The Philadelphia Salon

The board approved the hemorrhaging of tens of millions for things like

-Board outings at Diamond auctions at Freeman’s

-500$ designer chairs in lobbies that became broken/stolen/painted in one semester.

-s*xual assault lawsuits due to blatently not adhering to Title 9

-building and naming an auditorium after a woman who left 20 million dollars but not honoring her will and collecting none of her art as requested

-Wine parties every year for the wealthy

I could go on….

Who is surprised?

Not I.

A soon- to- be 94 year old living-legend will be seated here this evening talking about her career and artwork.

Please come tour the art and hear Arlene Love from 4-8pm. Additional open gallery hours with curator Amie Potsic are 11am-4pm prior to the discussion.

Not many women had a career alongside contemporaries such as Louise Bourgeois, during the lifetime of Picasso and Calder.

Don’t miss this chance to listen and see history.

Today, Friday March 1 from 4-8pm at 1230 South Broad Street.

Special thanks to Katie Dillon Low for her excellent work handling and hanging the art, and to Curtis, Karen, and Teresa C. Nino for their extensive work prepping the space.

In 2011 I proposed we build a Contemporary Museum in Philadelphia. Pimoca: Philadelphia Interactive Museum of Contemporary Art was just a PHD proposal I had typed up on paper. It was an expansion of an idea I had in undergrad when doing student government. I made a 16 foot banner so that everyday when I woke up I would see my goal in writing.

Lots of people asked me who I think I am to aim so high. Too young. Too unpolitically connected. Too aggressive. Too unwilling to compromise. Too “ungrateful” for offers of The Divine Lorraine basement or gallerina jobs working for someone else. Mostly criticized for not being a middle aged wealthy male and attempting this project (no female mega-developers in Philly’s history. ZERO.)

I’ve been at it so long that two back to back generations of dogs are buried. Including this guy pictured below.

For fifteen years I would spend my monthly food budget on hosting enormous art salon dinners for strangers and then eat spaghetti and tuna or cereal for myself the rest of the month. FOR FIFTEEN YEARS.

BECAUSE, GOALS Y’ALL. Because I wanted this banner to become reality.

Well. The Interactive Museum of Art opens its doors Feb 9. Our goal is to help existing living arts resources in the Philadelphia area to interact.

We are hosting a solo show for a 93 year old artist:

I hope you will join us. 1230 S Broad St

Feb 9. 5pm-9pm

Thank you to the many people who have been behind me making this a reality. Especially Terry Jue for making this new building happen, Samantha Styles for helping me set salon dinner tables for almost 20 years, Marsha Moss for this opening show opportunity, and several behind the scenes patrons for funding various stages of this project since 2011.

You know who you are!

I WANT IT ALL INTERACTIVE!

They will want it too!

1. COMMUNITY

2. ART

3. MUSEUM

Arlene Love is a groundbreaking feminist artist who has exhibited at some of the greatest art institutions globally such as the NY Met, alongside such legends as Louise Bourgeois.

Philadelphia hosted an international art festival in the 70’s dedicated to influential female artists, including Arlene and Louise. The 50th anniversary of this event is happening this spring!

For the past two years I have been renovating/converting an eight bedroom mansion on South Broad Street to become the Tri-State area’s first Museum dedicated only to living artists and Contemporary Art. Finally the sledgehammering, sawing, hammering, and painting is done.

I’ve been campaigning to build this space since 2011! Let the art shows begin!!!!!

Please join us Feb 9, March 1, or March 10 for the opening, the artist reception, and the closing at 1230 South Broad Street.

For more info or a private showing please contact Amie Potsic or click the link below.

https://us17.campaign-archive.com/?e=__test_email__&u=3b29ff792a7fe1feae63cbc2d&id=24ac6bdc1d

What a concept. The board communicating with current attendees and alumni. If only we had been doing this for years… as suggested by a former board member 😂😩. Add your name to attempt to shout up the mountain.

Allow PAFA Students and Faculty a Meeting with the Board of Trustees We, the students, staff, and faculty of this historic academy, which has trained the next generation of American artists for over 200 years, deserve better than bulk emails and rushed Zoom meetings with administration. At the very LEAST, we, as proud members of the PAFA community and the very people...

Richanda Rhoden (the last two tho 🤦🏼‍♀️)

1. RR died 4 months shy of her 100th bday in 2016. A remarkable fact.
2. Her husband died in 2001, meaning for 16 years she independently managed her finances and sizeable estate.
3. She started an annual art festival on Cranberry Street in NY, where her home was, which continues to this day.
4. She created a fascinating and vibrant body of paintings during her lifetime which is astounding considering she is a woman and Native American! Very few women born in 1916 had this career. I have never learned of another Native American woman in art history class who had this career.
5. She was not provided opportunities to exhibit art during her lifetime due to her race and s*x, unlike her husband whose sculpture was accepted and shown and collected.
6. After her death a New York Gallery held a retrospective of only her paintings. Magazines and papers applauded and published her work.
7. The reason a NY gallery had them is bc PAFA was given access to her ENTIRE LIFE’S WORK, and rejected every single painting and piece of hers for their permanent collection.
8. Wait, what? How.
9. RR left a will join her death stating her massive estate worth over 20 Million Dollars should be left to an institution which would keep her work and her husbands work together.
10. PAFA took her money, 278 of her husbands works, and announced her death and gift with a six page article. The six page article contained a photo of her husband and two photos of the PAFA male CEO. No photo of the woman who died and left such a monumental gift. PAFA’s announcement mentioned her life and career in a PARENTHESIS in this six page article “(Richanda Rhoden was a painter but PAFA has no plans to collect her work)”
11. Name one other woman Artist of color who has left a 20 million dollar endowment to PAFA. Or to ANY SCHOOL . Most likely this is the largest financial gift from any Native American woman artist in American Art History.
12. PAFA is now congratulating itself for showing some of her husbands work, including two collaborative pieces her husband made with her, as being progressive and inclusive.
13. Female artists be warned! You too can have a lifetime hundred year career, amass a 20 million dollar fortune, and be written out of art history by the oldest art school in America while you are replaced by the work of your husband! Sweet deal!

Gotta love when the current CEO of Visit Philly brags about the street art that she once publicly threatened local artists that she would “throw in the river”, in writing. Her previous behavior made Inquirer headlines too 😂

YEAH BABY

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