Woodmere Diving Board Podcast

A new vocabulary in the visual arts, Africa in the Arts of Philadelphia: A conversation with Guest Curator, Susanna W. Gold, PhD. This episode is part of a series created for “Africa in the Arts of Philadelphia: Bullock, Searles, and Twins Seven-Seven,” an exhibition on view at Woodmere Art Museum from February 8 through May 17, 2020. Woodmere, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to the telling the story of the art and artists of the region.

Africa in the Arts of Philadelphia: Introduction to the Podcast Series. “Africa in the Arts of Philadelphia: Bullock, Searles, and Twins Seven-Seven” is an exhibition on view at Woodmere Art Museum from February 8 through May 17, 2020. Woodmere, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is dedicated to telling the story of the art and artists of the region.

Among the great figurative painters of the late twentieth century, Edith Neff (1943-1995) was ahead of her time in depicting race, gender, and class in the public spaces of Philadelphia. Community educator, Ebony DeBrest, and Program Director, Nima Koliwad, of the Mount Airy Learning Tree (MALT), discuss Neff’s work with William Valerio, Director of Woodmere Art Museum. MALT was founded in 1980 and celebrates the diversity of Northwest Philadelphia, bringing together neighbors to share a wide variety of ideas, information, and skills in informal learning environments.

Eileen Neff, the photographer, installation artist, and art critic, is the juror of Woodmere’s 2019 Annual. In conversation with hosts Bill Valerio and Stephanie Marudas, Neff discusses the ideas that interest her in the contemporary art scene in Philadelphia and the manner in which those ideas emerge in the show. "Second Nature: The Poetics of Re-presentation” is on view through September 2, 2019. The 94 artists selected explore the interplay of realism and illusion, relationships between truth, visual authority, authenticity, and imagination.

Freedom's Journal: The Art of Jerry Pinkney (Episode 5 of 5):

Warren Oree and the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble interpret “Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman” by Alan Schroeder. Warren Oree, composer, arranger, and bass; Suzanne Burgess, vocals; Adam Faulk, synthesizer, Frank Butrey, guitar, Greg “Juju” Jones, drums, Larry Price, saxophone, and Doug Pablo Edwards, percussion.

Freedom's Journal: The Art of Jerry Pinkney (Episode 1 of 5):

Renowned illustrator and watercolorist Jerry Pinkney and Crystal Lucky, Associate Professor of English and Associate Dean at Villanova University, discuss African American history and both visual and literary interpretations of slavery, the Middle Passage, and the Underground Railroad. Their dialogue covers how the terrible legacy of slavery is felt in the culture of America today, and how there is also an “arc of promise." They discuss how to teach this hard history to children.

Freedom's Journal: The Art of Jerry Pinkney (Episode 2 of 5):

Bass player and composer Warren Oree and vocalist Suzanne Burgess discuss art, music, and race in relation to their musical interpretations of two books illustrated by Jerry Pinkney: Julius Lester's “The Old African” and Alan Schroeder’s “Minty: A Story of Young Harriet Tubman.” Topics include resistance, resilience, and the intertwinement of power and beauty in the arts.

Freedom's Journal: The Art of Jerry Pinkney (Episode 3 of 5):

Renowned illustrator and watercolorist Jerry Pinkney takes us on a journey through the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, where he was raised. Pinkney describes growing up on East Earlham Street in the 1940s and 50s, and how his passion for history evolved in relation to the culture of his family and friends and the tangible presence of American history in Germantown.

Freedom's Journal: The Art of Jerry Pinkney (Episode 4 of 5):

Warren Oree, and the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble interpret “The Old African,” by Julius Lester. Warren Oree, composer and arranger, vocals and bass; Suzanne Burgess, vocals; Adam Faulk, synthesizer; Frank Butrey, acoustic guitar; Greg “Juju” Jones, drums; Larry Price, saxophone, and Doug Pablo Edwards, percussion.

Join us as we dive into the idea of the landscape as a powerful metaphor for the journey of life that we're all on. As part of Woodmere's "Pennsylvania Landscape in Impressionism and Contemporary Art” exhibition, we’ll hear from various artists and curators like Brian Peterson, Emily Brown, Peter Rose, Keith McManus and Ron Tarver. We'll explore parallel tracks in the way today’s artists view and love the beauty of the landscape, just as the Pennsylvania impressionists had more than a century ago, and how the urgency to preserve it still remains as Maura McCarthy of the Friends of the Wissahickon will share with us. We'll hear about how the Wissahickon Valley Park has inspired a strong sense of place for artists and the general public over the years.