January
Two Alums Each Awarded Prestigious $25,000 Unrestricted Grants for Female Artists over 40 from Anonymous Was A Woman
UArts alums Dotty Attie and Beverly Fishman have both been awarded the 2018 Anonymous Was A Woman grant. The unrestricted grant is awarded to female artists over the age of 40 and is meant to empower artists to continue increasing their bodies of work. Each nominee is selected by an anonymous panel of other female artists, curators, writers and previous grant winners; there is no option to nominate oneself for the grant. To date, more than 600 women have participated in this process.
 
Dotty Attie BFA ’59 (Art Education) is a painter residing in New York City. Attie has exhibited work internationally, including in Paris, London, Venice and Berlin. In 1971, she helped found AIR Gallery, which began as a gallery for women artists.
 
Beverly Fishman BFA ’77 (Painting) is a painter and sculptor. In addition to her BFA, Fishman also earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Yale University. Her work has been exhibited internationally, in galleries in Paris, London and Berlin. FIshman’s work is also part of numerous collections, among them those of Toledo Museum of Art and Detroit Institute of Arts.

Attie and Fishman join the ranks of UArts alums who have received the award in prior years, including Anne Chu BFA ’82 (Printmaking), Deborah Willis BFA ’75 (Photography) and Lisa Lewenz BFA ’74 (Photography).
Core Studies Faculty Member Receives Praise and Press for Interactive Exhibit
Core Studies Adjunct Assistant Talia Greene's interactive mural for the newly opened Philadelphia City Archives, “Charting a Path to Resistance, ” received much attention in the press when it debuted at the grand opening of the City Archives in its new space at 548 Spring Garden St. The mural, and its supplemental augmented reality (AR) app “Resistance: Philadelphia” for iOS and Android, aims to bring to light the human stories behind the dry-reading City Council records, deeds and other official documents that date back as far as the late 1600s.

Greene was particularly taken with the stories about abolitionism, civil rights and housing discrimination that she uncovered during her research. Her discovery of a redlining map—a tool of racial bias used by financial institutions in the 1930s to deny housing opportunities to African Americans—provided the primary visual motif for the mural. When devices running the AR app are pointed at key documents depicted in the mural, these stories are revealed.

The mural, which will be on permanent exhibit, was covered by the Philadelphia Inquirer, KYW Newsradio, local PBS and NPR affiliate WHYY and, after being picked up by the Associated Press, appeared in the Washington Post, The New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, and on the entertainment website broadwayworld.com.
Renowned Printmaker Louise Bourgeois: Exhibit Opens Jan. 22
Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature celebrates a prime example of Louise Bourgeois’ innovative and groundbreaking work in printmaking. Topiary, originally commissioned to benefit the Whitney Museum of American Art, graces the permanent collections of the Tate Modern, London, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, among other institutions.

Comprising a suite of nine copper plate etchings with aquatint and drypoint, Topiary deftly and poignantly embraces narratives and imagery distinctly associated with Bourgeois’ artwork: trees and vegetation as metaphors for the human condition; the implications of an impassioned color palette; and conceptual absence as presented through depictions of amputation and anguish. Topiary is published by Harlan & Weaver Inc., a print publisher and collaborative print-shop that specializes in etching and other forms of intaglio printmaking.

Configuration: The Portrayal of Vegetation and Figuration in the Prints of Louise Bourgeois complements the Topiary portfolio exhibit with a selection of etchings from Harlan & Weaver Inc. that share similar narratives surrounding the connection between vegetation and the human condition.

Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature - Louise Bourgeois
Cynthia Nourse Thompson, Curator

Jan. 22–March 8

Configuration: The Portrayal of Vegetation and Figuration in the Prints of Louise Bourgeois
Cynthia Nourse Thompson, Curator
Lauren McDonald, Co-Curator


Above:
Louise Bourgeois, Topiary: The Art of Improving Nature, 1998
Plate 5 from a portfolio of 9 drypoint and aquatint etchings on paper, edition of 28
39 ¼ x 27 ¾ in.; 99,7 x 70,5 cm
Photo: Christopher Burke; © The Easton Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at ARS, NY
Art Unleashed 2019: Save the Date
This uniquely UArts fundraiser is back! Art Unleashed raises funds to promote and advance the student experience at UArts. Works by students and alumni will be on display and available for sale. Portions of proceeds from every purchase will support and enhance the student experience .

The event will take place over two evenings: Thursday, April 11, and Friday, April 12 .

The Opening Night Gala on Thursday, April 11, will celebrate our artists and honor three of UArts’ most dedicated champions. Attendees will get a first look at the exhibit, followed by a dinner featuring entertainment provided by current UArts performing arts students. On Friday, April 12, the exhibit will be open to the public.