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Muse Gallery feat. Carolyn Harper and Jennifer Hill · philly has heART

0:13
How are you today? I am doing great. Excellent.
0:18
How was your weekend? Uh, you know. You were
0:22
supposed to relax, did you? I was supposed to
0:24
relax. I was supposed to take a nap. I totally
0:26
did take a nap. Okay, that's what I thought.
0:28
You needed it. For those who do not know, I've
0:31
been solo with my two young children for the
0:34
past two weeks. With the exception of about a
0:37
36 -hour interlude last weekend. A little break.
0:42
Last weekend, not this past weekend, but the
0:47
weekend before, I went to the First Friday at
0:50
the Barnes. A friend and I went to the Garden
0:53
Restaurant. Oh, beautiful. Which we've been to
0:55
brunch there before together. We went for the
0:58
prefix dinner. What did you have to drink? They
1:00
do have a limited drink selection. Oh, do they?
1:03
Not a full bar. Okay. And I drank. And then we
1:07
hit the Cecily Brown theme. What did you drink?
1:10
Oh, I don't remember what I drank. I actually
1:16
don't remember. So like seasonal cocktails. Seasonal
1:19
cocktails. Point me to the nearest cocktail.
1:22
Which one is the strongest? Perfect. Okay, good.
1:25
But we were really there to see the art. Okay,
1:28
so we went to see Cecily Brown's themes and variations.
1:32
And then we saw the Barnes collection. The Cecily
1:37
Brown is in that space where the Matisse exhibit
1:40
was last summer. Oh, yes. It was really good.
1:44
I would not bring your young child there. Why
1:47
wouldn't you bring your young child there? There's
1:49
some graphic imagery, I think. Okay. Especially
1:52
when your child is at the scream out the body
1:54
part he sees phase. Yep, understood. We're not
1:57
doing that. It was a fantastic time to go the
2:01
first Friday because... It was way less crowded
2:03
than when I went last, especially in the collection.
2:07
Also, it had a revelation. Yes. So there's always
2:11
been something about Matisse that makes me feel
2:14
nostalgic. I haven't been able to figure out
2:18
why until just recently, because obviously our
2:22
lifetimes did not overlap. He died mid -century.
2:26
I sorted it out. It's because he uses a lot of
2:29
thick black lines in his work. Yes. And then
2:32
that reminds me of what I've seen in Keith Haring's
2:37
work. I love Keith Haring, and Matisse was one
2:41
of Keith Haring's inspirations. Oh, what a great
2:44
through line. This past week, you and I both
2:48
went to the opening reception for Nigel Sense's
2:51
Assam Boy at Bridget Meyer's gallery. Beautiful.
2:55
And we met Bridget Meyer herself. Yes. She's
2:58
such a beautiful soul. I mean, she's over 20
3:02
-some years in... Washington Square location.
3:05
Gallery space. And she has such an amazing depth
3:11
and breadth of experience. She really takes chances
3:14
on artists. And while we were there, we got some
3:20
insight from one of the assistants on how they
3:24
had shipped the art. Over from... Malaysia. Malaysia.
3:30
Unstretched in rolls. Unstretched in rolls. And
3:34
then when they got to Philadelphia, they had
3:37
to bring it to a stretcher, had them stretched,
3:40
and then placed on the wall, which I thought
3:43
was very interesting. Very iconoclastic. Yes.
3:46
On Saturday, I ducked into Muse Gallery to check
3:50
out the new exhibition. Linda Laurie Gross's
3:53
Polonia Provings 2. And I actually met the artist.
3:57
She goes by Lore. And I also met one of the artists
4:01
from the group show Three Chicks and a Dick from
4:05
last month. Wow. I met Dick. That is his name.
4:08
Nice. Last week, I also bought my family subscriptions
4:13
for the Philadelphia Ballet, including the Nutcracker,
4:17
The Morning. They became available. I may have
4:20
been the first person to buy them. You got some
4:22
good spots. Sure did. Okay. I shared this with
4:24
my five -year -old son, and he told me ballet
4:28
was boring. Oh. Oh. Already? Rude. Isn't he already
4:35
in ballet class? Yes, he goes to ballet class.
4:38
Oh, no. Oh, no. Before I ask you what you got
4:43
into, Robert. I need to share with you a revelation
4:46
that I had over the past two weeks. For those
4:49
that don't know, Petit Garçon's godfather, or
4:52
godpoppy, as we call him, is my best male gay
4:57
friend from my D .C. and grad school era. I'm
5:01
not outing him. He's been out forever. He's married.
5:04
We don't do that on the pod. We don't out people
5:06
on the pod. But he, Petit Garçon, just started
5:10
thinking that every male friend of mine who is...
5:14
A gay gentleman, including Robert, is a god poppy.
5:20
Are you ready for the new title that I have for
5:24
you, Robert? Yes. Pod poppy. Pod poppy. I like
5:28
it. I like it. Now that I finished talking about
5:34
my last two weeks, what did you get into? We
5:36
had a kind of whirlwind, very quick trip to New
5:41
York City. We got to see the pop princess herself,
5:45
Kylie Minogue, at Madison Square Garden, which
5:48
I heard was the first time she had ever been
5:51
to Madison Square Garden. Yes. It was. Absolutely
5:55
incredible. She did an amazing job. She was dancing
6:00
for hours and so was the entire stadium. We went
6:06
through the locomotion. We went through her pops.
6:09
We went through Padam. It was awesome. And did
6:14
you go to, you went to a museum, right? Yes,
6:16
went to the MoMA as well. I love it there. Absolutely
6:20
love it there. Monet, still overrated? Still
6:22
overrated, yes. I saw probably the best gallery
6:27
wall that I could have ever seen in the David
6:31
Gevin wing just filled with different... Cubism,
6:37
yeah. Cubism, Picasso, all of it on one entire
6:41
wall. It was great. It was great to see. Highly
6:44
recommend. Is that it? Yeah, let's get to the
6:46
conversation. To the conversation. This is Robert
7:03
Marsh, and you're listening to Philly Has Heart
7:05
Podcast. In this podcast, we sit down with artists,
7:09
gallerists, educators, curators, and other creatives
7:13
who comprise the Philadelphia art world to discuss
7:16
upcoming performances, exhibits, and other events
7:19
and initiatives that are not to be missed. The
7:23
art scene in Philadelphia is so rich that it
7:26
can seem daunting. Consider this your weekend
7:28
cultural recommendation. With me always is my
7:32
producer, Lucinda Degerland. Hello, hello. And
7:35
today we have with us Carolyn Harper and Jennifer
7:38
Hill of Muse Gallery. Welcome. Thank you. Thank
7:43
you so much. And we're so happy to have you.
7:45
The Muse Gallery is an artist cooperative dedicated
7:49
to encourage and promote its members' artistic
7:52
expression through abstract, conceptual, and
7:55
representational forms. Reflecting an aesthetic
7:59
that awakens awareness, the Muse Gallery affirms
8:03
the shared experience of art between artists
8:06
and the community. Carolyn, can you tell us a
8:09
little bit more about the Muse Gallery? Yeah,
8:11
so we are one of the oldest cooperative art spaces
8:13
in the city. We were formed in 1977 by a group
8:17
of women who felt that they, as women artists,
8:21
were not being seen. So they created their own
8:23
art space. Originally it was at Rittenhouse Square,
8:26
and then at some point they moved into Old City.
8:29
Now it's a gallery that accepts everyone, men,
8:32
women, transgender. whatever. We're very inclusive,
8:36
eclectic. It's just a really great community.
8:39
Can you tell us a little bit about your journey
8:42
with Muse? Yeah, so I actually joined Muse for
8:45
the first time in 1998, and I was a member for
8:49
three years. At that time, I was doing a lot
8:52
of painting. I was doing some work with textiles,
8:54
and then I took a hiatus for a number of years,
8:57
and I rejoined Muse in, I want to say, 2015.
9:02
And I've been a member ever since. And I'm currently
9:04
the director. We sort of have a rotating directorship.
9:07
I have been doing it for a couple of years now.
9:10
I'm just really happy to be part of this community.
9:13
And Jennifer, how about you? When did your story
9:16
start with Muse? Not that long ago. I actually
9:20
was asked by another member, Margaret Watson,
9:23
to do a show with her in August a few years ago.
9:26
And I was delighted. And I thought the... The
9:31
group that I met was amazing. All the artists
9:34
in Muse are just great people, and Carolyn won't
9:39
say it, but she's just an incredible director.
9:41
Really, really amazing. It was just a great environment,
9:44
and I loved the audience. I loved the people
9:46
in downtown that come in. They just really are
9:49
engaged with the art, and they love it. So I
9:51
decided to apply, and I think that was in early
9:55
2024. Maybe it started in the fall of 23. Yeah,
10:02
I think so. Anyway, I'm really thrilled. Excellent.
10:05
One of the great things about being part of a
10:07
cooperative gallery is that as an artist, you
10:10
can do whatever you want. And if your work changes
10:13
over time, that's okay too. Originally in 2015,
10:16
I was doing a lot of photography and I was accepted
10:18
as a photographer. And now I'm back to textile.
10:21
Oh, that's great. Oh my gosh, I love that. So
10:23
there's just so much freedom to do what you want.
10:26
And at the cooperative, Are you able to have,
10:30
do you have a certain space that you are able
10:32
to share your art with? Or are you as a director,
10:37
are the artists all coming together to curate
10:40
the space themselves? So each member, and at
10:44
any given time we have between 19 and 22 members.
10:47
So each member gets a solo show approximately
10:50
once every two years. Wow. And they take over
10:54
the entire space in Old City. And then we have
10:58
a group show every December. And also we have
11:02
a little space behind the main space that is
11:06
our group artist wall. And our artists put up
11:10
like a very small 10 by 10 inch piece of work.
11:13
Oh, that's beautiful. Very nice. Can we go back
11:16
to... Being a cooperative gallery, Muse doesn't
11:21
put restrictions on maybe moving from one medium
11:24
to another. That is something that I would have
11:26
never expected that maybe more commercial, is
11:31
that the right word? Commercial galleries impose
11:33
upon their artists. Just breaking in to say that.
11:37
Yeah, it is very unique. Once a member is juried
11:41
in, there is a process to be voted in. But once
11:43
you are a member, you really have absolute freedom.
11:46
Amazing. What's the most unique direction a member
11:51
has gone previously? Well, that's an interesting
11:54
question because we have had installations that
11:59
take over the whole gallery. We're such an eclectic
12:02
group. So we have mixed media artists, painters,
12:05
sculptors, photographers. I do huge textile quilts.
12:09
Can you tell us a little bit about the first
12:12
Fridays that happened at Muse and in Old City?
12:16
Yeah, so First Friday has been going on in Old
12:18
City decades. And it used to be a huge thing.
12:24
When I first moved to Philadelphia in the early
12:26
90s, it was huge. And then it has tapered off,
12:29
and COVID really did some damage to it. But since
12:31
COVID, it has come back with a vengeance. And
12:34
every First Friday is packed. We are packed on
12:38
First Fridays. We're open from 5 to 8 p .m. We
12:42
usually serve wine and water and snacks. What
12:45
I love is that we have a lot of the same people
12:47
who come every first Friday and we get to know
12:50
them and form a relationship with our audience,
12:54
our viewers who come back again and again. What
12:56
would you say, Jennifer? Definitely, definitely.
12:59
And people that come in really want to know about.
13:03
the individual artists. And that's what's also
13:06
really nice is that you have these people that
13:07
come back again and again, and they talk to you.
13:11
If you're sitting in the gallery, they're like,
13:12
what's your work like? And so you form relationships
13:14
with the community, really. That's exactly it.
13:17
It's a great community builder. It is. Every
13:19
single month to have like a little check -in.
13:22
Actually, the last time that you and I went,
13:24
Robert, to Old City First Friday, it was last,
13:27
I think it was June. And it was The Intimate
13:31
Eye by Joanne Dineen. Dineen, yeah. And Muse
13:36
Gallery was hopping. Oh, yeah. It was really
13:39
tough just to get in there. It was shoulder to
13:41
shoulder. Shoulder to shoulder in there. Yeah,
13:44
it is like that most months. I like to go in
13:47
the Saturday after the first Friday because you
13:50
get much less of a crowd. And on Saturdays, I'm
13:55
always with my older son, and he's a lot more
14:00
easier to manage whenever there is not a crowd.
14:03
Yeah, that's true. But I like to bring him too
14:05
because then he kind of gets a perspective on
14:08
it. Muse Gallery has been nothing but so sweet.
14:12
to him whenever he comes in. And I mean, I'm
14:15
sure some people see him a mile away and they're
14:17
like, oh no. Oh, we love children. We love having
14:21
children come in. Some people bring their dogs.
14:23
We are very accommodating. Very welcoming space.
14:26
Yes, very welcoming. Do you have any upcoming
14:28
events that you would like to share? Well, our
14:30
current show is Linda Laurie Gross and it's a
14:33
mixed media show. She takes the leaves of the
14:36
polonia tree and she... transforms them into
14:40
sculpture. And she also makes other sculptural
14:43
works. So she is going to be having an artist
14:47
talk, but unfortunately that date is not set.
14:50
And I think it is the 26th, but that is up in
14:53
the air. We will put a sign in Muse Gallery when
14:56
I know for sure. And then next month, it's going
14:59
to be fabulous. Also, Rashida Salaam is... Originally
15:04
from Malaysia, but she's been living and working
15:06
and teaching in Philadelphia for a couple of
15:08
decades now, and her work is spectacular. It
15:11
combines color and pattern. It's so vibrant.
15:16
She sews painted sculptures as well as wall paintings.
15:22
I think it's going to be a fantastic show. We'll
15:24
see it because we have fans to be there. Oh,
15:26
yes. Oh, good, good. And she has a friend showing
15:30
with her, Deborah Bruns -Thomas, and they will
15:32
be doing an artist talk on Sunday, May 18th at
15:36
2 p .m. Great. We'll put that in the show notes.
15:38
Excellent. Jennifer, could you share a little
15:40
bit about your art and then your journey with
15:43
your art? Sure. I have really, I sort of believe
15:48
in experimentation and really just, trying out
15:52
everything so I have I graduated with a degree
15:55
in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute
15:58
which I just loved and I did installation there
16:00
also did a little bit of film stuff so I'm always
16:03
kind of going sort of in between painting film
16:07
photography and I like to do work on paper because
16:11
it's really just such an easy setup too a lot
16:15
of times so I got into the Muse Gallery with
16:19
photographs that I was using this very primitive
16:22
camera obscura, and it makes these sort of spooky,
16:27
atmospheric, really weird. Very evocative. Yeah,
16:31
and they look kind of like, I did a lot of plants,
16:35
and the plants sort of form these figures that
16:37
look like humans. It's bizarre. And then now
16:42
I'm kind of going back to paper a little bit,
16:44
and I think I might end up doing my show with
16:47
a little bit of both. I'm not sure yet. That's
16:49
great. Do you know when your next show is? It's
16:53
going to be in June, 2026. Lovely, lovely. I
16:57
put it out for a while because I just felt like
16:59
I really wanted to explore between now and then
17:02
what I wanted to do next there. How many pieces
17:06
do you usually try to present? Gosh. I'm going
17:10
to say probably 15, something like that. Maybe
17:17
a little bit more or less, depending. That's
17:20
great. And around how long would it take for
17:23
you to get through that process? Of making that
17:26
movie? Yeah. Yeah, it really depends because
17:29
I feel like it's... Sometimes work happens really
17:34
quickly for me. You can do a beautiful painting
17:37
sometimes in 20 minutes, and then other times
17:39
you're working on that same painting for 20 years.
17:41
That's something that I've been working on. And
17:42
it just never stops. Yes. I'm like, oh, it's
17:44
not right yet. Right. One more tweak. Exactly.
17:49
That's great. So it varies. And Carolyn, how
17:51
about your art? Yeah, so I work in textiles,
17:54
and my work has a strong social justice component
17:57
to it. It really comes out of work that I was
17:59
doing in the 90s when I was making. quilt panels
18:02
for the AIDS Names Memorial Quilt Project. Oh,
18:05
wow. And about 12 years ago, I started making
18:08
quilts again, and they're hand -sewn, and they're
18:11
portrait quilts. So what I've been working on
18:14
for the last five years are portraits of people
18:17
who have been impacted by mass incarceration,
18:20
and I do a lot of advocacy work around that issue,
18:23
and I really want to tell the stories of people
18:26
who have been forgotten. So... A lot of the work
18:31
is really large because I want to make it difficult
18:33
for the viewer to look away. So my largest quilt
18:36
was actually like 20 by 10 feet. Oh, wow. More
18:40
often, it's more like 10 feet by 8 feet or 10
18:44
feet by 6 feet. And then right now I'm working
18:47
on a series of smaller pieces as well. How long
18:50
is that process? I am an obsessive, so I work
18:53
all the time. I literally never stop working.
18:57
So the day that my show goes up, I'm thinking
19:00
about my next show and starting to work on it.
19:04
And I'm sure there's a lot of research that also
19:06
goes with those, especially trying to find the
19:08
person and the story that then goes with each
19:11
one of those pieces. Yeah, I form strong connections
19:14
with the people whose portraits I do. And that,
19:17
to me, is really part of the process and sharing
19:20
my process with them, getting their feedback,
19:23
not just about the work, but what about what
19:26
they want to communicate to an audience. For
19:29
at least this project, you've chosen... Philadelphia
19:32
-based incarceration, or is it? It's Pennsylvania.
19:36
Okay. And when is your next show? November. This
19:40
year? Yes. Great. All right. Well, we'll get
19:43
into some rapid -fire questions, unless there
19:46
was anything else you wanted to share more about
19:48
Muse Gallery. But I want to just reiterate that
19:50
every month is different. Yeah. And it's great
19:53
that you can have a show and do whatever you
19:56
want. Yes. Piece of notebook paper up on the
19:59
wall that says I'm out for lunch. You can do
20:01
it. Tape a banana to the wall, you know? That's
20:07
a freedom you don't get with a commercial gallery.
20:08
All right. Rapid fire questions. There will just
20:13
be a couple. If you could choose one piece of
20:18
art in the world to hang in your home, what would
20:23
it be? Well, honestly, this may be cheating,
20:27
but I would like to take the entire Cy Twombly
20:29
room that's at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
20:32
and move it into my house, or better yet, move
20:34
my house into the room. It is a large room. It
20:38
would be perfect. I think I would go with Las
20:43
Meninas by Velazquez. I love that painting. Describe
20:48
the Philly art scene in one word. What would
20:51
it be? Inclusive. There's a space for everyone.
20:56
I would say very enthusiastic. If you could let
21:01
us know a current artist that people are sleeping
21:04
on. So I'd like to give a shout out to Kalila
21:07
Jones. She is a very young textile artist. I've
21:11
known her forever and I've seen her work develop
21:13
as a child. She was like a crochet prodigy. And
21:17
she makes these incredible crochet sculptures.
21:19
I think we've heard of her before. I think somebody
21:21
has mentioned her to us. Yes. Potentially. Well,
21:24
then maybe she's getting known. She's getting
21:26
out there. I like it. That would be great. I
21:28
would love that. And your favorite beverage at
21:31
the moment? Oh, I'm a pure iced water. Oh. Straight
21:35
up water. Cold or warm? Cold. Okay. And a little
21:39
lemon in it, perfect. Excellent. But no bubbles.
21:41
I would have to say I love Genmaicha tea, that
21:45
green tea. It's like the popcorn tea. Very nice.
21:48
Little bits of popcorn. Excellent. I'm going
21:50
to ask a question, too. Okay. Uh -oh. Cheese
21:54
steaks, with whiz or without? I am a vegetarian,
21:58
almost a vegan sometimes, so I would say... No
22:03
cheese steak at all? No cheese steak at all.
22:05
Although there is a pub, believe it or not, in
22:08
Narber called The Greeks, and they have a vegan
22:11
cheese steak. That is amazing. Oh, wow. I'm going
22:14
to put it in my show notes. I love it. What about
22:17
you, Jennifer? I would say with Wiz. Are you
22:19
a Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte, or Samantha? Just
22:23
kidding. Okay, let's move on. Yeah. Believe it
22:28
or not, I just started watching it. Oh, really?
22:30
I just started. I love it. I would say I want
22:33
to be a Carrie, but I don't think I'm a Carrie.
22:36
There's been a reckoning on Carrie lately. Really?
22:40
I suppose so, yes. Maybe Samantha. Well, no,
22:42
I'd like to be Samantha. Who's the uptight one?
22:45
Charlotte. Charlotte, yeah. See, I don't want
22:48
to be Charlotte. Right, exactly. Definitely not
22:49
Charlotte. Definitely not. The redhead is kind
22:52
of interesting to me. With short hair. She has
22:55
gotten a following in the past few years. She's
22:58
pretty sharp. Yes, exactly. I like her. Where
23:02
can we find a muse gallery? So, our physical
23:05
space is at 52 North 2nd Street in Old City.
23:09
That's between Market and Arch, right next to
23:11
the Arden Theater. And we are open Wednesday
23:14
through Sunday from 12 to 5. On social media,
23:18
we're at Muse Gallery Phila. And our website
23:22
is musegalleryphiladelphia .com. Excellent. Excellent.
23:26
Well, thank you both for joining us today and
23:28
sharing your stories. Thank you. Thanks so much
23:30
for having us. And we love your podcast, and
23:33
we're happy to be a part of it. Thank you. We'll
23:35
have you again. We'll see you on First Friday.
23:37
Yes, we will. Okay, Robert, what are you getting
23:52
into this weekend? Oh, this weekend. Okay, so
23:55
we're starting our weekend on Thursday with the
23:59
performance at the museum. for art and wood hold
24:04
signal is happening on thursday or it'll be tomorrow
24:08
by the time this podcast goes live if you go
24:11
back three episodes ago colin sam and katie they
24:15
talk about what you can expect the event is free
24:19
but registration is recommended the link is in
24:22
the show notes hard start at 7 30 p .m remember
24:27
no punk time here guys What's on Friday? We have
24:31
a great collab between the Philadelphia Museum
24:34
of Art as well as the Philadelphia Ballet. Friday
24:38
the 18th at the museum. Starting at 5 p .m. Hard
24:44
start, guys. Hard start. 5 p .m. There's going
24:47
to be a tour of Boom Art and Design in the 1940s.
24:52
So 5 p .m. tour of Boom Art and Design in the
24:56
1940s followed by a 6 p .m. performance. Followed
25:00
by a 6 p .m. performance of the ballet, which
25:04
I believe is going to be the Grand Stair Hall.
25:07
And then they're going to also then have a talk
25:09
with the dancers and I believe maybe even the
25:11
choreographer. If you are not already a young
25:14
friend of either of these organizations, now's
25:17
a great time to do it. Young friends get a free
25:19
drink ticket. Cool. Hello. Need to be there for
25:22
that. Lastly, our guest from two weeks ago, Brooke
25:27
Lanier, is having an anniversary party for her
25:30
gallery on Saturday the 19th at her gallery,
25:33
Brooke Lanier Fine Art. And Cecily Brown themes
25:37
variations at the Barnes is ongoing, as well
25:41
as Nigel Sense's works at Bridget Meyer Gallery.
25:46
Check those all out this weekend. And as always,
25:50
Philly has heart. And art. You actually caught
26:09
us mid -intro. Totally okay. I love that. This
26:13
is going to be very fun for later. Can we pick
26:15
up with our notes and we keep going and then
26:18
we'll move into the conversation? Okay, great.
26:21
Awesome.