Latest / philly has heART / Minisode II feat. Robert Marsch + Lucinda Degerlund

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Minisode II feat. Robert Marsch + Lucinda Degerlund · philly has heART

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Greetings. This is Robert Marsh, and you're listening
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to Philly Has Heart podcast. In this podcast,
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we sit down with artists, gallerists, educators,
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curators, and other creatives who comprise the
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Philadelphia art world to discuss upcoming performances,
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exhibits, and other events and initiatives that
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are not to be missed. The art scene in Philadelphia
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is so rich that it can seem daunting. Consider
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this. your weekend cultural recommendation. With
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me always is my producer, Lucinda Deggerland.
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Hello, hello. And today we are actually going
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to do a mini -sode in order to better get to
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know our host here, Robert T. Marsh. It is T,
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right? Oh, yeah, definitely. OK. I am going to
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ask him a series of questions. Robert. Yes, Lucinda.
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Are you ready? I guess I am. Buckle up. Yes.
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OK. We know how you got involved with the Philadelphia
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Ballet, but how did you get involved with the
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Philadelphia Museum of Art? The Philadelphia
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Museum of Art was my first entrance into the
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art world. And so my friend, again, Danielle,
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introduced me. Is this Danielle Hankin? Yes it
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is. Shout out. Shout out. It was a arts... fundraiser
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at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where we would
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have a fundraising, fundraising gala for the
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young friends each year. And so as we had spoken
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of before, it's now turned into artish, right?
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Before that, it was kind of like a black tie.
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dress up, sit down, dinner, fundraising event
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for the Young Friends and the Art Museum where
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we would like take over the grand staircase and
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just have a great party. And over the years,
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it has, you know, grown and changed since then.
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But Danielle brought me to my first meeting to
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help put together. with the committee this fundraising
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event. And that was 11 years ago, probably at
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this point, maybe even longer. It was like a
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first introduction to the art world in the city.
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And, you know, after that first year... I think
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I was invited to join the Young Friends Committee.
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Okay, that was going to be my next question.
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How long were you on the PMA Young Friends Committee?
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So I was on the committee for seven years. Of
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those seven years, three of them, I had the opportunity
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and the privilege of being co -chair, mostly
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with Danielle, who had been co -chair previous,
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and then they rotated me on after. We had...
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an amazing opportunity to be a part of the museum's
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transition when COVID hit and trying to introduce
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and re -engage members during COVID through online
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membership programming, that they could be able
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to participate in the arts and be a part of the
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museum in a time where we were all stuck at home.
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Wow. I imagine that was a challenge. It was.
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It was. Because, you know, the museum itself
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had, you know, bureaucracy and challenges of
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trying to pivot quickly. I think we found better
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success of those changes at the ballet. And with
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the Young Friends of the Ballet, they were more
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open to the opportunity. But once the museum
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got on board, it was truly amazing to see how
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far the reach is of the museum and how interested
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members still were to experience art. Do you
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know how many members? How big the membership
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is? So not. from the museum as a whole, but as
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the young friends, the young friends of the Philadelphia
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Museum of Art, ranged during my tenure from...
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anywhere from at maybe at the lowest point 250
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young friends to the highest point of 450 young
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friends. It's one of the largest art young friends
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professional groups throughout the entire city.
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It is a true force to reckon with when it comes
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to the young friends programming throughout the
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city. Wow. Outside of Philadelphia, what is your
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favorite art museum? Try not to be basic about
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this. So I can't just say the Louvre and leave
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it at that? I've loved an opportunity to see
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museums kind of wherever I travel to or have
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the opportunity to travel to. What was really
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striking was when John and I went out skiing
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in Denver, Colorado and had an opportunity to
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go to the Denver Art Museum. It was so beautiful
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and had such a large breadth of artwork and artist
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that You can still see your favorites and your
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most famous but also they had a very interesting
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intake of Art of new artists and contemporary
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artists at the museum. That was that was beautiful
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to see poor John. I drag him to many of art museums
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on our travels. And so I just have to make it
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quick, and I usually am. I can blow through a
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museum very fast while also trying to experience
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the beauty of it. And I love the way that art
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is, I love the way that art is curated differently
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at each. place right leaning into the different
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architecture of the museums let it be like an
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older european museum that has to work within
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the confines of you know a three four hundred
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year old building or something that's been constructed
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and brand new and has an opportunity to share
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art in a very different way those opportunities
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are always fascinating to me as I kind of like
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to imagine what the behind the scenes curation
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is going on as I walk through a museum. Pivoting
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from visual art to performance art, what is your
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favorite ballet and why? Oh, my favorite. Don't
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say Nutcracker. No, never. That's kind of an
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inside joke amongst... those who perform ballet
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and watch it regularly. Okay, favorite ballet.
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My favorite ballet is DGV, Dance a Grande Vitesse.
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When was the last time Philadelphia Ballet has
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done it? A very long time ago. It was probably
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one of my favorites and one of my like first
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introductions to Philadelphia Ballet. It started,
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I want to say, at New York City Ballet at the
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time, and it is a 31 minute ballet that introduces
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the, it's modern, and pulls in the audience members
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to a very quick -stepped ballet. It's very like
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we're saying like runner esque, you know, movements
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and it is constantly a nonstop movement piece
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throughout the entire stage. And so that is one
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of my favorites. Where is your favorite place
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in the house to sit? Do you want to sit up front
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and get a really close view or do you want to
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sit maybe up in the nosebleeds? which isn't actually
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such a bad perspective because you're getting
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an idea of what the formations are. Yes. So,
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what do you pick? So, if it is the first time
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seeing a ballet, I want front row center. I want
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to see the beads of sweat coming off those dancers.
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I want to see every movement. You want to get
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sprayed by it. All of it. All of it. Bring it
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on. Yes. The flings of the sweat flinging off
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during a pirouette. Oh, gosh, yes. Give it to
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you. Yes. You know, we have the privilege of
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having a live orchestra at Philadelphia Ballet.
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So, you know, the opportunity to... be able to
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listen and hear them and see the movements and
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see the conductor all at once and see every muscle
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be able to move and turn being completed is incredible.
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That being said, if I get to see it a second
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time, I want to be as far away as possible to
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see the entire piece move together. I've had
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the special privilege of joining some offstage
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dancers on like third balcony of the Academy
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of Music and to be able to sit there with them
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and watch not only what's going on in the stage
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but seeing the audience's reaction to what's
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going on stage at the same time is it's such
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a magical moment that I wish everybody got to
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see. I wish that you could do like musical chairs
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throughout the ballet performance. So it would
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be multiple times seeing maybe the same ballet,
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but you can see it from multiple perspectives.
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And look, and that's why I think it's great that
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we have the opportunity to see it over multiple
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days, over multiple nights. I love to go, let's
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go opening night. So then if I ever want to see
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it again, there's definitely some more opportunities
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to be able to. experience from the audience perspective.
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Robert, for those who don't know, what do you
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do during your nine -to -five? Because this is
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clearly not our main hustle. Yeah, that's true.
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It's not paying the bills yet, guys. Not paying
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the bills. My nine -to -five is accounting. And
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you're like, what? An art enthusiast? Does numbers
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all day? Yes. Yes, I do. And so I see... Call
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it balance, people. Yes, it is. I started out
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of college at a hotel management firm and then...
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that had transitioned into private equity. And
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now I work for an amazing nonprofit called Independent
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Mission Schools that serves about 3 ,500 students
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in the city of Philadelphia in neighborhoods
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that would normally not have the opportunity
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to have these private education opportunities
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in their backyard. And so it's it's very rewarding.
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OK, we're going to move into rapid fire questions.
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We got to try to keep these rapid. Perfect. All
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right. If you had to pick one wing of the PMA
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to save in a fire, which one would it be? Oh,
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super easy. Modern. I love every part of it.
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OK, on that note, Marcel Duchamp's urinal. Is
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it art? Oh, is it? It has to be. It has to be.
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I mean, you just take a urinal off the wall and
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just stick your name on it. Sure. Call it whatever
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you want. I have the value written down. Do you
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want to guess how much it's worth? No way. You've
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looked this up? You only have to Google it. Oh,
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this is incredible. I have... Oh my gosh. Like
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at an auction or... I think what it is valued
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at. Oh, that's amazing. Do you want to guess?
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1 .5 million. $1 .8 million. You weren't so far
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off. Not bad. Not bad. OK. Marcel Duchamp's Entente
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Donne, or the English name The Waterfall, is
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it art? Yes. Okay, hey guys, I'm gonna put that
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in the show notes. Just, we're gonna put an explicit
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label on this. Yeah. On this podcast. It's shocking.
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It's shocking when you walk up to it. And so
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if anyone doesn't know, this Marcel Duchamp's
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exhibit is probably all the way at the end of
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the wing of the modern. The last stop. Yes, of
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the modern art wing. It's so good. If you had
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to pick one creative technical role to fill in
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a ballet production, non -dance related, what
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would it be? Would you want to design costumes
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or would you want to work on set design or lighting?
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Can I choose advocacy? What's advocacy? Is that
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your, is that the development role? Yes. No,
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you can't choose that. Yes, why not? I love that
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part. No, okay, so I want to be the curtain puller.
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It's the best role outside of the dancer. You
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get to start the production and end the production.
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And if I could add one more, which I think this
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person should do the same thing. I want to be
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the person behind the stage that introduces the
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pieces and thanks the audience. And tells everybody
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not to take photographs. Exactly. Turn off your
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phones. Turn off your phones. If they're going
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off in the middle of a production, I'm coming
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after you. You don't need to. The ushers do a
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fantastic job of that, as I saw during Swan Lake.
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There was a rogue guy in the second row, openly
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photographing. Oh, guys, guys. Do not distract
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the dancers. Do not be that guy. OK, next question.
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Rapid fire again. Philadelphia Ballet released
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their programming for the 2025 -2026 season.
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What production are you most excited about? I'm
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super excited about their special Halloween series.
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The Night of Terror. Yes. Cannot wait. Cannot
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wait to activate it. I cannot get over the photograph
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for that. Oh my gosh, right? There's a power
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pose on it. Oh, yes. And it involves an axe,
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right? I think so. Yes. So good. Last question.
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Fuck, marry, kill, Claude Monet, Henry Matisse,
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Georgia O 'Keefe. I would kill Monet. I knew
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you were gonna say that. Not my favorite. It's
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fine. I would fuck Georgia O 'Keefe. And I want
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to marry Matisse. I never want to leave his side.
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He's so good. Yes. All right, Robert. Thank you
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for sitting down with me and agreeing to do this.
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Thanks, Lucinda. It was absolute pleasure. And
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as always, Philly has art. And art. You know,
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she's in the same Greek organization. No way.
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Are you serious? Wow. Wow.