CRAFT!
a juried exhibition @ dvaa
Exhibition Runs: september 4th - september 19th, 2020
Public Opening Reception:
Thursday, September 3, beginning at 5:30pm. DVAA is partnering with CraftNOW for a First Friday preview of the craft exhibitions taking place this month.
About the exhibition:
Da Vinci Art Alliance was founded by a collective of immigrant craft artists and artisans working in the South Philadelphia building we own today. Both historically and presently, Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley has been home to a burgeoning scene of artists assembled under the diverse banner of craft art. CRAFT! is a Da Vinci Art Alliance juried exhibition showcasing contemporary craft from the region, in all of its varied forms.
about the juror:
These days, Thora Jacobson is a visual arts management consultant focusing on systems development, program design, and strategic planning. She is also an independent curator, most recently having organized an exhibition at InLiquid of materials-based artists who have also taught in Philadelphia area art schools in 2019. She retired from full time employment in January 2018 when the Philadelphia Art Alliance, where she had been Executive Director for four years, became part of the University of the Arts. For three years previous, she worked at Mural Arts Philadelphia where she served as Director of Design Review and managed the development and publication of Mural Arts @ 30 that examined the development and expansion of the organization over its first 30 years. Prior to that, Jacobson conducted a small research project for the Social Impact of the Arts Project at the University of Pennsylvania on “natural” cultural districts and created a strategic plan for the Asian Arts Initiative. From the end of 2008 to June 2010 Thora served as Chief Operating Officer at Mural Arts for two years and for three years before that, she was COO for the inaugural iteration of Philagrafika 2010, the first international festival of the printed image in Philadelphia. From 1972 to 2006, she was on staff of Philadelphia’s Samuel S. Fleisher Art Memorial, serving as its Chief Executive Officer for 23 of those years. She was the Chair of the Philadelphia Art Commission from 1992 to 2001 and was a Trustee and Officer of the National Guild of Community Arts Education from 2005 to 2009. In 2006, Jacobson was honored by Tri-State Artists Equity for her service to the arts community, and also by Moore College of Art and Design with the Visionary Woman Award which she shared with art historian Linda Nochlin and the late photographer Mary Ellen Mark.
participating Artists:
Alyse C. Bernstein, Annie Stone, Barbara Straussberg, Carol Wisker, Colin Pezzano, Dianne Koppisch Hricko, Gerri Spilka, Gloria Klaiman, Harriet Hill, Helge Speth, Janine Wang, Jennifer Moszczynski, Kathryn Pannepacker, Keunho Peter Park, Lia Huntington, Linda L. Gross, Marcie M Ziskind, Marie Elcin, Marie Weaver, Nicholas Flaherty, Phoebe Murer, Reyna Howkins, Sandi Pierantozzi, Susan Levering, Susan M. Gordon, Suzanne Kahn, and Ted Warchal.