Time Is Short

The days may be growing longer, little by little, since Winter Solstice arrived early last Saturday morning. But that won’t help slow the hourglass emptying on our phenomenal WE ARE FAMILY show, which ends after Friday. 2024’s year-ending juried exhibition is the first in an occasional series of show we will be mounting in support of the still-grieving UArts/PCA community, robbed of their institution at the end of May. It has left a huge vacuum in our neighborhood and in the world of Philly arts and our region’s higher education infrastructure. Happily, these past six weeks have been all about 39 alumni and former faculty, administrators and staff and their 68 works. As summed up by this show’s tagline: Our university may be gone. But our art and our hearts stay strong.

JULIE WOODARD MA’15, S’10–24
“The Bridge”
16 x 21 framed
repurposed linen, cotton, silk, leather, merino, polyester, paper, upholstery blends, felted wool, denim, cork and sashiko thread
700.

Coming Together

November promises to be a month where unity wins out. First, we all have to stand together and VOTE tomorrow. Then, we are going to rally and reunite the alumni and former staff and faculty of UArts/PCA. Carrying out this work are the 38 individuals we proudly list above. They are the artists of WE ARE FAMILY, chosen by a UArts jury from nearly 200 entries. They are the ambassadors not of a former alma mater or employer, ignominiously stripped away, but of a singular, resilient community, stretched across generations and dedicated to the pursuit of art and art-making. CONGRATULATIONS to all of you and welcome (and welcome back) to OFF THE WALL! Art will always prevail, and together we will prove just that. Our show goes up Saturday, November 16…will immediately be open for shopping…and will have its Opening Reception Thursday, November 21, 7-10 PM. 

In Mourning

We have been in shock this past week with the shuttering of an institution that has played an enormous role in the history of OFF THE WALL and in the culture and community of DIRTY FRANK'S. We feel for — and stand with — the gifted faculty who are left without jobs and without the students they love to inspire and nurture and even more the students who came here to kindle dreams and are, for the moment, left with ashes. The decisions and governance that led to this bitter end are unconscionable and our creative community suffers from a void that must be filled. Stay tuned for details about a juried show we will organize to recognize the visual artists of UArts. Their work lives on and deserves our attention and support now.