Tag Archives: Art Gallery at City Hall

Jazz

Live Philly Jazz – Through the Photographic LensEmannuel Ohemeng, Esperanza Spalding at the Keswick Theatre, photography

Philadelphia City Hall Exhibits Celebrate Jazz and Photography

Live Philly JazzThrough the Photographic Lens February 29 – May 6, 2016

Juror: Stephen Perloff

Art Gallery at City Hall, Room 116. Second Floor, NE corner display cases

The Clef Club at 50 through May 6, 2016

Curators: Don Gardner and Lovett Hines from The Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts

Jazz returns to City Hall this spring with two photography exhibits: Live Philly Jazz – Through the Photographic Lens, a juried exhibited located in the Art Gallery at City Hall; and The Clef Club at 50, which is located on the second floor near the Office of the Mayor. The exhibits will coincide with Philadelphia Jazz Appreciation Month in April. A joint reception will take place on March 28, from 4:00 – 6:00 pm.

Live Philly Jazz was juried by Stephen Perloff, editor of The Photo Review, a nationally recognized journal of photography that began in 1976. A call for photography was sent out in the fall, asking artists to submit work that captures the spirit of jazz during live performances, or subtle behind-the-scenes creative moments. The aim was to acquire original works of art that show a mastery of the photographic medium, depicting the rhythms, sounds, energy, and intricacies of jazz music.

Mr. Perloff selected 32 photographs: “At the heart of jazz is performance, which is reflected in a majority of the images in this exhibition that capture a wide range of performers from some of the jazz greats to street musicians.”

Juror’s Statement

Jazz may be the most quintessential American art form. From its birth in New Orleans it has spread like kudzu throughout the United States and around the world. And it has influenced all other succeeding forms of music from the blues to rock and roll and beyond. At the heart of jazz is performance, which is reflected in a majority of the images in this exhibition that capture a wide range of performers from some of the jazz greats to street musicians. There are many fine images among these. But I’m also heartened to see images that go beyond performance, from details such as Peter Applebaum’s Mr. Hornblower, whose lined fingers with glistening rings hold a battered horn that reflects years of playing; to Gerald Cyrus’s Freddie on Fire, which bursts with the pure energy of intense music making; to the composites of Regina Schlitz’s Jamaaladeen Tacuma Upright Abstract and Melissa Teasley’s Jazz-N-Around City Hall Sax Throwback; and even to Lynn Goldstein’s Beat Out of Box, a mostly abstract picture that captures the gestural quality and the balance between structure and improvisation of jazz. Philadelphia has its own rich jazz history and also a wonderful group of photographers who have managed to portray jazz’s soul. – Stephen PerloffThe Photo Review, Editor

Participating photographers:

  • Peter Appelbaum
  • Steven Berry
  • Rachel Bliss
  • Matt Cohen
  • Blinky Comix
  • Elliott Curson
  • Gerald Cyrus
  • Dean Anthony
  • David Dzubinski
  • Meredith Edlow
  • Peter Fitzpatrick
  • Annarita Gentile
  • Melissa Gilstrap
  • Lynne Goldstein
  • Alan Jackman
  • Leandre Jackson
  • Alonzo Jennings
  • Rob Lybeck
  • Jeff Lynch
  • Bill May
  • James McWilliams
  • Brian Mengini
  • D. Jacob Miller
  • Sarah Nathan
  • Emmanuel Ohemeng
  • Luzselenia Salas
  • David Simpson
  • Sound Evidence
  • Melissa Teasley
  • Bruce Turner

Live Philly Jazz – Through the Photographic LensRob Lybeck, Pat Martino, photograph

For 50 years, The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts has been an enduring cultural hub for Philadelphia’s jazz community. Art In City Hall, with the help of Don Gardner and Lovett Hines, the club’s respective Executive Director and Artistic Director, is presenting this extraordinary triumph through a display of photographs and memorabilia from the club’s collection. The Clef Club at 50 features images of past jazz legends that have graced Philadelphia’s jazz scene and some of the people who helped make it all happen. Many of the photographs on display were taken by South Philly’s John T. “Bunky” deVechhis, who passed away last year after decades of capturing Philly’s jazz scene.

Brief History:

The Clef Club began in 1966 as the social club for Union Local 274 of the American Federation of Musicians – Philadelphia’s black musicians’ union created in the mid 30s by Frank Fairfax. At the time of its incorporation, over seven hundred musicians were members of the club; including: Nina Simone, John Coltrane, Shirley Scott, Philly Joe Jones, the Heath Brothers, Butch Ballard, and Dizzy Gillespie among others. Other luminaries such as Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Art Blakely, Sara Vaughn, Max Roach and Clifford Brown would be frequent performers.

In 1971, Local 274 disbanded, but The Clef Club endured. In 1978 it expanded its mission to include jazz performance, jazz instruction, and the preservation of Philadelphia’s rich jazz history. It changed its name to The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts. In the 1980s, the William Penn Foundation – led by its Executive Director, Dr. Bernard Watson – allocated $2.8 million to construct a new facility at 738 South Broad Street, as part of the development of cultural organizations on the Avenue of the Arts. The state added an additional $1 million. Ground was broken in 1994 and the club opened its doors the following year.

Today, The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts houses a performance hall that can seat over 200 patrons, and contains two levels of classrooms and practice studios for its educational programs. It boasts some of today’s finest jazz musicians as former students, and continues to present world-class performances in its mission to celebrate and preserve the legacy of jazz.

The Photo Review

The Photo Review is a critical journal of national scope and international readership. Publishing since 1976, The Photo Review covers photography events throughout the country and serves as a central resource for the Mid-Atlantic region. Editor Stephen Perloff, a respected writer, educator and photographer, has been interviewed for the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Bucks County Courier Times, and Art Matters. He has received two critic’s fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. For more information on The Photo Review, please visit: http://www.photoreview.org/

The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts

Jazz is a true, original American art form and The Philadelphia Clef Club of Jazz and Performing Arts, in Philadelphia, is the first facility ever constructed specifically as a jazz institution – a testament to our national’s history. Located on the Avenue of the Arts at 738 South Broad St, the building houses a 240 seat performance hall, in addition to multiple classrooms and practice studios, making it ideally suited to fulfill its mission of celebrating and preserving the legacy of jazz. For more information, please visit:

http://clefclubofjazz.org/

Art in City Hall

Art in City Hall brings the people’s art to the people’s building, establishing a presence for the visual arts in one of the city’s most important civic spaces, and provides space for the local cultural community to display their work. City Hall showcases juried exhibits of professional artists, local artists, arts and cultural institutions, community organizations and schools that utilize the arts in their programming. Encompassing a variety of mediums, techniques, and subjects, the program is committed to presenting a diversity of ideas and artistic explorations. For additional information on Art in City Hall,

Creative Philadelphia — City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy

The mission of the Creative Philadelphia — City of Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy is to support and promote arts, culture and the creative industries; and to develop partnerships and coordinate efforts that weave arts, culture and creativity into the economic and social fabric of the City. For more information on the OACCE, visit: http://www.creativephl.org.

Thank you to Tu Huynh, City Hall Exhibitions Manager, Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy for the content of this post. Thank you to Rob Lybeck for sharing his photograph.

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Bike pARTs

Bike pARTs, Art in City Hall

Bike pARTs

March 17– June 13, 2014. Exhibition sites: Art Gallery at City Hall and display cases on 1st and 2nd Floors, NE corner. Submissions due: February 28, 2014, 4 pm.

Art Gallery at City Hall, Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, 116 City Hall, Philadelphia, PA 19107, (215) 686-9912 email: artincityhall@phila.gov

Jurors: AICH

Art in City Hall issues a call for artists for the upcoming exhibition in historic City Hall. Did you know that of the 10 largest cities in the United States, Philadelphia has the most bicycle commuters per capita? We also have over 200 miles of designated bike lanes, and a goal of installing thousands of new bike racks in the coming years. Recently, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia in partnership with the City’s Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy received a Knights Arts Challenge grant to install artist-designed bike racks in six locations throughout Center City. The Art Gallery at City Hall will feature those designs this spring. To complement this presentation and support Philadelphia’s growing bicycle culture, artists from the region are invited to submit art that utilizes bicycle parts and explore themes of sustainability, health and the urban environment. Found object and kinetic sculpture, two dimensional designs, and works that explore the mechanics of movement are encouraged.

Rules for Entry

Eligibility

Open to professional and self-taught artists and graduate students from the Philadelphia region working in all media, including the five-county Delaware area.

Exhibition Sites

Exhibitions are generally presented in the public spaces of City Hall. Bike pARTs will be show-cased in the Art Gallery at City Hall, which is part of the Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, Room 116 (near the East Portal Market St. entrance – first floor) and hallway display cases on the first and second floors (near the Offices of the Mayor).

Exhibition display case dimensions are 84” H x 94” W x 30”D. There are 7 display cases. The Art Gallery is 800 square feet of space. Works that exceed the dimensions of the display cases will be featured in the gallery.

1. Deadline for submission: Received by Friday, February 28, 4 pm. No exceptions. There is no entry fee.

2. Please submit up to 4 works as jpegs on a CD. Each image should be no larger than 1MB. Please call or email if you have questions.

3. Each jpeg file name should correlate with the entry form. You may include up to 3 details of each work.

4. Each artist must include a brief artist statement (no longer than two paragraphs) and resume as Word documents or PDF.

5. Return the completed entry form with your digital submission and include a S.A.S.E ONLY if you wish to have your disc returned to you.

6. If you are unable to submit work in a digital format, please contact Art In City Hall for assistance.

Selection and Installation of Exhibition

Accepted artists will be notified by phone or email. You can call to verify submission status. All work must be in good condition and ready for installation (i.e., hooks, wires, etc.). Artists are responsible for assisting with installation of works which require special attention or extensive demands of time.

The City, the Art in City Hall Exhibitions Committee and/or curators reserve the right to change the content of the exhibition, including the removal of artwork.

Delivery of Work

The time of delivery and installation of artwork will be arranged with each participating artist after notification of acceptance. Artists or artists’ galleries are responsible for shipping and delivery of works, including transfer insurance if needed, as well as the retrieval of work at the end of the exhibition. Please do not submit work that have already been sold or are out of the Philadelphia region.

Sale of Work

Art may be for sale. Art in City Hall is not a commercial gallery and does not take commission.  All sales are between the artist and interested patron(s).

Liability

Each accepted artist will receive a loan agreement. Artwork will be insured once received by Art in City Hall and determined to be in good condition for the duration of the exhibition and installation/de-installation periods.

Submissions due: February 28 , 2014, 4 pm. Art Gallery at City Hall, Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, 116 City Hall,mPhiladelphia, PA 19107, (215) 686-9912 email: mailto:artincityhall@phila.gov?subject=Bike pARTs

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