DoNArTNeWs

Download the West Collects Smart Phone App, available on iTunes.  DoN Brewer is grateful for the opportunity to present his photography for consideration for the prestigious and unique art collection, please vote for DoN and all your Philly favorite artists.  DoNArTNeWs and Philly.SideArts were first to report the announcement of a $100K award set aside for purchase of artwork by Philadelphia artists - we literally had Mayor Nutter’s speech on YouTube within hours.  DoN highly recommends Philadelphia artists take the time to enter their artwork at the West Collection website, it’s free and easy and they offer great tech support.

Out of Africa, digital photograph, DoN Brewer  ©2011, one of ten West Collects entries available to vote for on the Smart Phone App.

Find the perfect gift at the Kodak Store!

Paige West, Founder and Curator of West Collection of Contemporary Art, Les Stoetzel, Director of West Collection and Gary Steuer, Chief Cultural Officer, City of Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture & the Creative Economy answer questions about the expanded West Collects Prize after Mayor Michael Nutter’s announcement at Philadelphia City Hall.  West Collects has increased their budget and is dedicating $100,000.00 to collect art from Philadelphia artists to be exhibited in the gallery and halls at Philadelphia City Hall for six months next year.

Video by DoN Brewer

Before DoN met Todd Hestand of www.Philly.SideArts.com @ a Corzo Center for the Creative Economy event, he had already been posting blogs on the popular free artist’s website with it’s cool blog, great writing by local artists and educators, bio/portfolio pages for artists and Philly social networking.  Linking to the Philly.SideArts.com web site drives web traffic to DoNArTNeWs, posting a blurb on the site stimulates interest in all types of social, art, education, business and opportunities.  The catalog of artists who post their bios and art images on Philly.SideArts.com includes great painters like Arthur Ostroff and Karl Olsen, fine art photographers like Angelo Benedetto and digital artists like Lee Muslin, their database is superb.

Philly.SideArts.com has launched a grand new venture offering artists enhanced services such as art opportunities and expanded portfolio space at a really reasonable price, the same free site is still available and they are expanding to other cities with the same business model.  The possibilities of connecting artists, galleries, collectors, educators and business people in an easy to use, immersive design experience is really cool.   Imagine?  The Philly art scene is a model for other cities.

Art-trepreneur, Todd Hestand of Philly.SideArts.com gave away extended free memberships to artists whose business cards were pulled from a bag.  Jed, you left too early!

To celebrate the launch of the new site, Todd Hestand hosted a party at the Dark Horse Pub near Head House Square with a silent auction benefiting Philly Aids Thrift, so many artists offered donations that many had to be turned away, yet, there are still several fine art pieces available at the on-line auction including DoN’s “light being (Joey Ramone)“.   All the proceeds go to Philly Aids Thrift, please bid, there is some really cool art for a great cause.  The party drew a crowd of artists, friends and the art-erati such as Da Vinci Art Alliance’s Lilliana Didovic, artist/entrepreneur Jed Williams, the master Arthur Ostroff and Art in City Hall’s Guru, Tu Huynh - Todd did a terrific job explaining the benefits and services for the new and improved site and really mixed it up with the crowd.  Visit the Philly.SideArts site to see how vibrant, inspiring and diverse the Philly art scene really is and follow the progress of a thoughtful, intuitive idea to help artists connect in a meaningful way.

The silent auction sponsored by Philly.SideArts benefiting Philly Aids Thrift.

The Philly.SideArts.com easy to use homepage.  Join!

Deanna McLaughlin & Jack Larimore @ Dysfunctional Furniture @ Art in City Hall, Philadelphia.

Juror, Jack Larimore told DoN he’s a furniture maker first, it’s sculptural yet it’s furniture.  Larimore liked seeing work by Philly region artists he had not seen before especially with an open ended concept like Dysfunctional Furniture - become part of the furniture, the piece above doubles as a font.  Even things we perceive as being dysfunctional may have a function we are unaware of, a great metaphor for life.

Artist Deanna McLaughlin carried a matching mini shopping cart hand-bag to match her lounge chair made from a re-cycled shopping card and thrift store leather belts, the social implications of weaving our own furniture and learning from the homeless is palpable.

Holly E. Smith, Deceased Vole Coffee Table, wood, chair parts @ Dysfunctional Furniture @ Art in City Hall.  Smith told DoN the sculpture started with the tail and gradually became an assemblage of objects, eventually an homage to dead voles.  Artist Ted Warchal commented on how the legs of the sculpture are appropriately sized, larger in the rear, smaller in the front.

Hannah Fink @ Dysfunctional Furniture @ Art in City Hall, Philadelphia.

Michelle Post @ Dysfunctional Furniture @ Art in City Hall.  Post uses salt & pepper shakers, some quite collectible, like sequins on her altar-like tissue box, a bizarre bedazzling of function, craft and stream of consciousness.

Lauren Frazer, Beauty is Only a Promise of Happiness, fabric, stuffing, plywood, synthetic human hair.  “Furniture plays an important role creating theatrical context for my sculptures”.  Dysfunctional Furniture @ Art in City Hall.

Herbert Simon, Chair Forward, welded steel, found objects. Dysfunctional Furniture @ Art in City Hall

Kay Healy, Stuffed, screen-printed fabric.  Dysfunctional Furniture @ Art in City Hall.

Burnell Yow! The Puzzling Love Life of the Superhero, mixed media.  Yow!s mirror reflects the puzzle of what we see in the mirror and the quest to get all the pieces of life fit together, even if it’s just because they touch without matching.  Dysfunctional Furniture @ Art in City Hall.

Juror Albert LeCoff said Dysfunctional Furniture re-emphasizes what a strong region Philadelphia is for sculpture with an innovative use of material, one of the real surprises was Kay Healy’s fabric sculptures and the use of materials.

Art in City Hall is a great civic program with a new art space in Philadelphia City Hall of the 1st Floor; coordinator of Art in City Hall, Tu Huynh is featured on the web site for The National Arts Program.  Thank you Tu for bringing art to the forefront of the civic consciousness in Philly and national attention to our artists.

Dysfunctional Furniture
December 16 - February 25.
Juried by Jack Larimore and Albert LeCoff and featuring artists: Gretchen Altabef, Carlos Avendano, Michael J. Brolly, Charna Eisner, Hannah Fink, Laura Frazure, Kay Healy, Lydia Hunn, Tara Inman-Bellofatto, Jack Larimore, Henry Loustau, Deanna McLaughlin, Ife Nii Owoo, Michelle Post, Matthew Alden Price, Leo Razzi, Maria Schneider, Adam Shuman, Herbert Simon, William Skrobut, Holly Smith, Chris Todd, Michael Wiley and Burnell Yow!
Art Gallery at City Hall, Room 116 and
1st and 2nd Floor display cases.

Meg Saligman re-imagined the mural (the previous two artists Bill Friedman & Sam Donovan were unavailable) @ Broad & Vine Streets incorporating LED lights that will morph the painting into a multimedia art installation that is one of a kind in the world.  The three panels tell a story about nursing from personal care to record-keeping-to technological expertise in the dreamy style Saligman has developed in her many beautiful walls through the city but this one lights up - Cool!.  The Mural Arts Program has twenty-two separate events throughout October, Jane Golden said there are thousands of sites seeking murals.  The mural @ Broad and Vine is dedicated to Florence Nightingale and all nurses everywhere.

Many local nurses are portrayed in the enormous painting; DoN has always relied on the kindness of nurses, his favorite Aunt Fran is a nurse, still helping even in retirement.  Meg Saligman made sure to invite all the participating artists and models to take the stage with her, the platform was crowded with volunteers and artists alike, a testament to Meg’s ability to make people team up and the crowd cheered their achievement.

Jane Golden introduced Mayor Nutter to the crowd attending the dedication of the mural; Philadelphia’s Mayor addressed the crowd to celebrate the mural and it’s importance to the city, he praised Jane Golden and her team of artists at the Mural Arts Program and the value of nurses and medicine to Philadelphia.  DoN really likes Mayor Nutter and his support for the arts in Philly but in a surreal twist, the mayor’s speech was cut short by protesters from ADAPT, a very organized group of demonstrators of disabled people trying to close nursing homes and encourage group home living instead.

This mural @ 13th & Ludlow Streets is a handmade woven mural, master-minded by Super-Artist Kathryn Pannepacker in association with the Mural Arts Program, using mats made by homeless and disaffected people living in shelters.  When people start weaving they start to heal and learn a skill, find self satisfaction and hope.  The piece was created as part of the Finding Home Project gaining Katheryn and the project kudos on NPR’s Dr. Dan Gottleib, Volunteers of America website and American Craft Magazine.  You can help by shopping at the handmade by the homeless Gallery on South Street and talking to your representatives about rights for people who can’t help themselves.

detail of the woven mural @ 13th & Ludlow Streets, Philadelphia.

Photos by DoN.

Morning Sun, Darrel Van Mastrigt, acrylic on canvas, courtesy of SCI Graterford.

Inside/Outside @ Art in City Hall is a juried exhibition of art created by Philadelphia prisoners and ex-offenders in cooperation with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.  Jurors Ona Kalstein and Michele Marcuse traveled to Graterford Prison several times to evaluate and select art created within the high walls of the prison system.  DoN was immediately drawn to the immediacy and sense of detail many of the pieces incorporated as if every little bit of the world around us is so important it must be memorialized.  The painting above is a typical street scene to any Philadelphian, just close your eyes and think about how much we ignore on your own street and what you would remember if you were not allowed to go home.

Mayor Michael Nutter explained how over the years prisoners have gifted him with portraits as thanks for visiting the prisons on New Years Day each year.  After the collection grew the Mayor suggested the Art in City Hall team take on the challenge of displaying the work resulting in an emotional, beautiful, historic and unique exhibition of art.

Bugs, Thomas Schilk, melted plastic spoons.  Using found objects, prison artists must glean materials from their environment, Schilk’s Bugs are fun, fantastic and subtle with realism and wit.

E. Sherman Hayman, Inside/Outside, Art by Prison Inmates & Ex-offenders @ Art in City Hall.

Glamorous guns depict the emotional reliance on weapons and the signification of the silhouettes is contemporary and on trend with embellished frames.  Showing images of guns in the show is a display of courage by the Art in City Hall team; guns are glamorized in pop & rap culture from Lady Gaga & Beyonce’s Video Phone music video to Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal to movies, TV and games - guns are sexy and scary.  By not editing content, the show offers a glimpse into the psyche of those attracted to weapons and violence.

A simple thing like watching a dog play at the beach is a pleasure lost when you’re incarcerated.  DoN can’t imagine being kept away from watching KaTy the ArT DoG & Lady Doofus play in the water.  DoN believes this  painting is by Bernardo Ruiz, the label slipped - if incorrect, please comment.

J. Johndi Harrell, Young Weezy, anyone who knows rapper Lil Wayne knows this portrait is superb with a hard look at a pop culture hero who’s spent time in jail yet is super-successful in the entertainment world creating a conundrum for young people who worship pop heroes.

Thanks so much to Tu Huynh, Art in City Hall Program Manager, the art shows in City Hall put a spotlight on the creative talent in Philly both Inside & Outside.  Kudos to Jane Golden and The Mural Arts Program for their outreach into the Philadelphia prison system and Mayor Nutter for connecting the dots in a way that helps prisoners and ex-offenders as well as the citizenry at large.  The show is free through October 29th, 2010 - go see some great art today.

Pat Wilson-Schmid works at being an artist full time, a tireless volunteer, and art advocate; the Philadelphia Sketch Club relies on Pat because she always makes the extra effort to keep the team on task.

Edna Santiago told DoN the painting is an uncle who moved to Philly to raise his family, she said he would be proud to know his visage is being shown in City Hall.  The acrylic on plastic painting is unique, confounding and bold, the narrative takes us to a time and place that is old Philadelphia yet very contemporary and urban, the passages of dark and light are deeply moving.  Chicken Louis, acrylic on plexiglass, Edna Santiago.

Piety Choi, Manna, mixed media on canvas.  The splashy painting paired with the intensely decorative tile work mixes time lines, metaphors and ideas on what is beautiful in contemporary culture.  Choi continues to surprise, inspire and challenge the Philly art-erati to step up their game, her works continuously win awards and draw people together to talk.

 P.J. Foster, Unexpected Journey, acrylic & egg shell @ The Philadelphia Sketch Club Member Exhibition @ Art in City Hall.

Art in City Hall featuring the Philadelphia Sketch Club’s 150 Anniversary members show is the oldest art club in America’s first show at the world famous City Hall and it’s 20 year old public art in City Hall program.  The shown is immense with hundreds of art works by many of Philly’s best artists.

Photos by DoN.

In Your Dreams
June 11 - September 11, 2009
50 Philadelphia artists showcase work related to dreams.  Juried by the Art In City Hall Exhibitions Committee. 2nd and 4th floors, NE corner.  Art in City Hall has been offering public art shows for more than 20 years, displaying work in large display cases, the ongoing exhibition is usually theme-based with the current show focused on dream imagery juried by a panel of professional artists.  The exhibition features drawing (Justin Duerr is the bomb), fantastical jewelry by Christine Alaniz, photography by Morris Klein and Julia Blaukopf, paintings by Patricia Burns and Anne Caramanico, sculptures by Brujo De La Mancha, mixed media and books.  The strength of the show is the acceptance of many forms of art to visualize and share such deeply personal experiences.

Display case two clockwise: DoN Brewer, Shell Game, scanner/Photoshop collage, Brujo De La Mancha, mixed media painting and sculptures, Kathryn Johnston, Saturation, mixed media collage.

Alex Cohen.  This painting seems to tell an entire dream story with a beginning, middle and end.

Angela Washko, “Imposter”, oil on canvas - the large painting highlights confusing imagery of bunnies confronting a slipper demonstrating the duality of dreams where friendly subjects take on menacing behaviors.

 Tanya Dodd, The Right Track, photography and mixed media.  Not all dreams are strange, some are dreams of escape and finding the route to happiness, security and freedom.

 Artist Tanya Dodd recently had a solo show at The African American Museum.

DoN Brewer with Morris Klein’s digital photograph “Daydreaming“, DoN Brewer’s digital photo “light being (Edward Hopper)” and DoN Brewer’s digital photo”hole” @ Art in City Hall, Philadelphia.  Photo by Les Howard.

Philadelphia City Hall is a spectacular venue for art with every detail of the building designed to the max - sculpture, painting, wood, marble, gold - it is an honor to have art displayed in such a great historic space; a dream come true.

DoNArTNeWs has been getting a record number of visitors even though DoN has been busy with art instead of blogging:

• Philadelphia Sketch Club Members show @ Newman Gallery 6/6
• Workshop Show 6/6 @ The Plastic Club
• Photographic Society of Philadelphia @ Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse
• Art in City Hall’s In Your Dreams - DoN has three pieces in the show, 6/11 - 9/11, 2009.
• DoN is now a Board Member of The Philadelphia Sketch Club & member of Exhibitions Committee - this past weekend we installed Phillustration ‘09, a great selection of the art of illustration by Philadelphia area artists, June 12 - 27, 2009, Reception & Awards, Sunday, June 14th, 2 - 4 PM., chaired by Rich Harrington.
• Completion of new website for neo-expressionist artist Alecia D’Alonzo - DoN LoVeS the final version.
• New website & blog in process for NUVISIONS for Disabled Artists.

DoN has plans to visit Tiger Strikes to see David Guinn’s paintings, new photos @ Gallery 339, Fishtown Airways new show, the Romeo & Juliet show @ Da Vinci Art Alliance and more.

DoN Brewer “light being (Chink)” @ Penn Medicine at Rittenhouse.

“Shell Game“, scanner/Photoshop collage by DoN Brewer @ Art in City Hall’s - In Your Dreams - reception 6/11.

DoN Brewer’s Philadelphia from Bartram’s Garden, panoramic photograph @ Newman Gallery.

Justin Duerr, The Guardian Sisters of the Wombic Calm Inside the First Bor, ink on paper, 39″ x 70″, Courtesy of Coalition Ingenu.