $2.2 million on the mortgage. A sheriff's sale of the property in December produced no bidders.

Helen Hayes, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bernadette Peters and Walter Matthau are among the actors who appeared at the playhouse, which in its 1960s heyday was a place for Broadway and Hollywood actors to perform in summer stock.

Original source: Associated Press
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Yannick Nezet-Seguin has raised excitement and expectations in early reviews as the new leader of the Philadelphia Orchestra, reports the New York Times.

But the larger issue during a period of artistic and administrative upheaval at the Philadelphia Orchestra has been not so much how the band would emerge stylistically, but whether it would survive at all. My last experience here was in September 2009, for a season-opening (technically, preseason) concert conducted by Mr. Dutoit, and the house was less than half full.

Mr. Nezet-Seguin, 35 and dynamic, seems at least to have stirred excitement. In fact, an extra concert was added to this series, on Sunday afternoon, because of ticket demand. It didn't hurt, certainly, that the other work on the program was Mozart's crowd-pleasing Requiem.

Original source: The New York Times
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The New York Times holds up the Philadelphia-based Berserker Residents as an example of the current surge of science fiction in modern theater.

The novelist Isaac Asimov once defined science fiction as art contending with "something that is not yet so." And while drama is the original virtual reality, an everyday exemplar of an alternative universe, sci-fi stories have made their way onto the stage far less often than into books or movies. Even though the surrealists and absurdists and symbolists have long since shown us that anything is possible onstage, most playwrights and directors prefer to hew to the laws of time, gravity and thermodynamics.

Many companies, like the Berserker Residents, take a more playful approach to the genre and celebrate a deliberately low-budget aesthetic. "Our particular brand of sci-fi is very comic, goofy, irreverent, slapdash," (The Annihilation Point author Tim) Sawicki said.

Original source: New York Times
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New York Times critic Edward Rothstein unceremoniously lumps Philly's recently opened President's House into a growing group of identity museums that frame history to tell a neglected story.

Then there are the two most recent examples. The President's House site is where the nation's executive mansion stood from 1790 to 1800. And a display there could have provided some unusual insight into the American past, because not only did George Washington, as he shaped the institution of the presidency, sleep there, so did nine of his slaves. On Independence Mall in Philadelphia, which is devoted to ideas of American liberty, it would have made sense for this site to explore the conjunction of these two incompatible ideas--slavery and liberty--particularly as both were knit into the nation's founding.

Instead, during eight years of controversy, protests and confrontations, the project (costing nearly $12 million) was turned into something else. Black advocacy groups pressed the National Park Service and the city to create an exhibition that focused on enslavement. Rosalyn McPherson, the site's project manager, emphasized in an interview that the goal was to give voice to the enslaved. Community meetings stressed that slaves had to be portrayed as having "agency" and "dignity." A memorial to all slaves was erected, inscribed with a roster of African tribes from which they were taken--a list that has no clear connection to either the site or the city.

Original source: The New York Times
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Acclaimed Philly filmmaker Tanya Hamilton talks with NPR about her new film Night Catches Us, which tells the story of ex-Black Panthers looking back on their radicalism in the 1970s.

"I often try to say that there's something both tragic and very romantic in that period, during the civil rights [struggles] and the transition into black power," Hamilton says. "I felt like the film not only needed to talk about the waning days [of the Black Panthers], but also about what ultimately destroyed the Panthers and the complexity of that destruction."

Hamilton, who wrote and directed the film, explains that she titled the film after a common saying in Jamaica: "Don't let night catch you."

Original source: NPR
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In an attempt to raise money for extensive renovations of its 184 year-old home, the Philadelphia History Museum has sold 2,000 items, joining a growing (and somewhat controversial) list of museums who are using their collection to pay bills, reports The New York Times.

A galloping horse weather vane sold for about $20,000, and the cigar store Indians brought in more than $1 million. A Thomas Sully oil painting of Andrew Jackson netted $80,500, and a still life by Raphaelle Peale, part of the family that put portraiture in this city on the map, was auctioned at Christie's for $842,500.

These were just a few of more than 2,000 items quietly sold by the Philadelphia History Museum over the last several years, all part of an effort to cull its collection of 100,000 artifacts and raise money for a $5.8 million renovation of its 1826 building.

In doing so the museum stepped into the quicksand of murky rules, guidelines and ethical strictures meant to discourage museums everywhere from selling collections to pay bills. It is one of the hottest issues in the museum world today. With budgets shrinking in a bad economy, the pressure to generate revenue is growing along with fears that museums are squandering public trusts meant to preserve the artifacts of the past for future generations.

Original source: The New York Times
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Voice of America gives us a multi-media look inside the Cleopatra exhibit, which features more than 150 artifacts of ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman cultures, at The Franklin Institute.

University of Pennsylvania Egyptologist and the head of the Penn Museum's Egyptology section - David Silverman - is curator of the exhibit. He said he hopes it dispels some of the misconceptions about Cleopatra and gives visitors a glimpse of her time.

"People know the name Cleopatra, but what about the history? And they're learning that we don't know all the answers, but they are also learning how we can find out some of the answers," said Silverman.

An accompanying audio tour attempts to provide some answers through an actress portrayal of Cleopatra. Visitors hear the queen describe the artifacts, as well as something of their history and purpose, including those dating from her torrid romance with Mark Antony - a relationship that ended with both of them committing suicide.

Original source: Voice of America
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Tek Lado, the new (and free) Philadelphia magazine catering to tech-savvy Latinos, launched last week with a print run of 20,000, reports the Associated Press.

Mel Gomez, director of niche publishing for Bartash Media Group, self-described geek and Tek Lado publisher, said it fills a void in the marketplace of publications for tech-savvy Latinos.

"I love technology, gadgets, smart phones, gaming, graphic novels. I watch Star Trek," he said with a laugh. "Typical Latino publications are often tabloids, either general publications or some sort of (gossip) rag -- nothing that speaks to geeks and their different subcultures we have in the U.S."

Gomez, Tek Lado editor-in-chief Liz Spikol, two staff photographers and eight bilingual freelance writers are based for now at Bartash's offices in southwest Philadelphia. Tek Lado is the first venture in magazine publishing for Bartash, a 58-year-old printer of catalogs, magazines, newspapers and niche publications for hundreds of companies from Maine to Alabama.

Original source: Associated Press
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The Washington Post travel section puts together a respectable Philadelphia Freedom package that gives a refined look at U.S. history and the city's ability to share it, including the newly opened National Museum of American Jewish History.

Independence Hall is where the founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, and ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1787. The Liberty Bell, cracks and all, became a symbol of the abolitionist movement and of efforts to attain freedom around the globe.

In the past decade, the historical events embodied by these icons have gained new context as the Liberty Bell moved to its own interpretive center and a museum dedicated to explaining the Constitution opened at the northern end of the mall. Now several new attractions on or adjacent to the mall are adding their own chapters, some with unexpected twists, to the traditional understanding of American freedoms and how they came to be.

The National Museum of American Jewish History, affiliated with the Smithsonian, opens its dazzling new home on the mall to the public today. The President's House commemorative site, on the spot where presidents George Washington and John Adams, as well as nine enslaved African Americans, lived before the nation's capital was moved to Washington, is set to open Dec. 15. A 15-minute 3-D film, "Liberty 360," premiered this fall in a theater across from Independence Hall and offers yet another perspective on the goings-on that led to the nation's founding.

Original source: Washington Post
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The works of one of the most significant artists in the history of photography have a new home at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, reports International Business Times.

Recognized as one of the one of the most significant artists in the history of photography, Paul Strand (1890-1976) is known for his explorations of the modernistic possibilities of camera. His abstract collection of 'street photographs' of people he caught unawares in urban New York settings has particularly attracted the attention of the masses.

Through his contributions to modernistic art, the American photographer soon became the leading inspiration to the likes of Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, Henri Cartier-Bresson, and Robert Frank.

"The Paul Strand Collection at the Philadelphia Museum of Art will rank among the finest and most significant groups of works by key figures in the history of photography held by any museum in this country," said Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer, in a statement.

Original source: International Business Times
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The month-old Museum Without Walls audio program uses technology to give many of Philadelphia's outdoor sculptures museum-quality perspective, reports the Associated Press.

Its self-guided audio tours are available 24-7 in several different formats: You can call phone numbers listed with each sculpture, use a free smart phone app, download the audio at http://museumwithoutwallsaudio.org to an MP3 player, or scan a special bar code (known as a QR or quick response code) on the free "Museum Without Walls" map at locations around the city.

The project's first phase includes 51 outdoor sculptures at 35 stops along a three-mile stretch of the bustling Benjamin Franklin Parkway from downtown to leafy Fairmount Park, a route popular with bicyclists, runners and walkers.

Original source: Associated Press
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The do-it-all mainstay of one of NPR's most successful and trend-setting radio stations, WXPN, Bruce Warren, talks to the Washington Times about new media, blogging and why public radio isn't just for old people.

Starting at the 35,000 foot view, at WXPN our mission is to connect musicians with audiences. That's the basic philosophical operating principle. At the heart of the XPN community is this idea of musical discovery, and that is a powerful driver of all the activity we engage in with our community. To that end, I think is where the educator, curator and benefactor ideas come in. What artists and records we decide to play, who we decide to book for World Cafe, what audio and video we chose to put on our web site, who we book for our weekly live music concert series with NPR Music, the bands we pick for our Artists To Watch, the musicians David Dye features on World Cafe: Next; all of this activity is seen by our community as them learning about something new (education) and our role in filtering what to feature (curation).

In the social world where there are endless amounts of choices to be made, curation is a powerful activity. But it has to be credible curation, trusted by our community. I think this is a value that you'll find many stations in public radio, of our format (however broadly defined), have in common. We take it seriously. How do I view us in the music industry? I think we're viewed as a very positive anomaly by my colleagues. XPN and my public radio colleagues are highly respected for what we do. And for good reason; we help artists quit their day jobs.

Original source: Washington Times
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It's a little bit cool, a little bit weird, but the varied polling places of Greater Philadelphia inspired photographer Ryan Donnell to create Behind the Curtain: The Philadelphia Polling Project, reports Wired.

The idea to record these unusual polling stations cropped up in 2006 in conversations between Donnell and his wife, who is the City Hall Reporter for the Philadelphia Daily News. They put the idea on ice for a couple of years while Donnell was getting out of the freelance game and building a commercial editorial photography business. When 2008 came around with its momentous sense of history, Donnell knew it was the right time.

"The Philadelphia Elections Board actually posts a list of all the polling stations and every place has a small description next to the address, such as 'Residence' or 'Storefront' or 'Water Department Laboratory,' says Donnell. "So I made a list of the weirdest sounding places, packed-up my Hassy, tripod and film in my car and basically just drove all over the city of Philadelphia for about 10 hours on Election Day. I've done that every election since November 2008."

Original source: Wired
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The world-renowned Italian manufacturer of designer household objects has long collaborated with top architects and designers, and the resulting artistic innovation is the subject of of a new exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, reports ArtNow Magazine.

On November 20, 2010, Alberto Alessi, President of the company and grandson of its founder Giovanni Alessi, will be honored at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with Collab's distinguished Design Excellence Award.

"The objects in this exhibition demonstrate the results of Alessi's unique, risk-taking approach to design and, consequently, how they blur the boundaries between industrial manufacturing and art," said Kathryn Hiesinger, Curator of Decorative Arts After 1700.

The exhibition is organized into two sections: family and factory history and a survey of past, present and future Alessi objects by collaborating designers, including the radical experimental projects Tea and Coffee Piazza of 1983 and Tea and Coffee Towers of 2003. The introductory section includes a map of the exhibition plan designed by Alessandro Mendini.

Original source: ArtNow Magazine
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