First Personalities is a series on the First Person Arts Blog where we check up on and catch up with past Festival and Salon presenters and participants.

Perhaps you saw Daniel Heyman’s work last Fall during our Festival at the “Shelter” exhibit, or perhaps you’re planning on seeing him at our upcoming event with Philagrafika at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute, “Warning: Graphic Content.” If you have seen him around town, you’ve likely caught just a glimpse, a blur, a zooming in your peripheral vision because, like so many of our artists, Daniel is always on the move, making and showing his art. (For a quick rundown of where else you might mind him and/or his art in March and April, from The University of the Arts to the Pennsylvania Fine Art Academy and more, check out his upcoming exhibition schedule here.)


If this is your first introduction to Daniel’s work, then welcome. From gallery installations to watercolors to gouache on nishinoushi paper, he is bound to have a medium and a body of work that appeals to you. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself transfixed by them all like I was. Often adding whimsically arranged text to his captivating and engaging portraits, he uses them to tell stories set against the backdrop of controversial world events, like our war in Iraq. Heartbreaking and fascinating, one can’t turn away from the stories he conveys; stories that would otherwise go untold.


See him in person next Tuesday at the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. Get your tickets here.