November 2009
Jennifer Baker is an artist with a studio in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia. She’s been making art for 30 years, and has shown in New York and Philadelphia. Jennifer attended the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and received a Visual Arts Fellowship from the PA Council on the Arts in 1993.
Jennifer started making monoprints in the early 1990s to capture the images that she could see from her rooftop and the streets of Northern Liberties as it was burning and crumbling around her. She returned to the theme of Northern Liberties earlier this year to see what remains of this former industrial neighborhood and determine what the impact of change has been on individual and neighborhood life.
How did you decide to work with monoprints for this project?
I began making monoprints when my daughter was born and I needed to work faster. I had been making sculptures that took a year or so to complete one piece, and being able to complete a monoprint in a couple of hours was very satisfying. The immediacy and the texture of the medium worked so well to communicate the atmosphere that I was trying to create in my Northern Liberties images. It really seemed to fit with the subject matter.
The Northern Liberties pieces I am doing right now are not monoprints. I am making paintings on wood panels and working to translate that same immediacy to the new medium. It is a challenge for me to try to keep working fast and not belabor the pieces.
What did working with this medium allow you to do that other mediums might not allow?
As I said there is a great appeal in the quickness of the medium, because having to work to complete a piece in about 3 or 4 hours (before the paint becomes too dry to print) forces me to focus on what is most important about each image, to get to its essence and leave out all the extraneous information and detail. I think it forces me to make bolder images with more impact than if I had the time to put in all the little details that I might be tempted to add if I had more time. Also, I love the unpredictability of the medium and have learned how to make use of that.
What initially drew you to First Person Arts?
I think that most art has an element of autobiography or memoir, and sometimes it is literal and direct and sometimes it is completely hidden. I have done work that fits both of those categories, but my Northern Liberties Project to me really is a memoir, although it is a memoir of my observations of my neighborhood rather than of myself. I am interested in looking for the artist, or the personal and strongly felt ideas, in all kinds of artwork and First Person Arts is a good place to do that.
What’s your favorite N. Libs haunt and why?
My studio. I don’t have time to hang out anywhere else. Although I do like the coffee shop around the corner (Higher Grounds) and Kaplan’s Bakery down the street. I often walk around the neighborhood with my camera and sketchbook.
Laura Jean Zito is a photographer living in Philadelphia. She spent her childhood living in various places. Born in Cincinnati, she lived in Idaho, Syracuse, the Hague in Holland, and Philadelphia, and later in Cambridge, Manhattan and Ireland.
Laura got a Brownie camera when she was a young girl and she’s been taking pictures ever since. She writes, “The need for connection to other people engages me directly in the dialogue and dance of photography, even with total strangers, forming memorable experiences for both of us.”
Here is a recent post from food blog kitchenplay, a.k.a the blog of our volunteer coordinator, Karina.
The First Person Festival is underway! We’ve met Ruth Reichl, consumed burgers, and eaten America. We still have one more foodie event on the roster, The Girl from Foreign, with Indian food courtesy of Ekta.
And in more foodie/First Person news, E from Foodaphilia is stocking our concessions stand. And here is the line-up:
Oatmeal Whoopie Pies
Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Chocolate Whoopie Pies
Coconut Crunch Cookies- coconut, toffee, almonds, oatmeal
Junk in the Trunk- white and dark chocolate, cookie pieces, pretzels and potato chips
A BIG thanks to E and A Full Plate Cafe for their support of First Person Arts!
The First Person Festival is taking place November 3-8 at the Painted Bride, 2nd and Vine St.
(photo from Foodaphilia)
Black, white, and read all over? Yes that’d be the City Paper, and they are all over our events: Shelter, Life Without Parole, A.J. Jacobs, The Yes Men and Sweet Tea were all written about! Not to shabby, eh?
Here are links to the fabulous articles:
Shelter (The best place to be on First Friday!)
Life Without Parole (P.S. This event is FREE! and involves a video conference call with Kenneth Hartman, an author who is sentenced to life in prison.)
Tickets to all are still available for purchase! The number of events can be overwhelming, but no matter what you pick, you won’t regret it. Get your tickets online, or just grab them at the door.
This Saturday from 3:30 to 5:30, PAWS, Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society, will be hosting a pet adoption outside of the Painted Bride before and after Rita Mae Brown’s event – Animal Magnetism.
Your agenda for the day? Listen to Rita tell you why animals are far superior to humans, and then pick out a cuddly critter of your own to bring home. Sounds like a good day to me. And who could say no to faces like these? The dog and cat shown above are currently available for adoption at PAWS.
CNN just published the witty observations of our beloved Rita Mae Brown, in an article aptly entitled “Animals make the Perfect Human.” Here are a few tidbits from her list of reasons animals are generally smarter, better and kinder than humans. I’m forced to agree:
No cat snores as loudly as a human.
A dog may steal from you but will never lie to you.
Your dog is a great food tester. If she won’t eat it, you’d better not either.
No animal will ever speak those dreadful words, “We have to talk.”
Your cat, dog, horse or bird doesn’t care if you’re young or old, rich or poor, fat or thin. She loves you just as you are.
No animal is ever a hypocrite.
Animals remember. They have some concept of the simple past, but they live triumphantly in the present. Few of us do
A pretty good argument if you ask me. The full list (a must read) can be found here.
Meet Rita Mae Brown in person!
What: A presentation, book signing, and Q & A.
When: Saturday November 7th at 4PM
Where: The Painted Bride.
Why: She’s brilliant.
Looking for something to do this weekend? Don’t take it from us, Philadelphia Weekly has got the answer for you. This Sunday, Sweet Tea is an event not to be missed. E. Patrick Johnson, who will be speaking, signing books and answering questions, gives his unique insight into the culture of black gay men in the south. His work began at Northwestern University, and lead him to research the oral histories of men in all of the states in the confederacy. His results, written in his newest book Sweet Tea, are fascinating.
Read the mention, titled Sweet Tea, written by Gerald Johnson in the Philadelphia Weekly below:
“Light years away from the clubs, cafes and queens of Philly’s Gayborhood, a love that dares not speak its name flourishes alongside chitlins, cornfields and conservative religious values. Many vilify the South’s red state repression, while others celebrate its old-fashioned charm. Virtually no one, however, writes about its queer black culture. Except Northwestern University scholar E. Patrick Johnson. “I interviewed gay black men in every state of the Confederacy,” Johnson says of the research he did for his book Sweet Tea, which records the accounts of men who juggle their blackness, Southernness and homosexuality. In his performance at the First Person Arts Festival, he restages select interviews. When pressed to pick a favorite, Johnson is at a loss, but he fondly remembers his oldest interviewee, the fabulous Countess Vivian, who came of age in 1930s New Orleans. “We lost touch after Katrina,” Johnson says. “But I had a reunion with him last month. Not only did he survive, but he never left. He‘ll be 98 years old.” Gerald Johnson
6pm. $12-$20. Painted Bride Art Center, 230 Vine St. 267.402.2055. firstpersonarts.org.”
Ecstatic. Thrilled. Psyched. Ontheedgeofmyseat. I await the First Person Arts Festival more than Christmas these days. Each performance is like unwrapping a different present, and I got just what I wanted. A Speakeasy? Check. Concert? Check. The Yes Men? Check check. Even a chance to meet A. J. Jacobs in person? That too. Apparently I was good this year. And the biggest present tucked behind the Christmas tree? That’d have to be the Grand Slam. Needless to say I’ve been looking forward to this all year.
I’m not the only one eagerly anticipating the Annual Festival. Philebrity is talking about it, and so is the Philadelphia Daily News. They’ve published articles about the events they are craving, including the Karaoke Obsessed event, Still Bill, and tonight’s hit America Eats.
So meet me at the next event! I will probably be sitting in the front row, bright-eyed and overeager… but who can blame me? As they say, the First Person Arts Festival, comes but once a year.
Alex Hillman Belts it Out.
Brian is a karaoke maniac. Not only does he sing all the time, he has even written a book about it. This karaoke obsession has lead him across the globe, touring karaoke bars everywhere. And you can’t go on a journey like that without coming back with some stories. To hear him speak and sing, come to the Painted Bride this Friday where you and other karaoke buffs and novices alike will be filling the room.
Here is a tidbit of what Alex has to say about Brian and karaoke in his blog dangerouslyawesome.com:
“I truly believe that Brian’s thesis is right, and having completed the Whuffaoke tour, I firmly believe that Karaoke CAN change a person’s life…and quite possibly the world.
I think that karaoke has some of the most important qualities of an event that, as a society, we need now more than ever before.
Karaoke is empowering.
Karaoke is a form of creative expression, musically and theatrically.
Karaoke helps build strong bonds between people.
Karaoke makes people smile.
I’m super stoked that Philly’s First Person Arts Festival has brought Brian in from Brooklyn for an event this Friday at the Painted Bride, called: Karaoke Obsessed. First Person Arts is notorious in Philly for bringing some of the best events centered around story-telling to life, including the extremely popular Story Slam.”
Memoirs are taking over faster than the swine flu. So who called the doctor?!? …well, we did, kind of…
We called Ben Yogoda, writer, movie critic, and teacher. He spent three years writing a book entitled: Memoir: A History. The book delves into the roots of today’s memoir culture. Turns out, memoir is nothing new, but it has never been more popular and memoirs have never been more pervasive. (Come clean now, you have been thinking of writing one, haven’t you?)
The Philadelphia Inquirer caught wind of Yagoda’s findings and has published an article about his book and the state of memoir today. (You can read it here.)
The best news? Yagoda is hosting “Inside the Writers Notebook” a festival event this Saturday. Yagoda will be talking with A.J. Jacobs, Rachel Simon and Laurie Sandell about the different types of memoirs each of them has written. They will read from their work, talk about it, and sign books. So, this memoir thing… let’s get to the bottom of it. Saturday, 2:00 pm at the Painted Bride Art Center.
