Latest / philly has heART / Philadelphia Councilmember, Rue Landau

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Philadelphia Councilmember, Rue Landau · philly has heART

• 0:24
  Let's talk about what we did this weekend. Okay,
• 0:27
  let's kick it off with me, actually, because
• 0:29
  I started at Elsewhere Fair at 3 .30 Friday afternoon.
• 0:34
  Yes, you did. Several friends of the pod were
• 0:37
  representing there, including Pentimenti, and
• 0:40
  Christine Pfister was the first person that we
• 0:43
  saw as we came off the elevator. She's delightful.
• 0:47
  Love her. I think it's important to note that
• 0:51
  this was the first arts fair that took place
• 0:53
  in Philadelphia, and how interesting and strategic
• 0:57
  and smart that they did it the same weekend as
• 1:01
  the Rittenhouse Arts Fair. We'll circle back
• 1:03
  to that. Oh, 100%. But also, I think I also read
• 1:06
  something of, like, this was very, like, New
• 1:08
  York Chelsea -esque of, like, throwing art into...
• 1:14
  hotel rooms a boutique hotel room you know from
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  a guest perspective but then also uh from people
• 1:20
  just kind of like hanging about yeah hotel like
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  going from room to room so fun so fun everybody
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  was quite game and very nice to pete garcon who
• 1:33
  had just finished his lower school A little graduation
• 1:38
  ceremony. A little graduation ceremony. And we
• 1:41
  decided to take him there as a treat. And my
• 1:44
  husband and I were just managing him as he went
• 1:47
  from room to room experiencing the art. And then
• 1:50
  we got to talk about what appealed to him afterwards.
• 1:53
  Well, can we also say that he was your personal
• 1:56
  photographer that day as well? Yeah. So everyone,
• 1:58
  if you check out the gram, you'll be able to
• 2:01
  see art from the perspective of Partico. Six
• 2:05
  -year -old art enthusiast. Loving it. Loving
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  it. Well, that wasn't the end of our Friday night
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  because obviously we also stumbled over into
• 2:15
  First Friday in Old City and we hit boom, boom,
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  boom. We hit gallery after gallery. You're welcome.
• 2:22
  I scheduled the F out of our evening, and I was
• 2:26
  very strategic in putting together the sequence
• 2:29
  of galleries in which we frequented. Yeah. One
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  of the first stops we went to was Muse Gallery.
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  Saw a beautiful show. Oysters by Jennifer Hill.
• 2:41
  Past Guest. She's fantastic. Absolutely amazing.
• 2:46
  Ran into some additional podcasts as well there.
• 2:49
  Z -Fan. Z -Fan. And then from there, we went
• 2:53
  to Paradigm Gallery, which I have to say, I experienced
• 2:57
  one of the highlights. Tell the audience. We,
• 3:04
  Robert and I, walked down from the third story
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  to the second story. And separated. And I catch
• 3:11
  this gentleman do a double take from Robert to
• 3:15
  me and back to Robert. And he asked us if we
• 3:18
  were Philly Has Heart. And that is the first
• 3:20
  time we have ever been recognized in public by
• 3:23
  strangers. And I'm going to be riding this high
• 3:26
  into 2027, I got to tell you. She called the
• 3:29
  family right away. Sure did. We ran into Jason,
• 3:33
  who just recently had an episode as well, who
• 3:37
  shared that his family received a translation
• 3:39
  of the podcast so that they could enjoy it as
• 3:43
  well. And that was so touching. That's a new
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  one. Love that. We made our way through Old City
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  the rest of the evening, going gallery to gallery,
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  and then obviously ended with a live in Tomo.
• 3:57
  Tomo is the perfect place to record while you're
• 4:01
  waiting for your food to show up. 100%. And then
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  our weekend did not end, and it has not ended.
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  We made it to Barry's that was celebrating Pride
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  this weekend with a Barry's class, and all of
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  the proceeds were going to the Mazzoni Center.
• 4:18
  It was absolutely amazing to have a class with
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  Dylan. Mazzoni Center board member who basically
• 4:24
  kicked our ass. And it's really hard for all
• 4:28
  the squats that we had to do. Babe, I'm hurting
• 4:30
  for certain still. You know it. You know it.
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  We walked over to Rittenhouse Square Fine Art
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  Fair and saw some incredible nationwide artists
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  coming together. Oh, my God. I can't even. Yeah.
• 4:44
  On a personal note, Robert, do you want to share
• 4:47
  what we did this morning into afternoon? We made
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  our way to King of Prussia to do a little tuxedo
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  shopping and then made our way to the IBA happy
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  hour here in Akimero. Hi! Joined with some lovely
• 5:01
  friends who celebrated a little pride. Okay,
• 5:05
  let's move on to the conversation. We have a
• 5:07
  good one today. On to the conversation. Let's
• 5:09
  go. This is Robert Marsh, and you're listening
• 5:24
  to Philly Has Heart podcast. In this podcast,
• 5:27
  we sit down with the artists, gallerists, educators,
• 5:29
  curators, and other creatives who comprise the
• 5:32
  Philadelphia art world to discuss upcoming performances,
• 5:35
  exhibits, and other events and initiatives that
• 5:37
  are not to be missed. The art scene in Philadelphia
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  is so rich that it can seem daunting. Consider
• 5:43
  this your weekend cultural recommendation. With
• 5:46
  me always is my producer, Lucinda Daggerland.
• 5:48
  Hello. And today we have Councilmember Ru Landau
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  with us. Councilmember Landau, you first fell
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  on our radar as an art enthusiast as you were
• 5:58
  an honoree at the Print Center's 110 proof. Lucinda
• 6:03
  and I were on the Honorary Benefit Committee
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  and co -hosted the Tuesday evening Emerging Collectors
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  Night. Lucinda was at the Saturday night event,
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  and we both ended up getting into a bidding war
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  for buying art that evening. This podcast episode
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  is going live on June 10th, following during
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  budget season. You are currently advocating for
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  six million dollars in arts funding for the Philadelphia
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  resident that does not keep up with allocations.
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  Speaking for a friend, a few questions. Is this
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  budget set annually? First of all, thank you
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  so much for having me. I'm a big fan of yours
• 6:44
  as well and I am so excited to be here with you.
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  So a little bit about the mechanics of the budget.
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  Yes, it is set annually, and our budget process
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  usually starts with the mayor submitting to city
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  council the proposed budget, which we then review,
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  discuss, ask a lot of questions, oftentimes come
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  back with a different number, and there's often
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  a compromise at the end. The mayor has proposed
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  $3 .5 million this year, as she did last year.
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  Last year, we were able to increase that with
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  a lot of advocacy up to $5 million. And this
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  year, we are attempting to move that number up
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  to $6 million. Wow. That's incredible. What do
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  you see as being the biggest challenge in getting
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  this year's yes to $6 million? The biggest challenge
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  really is just that there's just so many competing...
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  interests and factors here. We're living in a
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  time where prices are so high for everybody.
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  People are having enough trouble putting food
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  in their refrigerators, putting gas in their
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  cars, and really just paying for everyday prices.
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  Unfortunately, what ends up happening is that
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  is the challenge to things that are forward and
• 8:00
  future looking. When you really look... deeply
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  at arts funding. It's not just about paying for
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  a painting on a wall. This is really about funding.
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  institutions and artists. And this is making
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  sure that people have the income they need, the
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  predictable income they need, in order to make
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  sure they can not only hone their craft and make
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  Philadelphia beautiful and make us all so happy,
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  but they also then, they can put food on their
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  table and they can put gas in their car. And
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  so it really is funding the arts ecosystem through
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  grants to organizations, to grants to individuals.
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  and I think we have such an amazing art scene
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  here in Philadelphia with so many artists who
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  are really feeling sometimes like they're on
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  the edge of greatness. They just need a little
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  bump to be able to do that next big thing. Philly
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  is fully ready for the next big thing. So you
• 8:57
  got to fund it and you got to fund it. Oh, we'd
• 9:00
  love that. We'd love that. Yes. And look, Philadelphia
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  is celebrating its anniversary along with across
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  the country. And what a great way to allow tourists
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  to enjoy the art as we continue to fund it year
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  after year. Absolutely. You know, we thankfully
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  had funding this year and we had money through
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  the semi -quincentennial 250th money as well.
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  But all of the... visitor center folks have said
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  that when people come to Philadelphia it's kind
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  of a one -touch situation here. If we do this
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  well and they see our art and they see all of
• 9:37
  the amazing things Philly has to offer. They
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  will come back. If we don't do this right, and
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  they don't see us as something special, something
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  unique, something they want to come back when
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  there's not a half a million people on the street,
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  when they want to come back and just spend some
• 9:53
  time with a deeper dive, they won't do it if
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  we don't do it right. And art is a huge part
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  of this. And if we can talk about the 250th,
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  I'm so excited to start seeing the beginning
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  of this, right, with the Art Philly Institute.
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  installations. We've got new murals coming up.
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  We've got pop -up art coming up. It's going to
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  be outside. It will be inside. It will be in
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  so many places that I think there will always
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  be something for everyone who's here in Philly.
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  And it's also such amazing that we who live here
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  in Philadelphia get to see different things as
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  we're going to make it through this amazing,
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  spectacular, bizarre summer. Yes, yes, definitely.
• 10:33
  Well, thank you for allowing us to put our best
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  foot forward. We understand that you and your
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  team have also played a role in amplifying the
• 10:41
  UArts students and faculty. We are two years
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  out of that closure. What has that looked like
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  and what is the best case scenario outcome from
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  what was a disappointing situation from an outsider
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  perspective? Yeah, I mean, it was just brutal
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  to watch the UArts closing. And remember, we're
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  pretty much at the anniversary right now, two
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  -year anniversary. It happened out of nowhere.
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  No one knew it was happening. You know, I always
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  say my mom is an artist. She went to the UArts
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  predecessor, the Philadelphia College of Art.
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  I do not have the physical talents coming out
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  of my hands, but I think it's what makes me appreciate
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  art so much. I've been surrounded by it my entire
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  life. The UArts closure. as much as it was a
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  terrible instance, created a great opportunity
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  for Philadelphia. We ended up putting out a survey
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  immediately with my amazing team, put out a survey
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  to send to the UArts students and faculty and
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  anyone, like, what are the barriers to you to
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  be a great artist? What are stopping you here
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  in Philadelphia? What do you need? And we got
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  responses. We got hundreds of responses to tell
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  us, what the barriers are. And it's the things
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  that you can imagine, but it's important. It's
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  not about there's not enough canvases out there
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  for us. It is affordable housing, affordable
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  studio space. long -term predictable funding
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  to make sure that they know that when they're
• 12:11
  done this piece, they can actually have money
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  for the next piece. It's healthcare. It's all
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  of the things that you can imagine. And it was
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  amazing to hear from folks and then to also see
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  the excitement that they have of just being an
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  artist in Philadelphia, saying that as collaborative
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  as Philadelphia's artist community is, they want
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  to also find other ways to amplify and connect.
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  So they were looking for the old school Philadelphia
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  magazines that used to come out, like the Welcome
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  Met. And City Paper used to be a place where
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  you could find out every single art show that
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  happened all the time. They're looking for more
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  of that, and we're working on it. The greatest
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  news is that... Creative PHL and the Greater
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  Philadelphia Cultural Alliance have also put
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  out a survey, and they got back their responses,
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  and they're about to put out the report along
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  with a strategic plan how we get on the path
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  to Philadelphia's arts greatness. So I'm so excited
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  to see the results of that. Apparently we get
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  a footnote in that report, which will be nice.
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  But we know that many of the students at UArts
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  landed at Temple. Not sure the professors had
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  such an easy path, but we, along with Creative
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  PHL, had an art exhibit here in City Hall to
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  show their art and to show their pain of what
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  happened one year after the closure. And it was
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  beautiful and moving and amazing. And also heard...
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  how they were coming along. And the art was for
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  sale. I hope they all made a little bit of money.
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  But we really need to work to make sure that's
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  never happening again. So excited to know that
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  the main UArts building on Broad Street will
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  be an artistic maker space for the future. It's
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  just a beautiful ending and I think will be an
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  amazing anchor. for us on Broad Street. Yes,
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  cannot wait. We heard from several sources, including
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  Lucinda's oldest, who recently went to a City
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  Hall field trip, that City Hall has a rotating
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  collection of art exhibitions, just like you
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  had mentioned. But you also have rotating art
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  in your office. Can you share a little bit about
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  that? I would love to. So Creative PHL, Creative
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  Philly started this, of course. They've been
• 14:29
  doing this forever. They have rotating art all
• 14:31
  the time. It's gorgeous. You can go walk the...
• 14:34
  halls of Philadelphia and see their curator,
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  too, down there does an amazing job of just really
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  highlighting the moment. But I, too, have an
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  arts liaison on staff, part -time, and she helps
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  us to curate art exhibits here in my office.
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  It's not a big space. When you're a new council
• 14:54
  person, you get the smallest office. But it's
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  not a big space, but we have had exhibits for
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  Black History Month, Pride. We just have rotating
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  exhibits right up here in little old 592. And
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  I believe we're going to actually get our own
• 15:12
  glass case outside of our office, too. So it's
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  like really be able to expand it a little bit.
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  Oh, that's beautiful. I will say, again, not
• 15:21
  a big space. It's really a City Hall office,
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  but every few months. We have a little reception,
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  and we bring all the artists in, and we put out
• 15:30
  a little spread, and they are so proud and excited
• 15:33
  to see their art on the walls. It's just been
• 15:36
  a really lovely experience, and getting to know
• 15:39
  so many individuals on the ground who are doing
• 15:42
  the work that have never shown their art in City
• 15:45
  Hall just feels so good. Oh, that's lovely. Talking
• 15:48
  through the semi -quincentennial, what are you
• 15:53
  most excited about through the lens of art and
• 15:56
  in general? I'm just excited for Philly to show
• 15:59
  its best self. Obviously, the outdoor art is
• 16:03
  the easiest, right? We have brand new murals
• 16:05
  coming up. We've got pop -up shows. There'll
• 16:09
  be outdoor music. It's just a little bit of everything.
• 16:18
  brand new LGBTQ plus mural of heroes of the past
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  that will be in the Gabor Hood. And it includes
• 16:28
  a mural of a dear friend of mine who passed,
• 16:32
  Gloria Casarez. And Gloria used to have her own
• 16:36
  mural before it was taken down by a huge developer
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  in the city that was heartbreaking for so many
• 16:42
  of us in the community. So to know that she's
• 16:45
  coming back up with other leaders who are no
• 16:48
  longer with us is just amazing. And there'll
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  be another part of the mural that will be a little
• 16:53
  more living on the side where we'll put up portraits
• 16:56
  of folks who are currently doing the work and
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  it can change. And we're going to continue making
• 17:03
  that happen where it changes over. But the muralist,
• 17:06
  Santiago, who is doing this current hero's wall
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  is absolutely genius. It is so beautiful. I can't
• 17:16
  wait for it to go up. And that, along with so
• 17:20
  many others, will be up in time. We had the privilege
• 17:22
  to talk to Santiago about the mural on an earlier
• 17:25
  episode, and we're so excited for that. That
• 17:27
  living champions piece is going to be incredible.
• 17:31
  What a great addition to have. And it will be
• 17:33
  going up on June 26th. Everyone check it out.
• 17:38
  That is great. Yes, June 26th, the mural is coming
• 17:41
  up, and it's going to be beautiful. So again,
• 17:44
  What I'm really looking forward to is having
• 17:45
  people come to Philadelphia and kind of experiencing
• 17:48
  art throughout their travels. So again, some
• 17:52
  will be outdoors, some will be indoors, but I
• 17:54
  think there'll be something for everybody. And
• 17:56
  it's not just great for the visitors. It's great
• 17:59
  for us and really great to lift up our art community.
• 18:02
  Excellent. Well, thank you so much, Council Member
• 18:05
  Landau. And where can our audience best find
• 18:08
  you? The best way to reach my office... is first
• 18:12
  of all we're in room 592 and we love visitors
• 18:15
  so come on by and come see our art anybody wants
• 18:18
  to write to us the best way is cmlandau at phila
• 18:22
  .gov so cm as in council member landau l -a -n
• 18:27
  -d -a -u at phila .gov and we're also at 215
• 18:30
  -686 -3420 well each council person has a part
• 18:34
  of the website at phlcouncil .com But the best
• 18:38
  place to see where I am and what I'm doing is
• 18:41
  to go to Instagram and follow us at Rue Phila
• 18:45
  Council. Excellent. And we'll be right back with
• 18:48
  rapid fire questions. And we're back with rapid
• 18:55
  fire questions with Council Member Landau. Cheesesteaks
• 18:59
  with whiz or without? I like my vegetarian cheesesteak
• 19:04
  with. Excellent. Excellent. Favorite cultural
• 19:08
  institution on the Parkway? Old school. PMA.
• 19:12
  Excellent. Love it. Love it. Favorite Philadelphia
• 19:15
  neighborhood? I represent the city at large,
• 19:18
  which means I represent the entire city, but
• 19:20
  I sure love anything south of Market Street.
• 19:25
  Excellent. Excellent. And the Philadelphia art
• 19:28
  scene in one word? Collaboratively inspiring.
• 19:34
  Love that. Is that one word? We'll make it one.
• 19:38
  We'll make an exception. Collaboratively inspiring.
• 19:43
  Love that. Thank you again for your time today.
• 19:46
  And everyone, check out Rulandow on Instagram
• 19:50
  to see what the city is up to. Thank you so much
• 19:53
  for having me. This was fun. Can't wait to do
• 19:55
  it again. office. Tears were literally pricking
• 20:16
  my eyes. I could not believe we found ourselves
• 20:18
  sitting hall recording. It was absolutely amazing.
• 20:21
  Rue has been such a champion of the arts as well
• 20:25
  as the LGBTQ community. So for the celebration
• 20:29
  and the conversation to happen in Pride while
• 20:32
  the city council and the mayor are trying to
• 20:35
  fund $6 million to arts funding is absolutely
• 20:39
  incredible. Yeah. Let's kick it off, babe. That's
• 20:43
  great. Second Thursday is happening at the Crane
• 20:46
  Building and neighboring areas this Thursday,
• 20:48
  the 11th. We'll be there. Be sure to say hi if
• 20:52
  you see us. Also, Friday night, Where Art Meets
• 20:55
  Action, The Shape of Democracy, a panel discussion
• 20:58
  on June 11th from 6 .30 to 8 .30 at the Philadelphia
• 21:02
  Museum of Jewish Art. Wear Yellow Proudly, an
• 21:06
  East Passyunk Opera Project presents Love Notes
• 21:10
  Special Edition Memoirs of Engagement on Friday,
• 21:14
  June 12th at 8 p .m. at Society Hill Dance Academy,
• 21:17
  the Passyunk location. And if you did not get
• 21:20
  a chance to hear from Helen at Wear Yellow Proudly
• 21:23
  and Bob at EPOP on last Wednesday's episode,
• 21:26
  what are you waiting for? They joined us along
• 21:30
  with other Pride Arts Festival organizations,
• 21:33
  including Liberty City Arts and Cross Keys Theater
• 21:37
  Collective. Color as Collage, a workshop, is
• 21:41
  running at Da Vinci Art Alliance this Saturday,
• 21:43
  June 13th at 1 p .m. Same team at the Procenium
• 21:48
  Theater at the Drake is running until June 14th.
• 21:51
  Tick tock, y 'all. And last but not least. Muse
• 21:55
  Gallery's June show featuring past guests and
• 21:57
  friend of the pod, Jennifer Hill's show titled
• 22:00
  Oysters is a Cannot Miss. And with that, Philly
• 22:04
  has heart. And art. as we keep amplifying the
• 22:43
  artist shaping Philadelphia culture.