Panel Discussion on Art Collecting
Public · By Vox Populi
Sunday, March 31, 2013
1:00pm
As Vox Populi’s exhibit, Collection, comes to close on Sunday we will end on an insightful look into the world of collecting within the Philadelphia art community. We have invited Anne Schaefer, Debra Ward, Jacque Liu, John Ollman and Libby Rosof as guests speakers to take part in a discussion. They each have a unique role as an art collector and some have more than one from this list; artist, art critic, philanthropist and gallery director.
Read more about our guest speakers below. Please come & join the conversation! We will have coffee and donuts to bid farewell to Smarch.
Anne Shaefer is an artist who lives and works in Philadelphia. She is director of local gallery Tiger Strikes Asteroid and involved with an art collecting program entitled, Community Supported Art, in other letters, CSA. CSA is a joint endeavor between two art spaces Tiger Strikes Asteroid and GrizzlyGrizzly.
Jacque Liu is a Philadelphia based artist and member of the artist collective, Grizzly Grizzly. He earned his MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art. His is the recipient of numerous awards, including a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Berlin, Germany, where he co-founded the artist space and residency, Takt Kunstprojektraum.
Debra (Deb) Ward has lived in Philadelphia since 2000 and although she never formally studied art, she was fortunate enough to meet a few artists when first moving to the city that inspired her to start collecting art. She joined the Board of Vox Populi in 2005 and has served as Board President since 2009. She and her partner Craig have acquired over 50 pieces in the last several years and they enjoy hosting parties and events at their home in Fairmount to share the work with friends, neighbors, and the artists themselves.
John Ollman lives in Philadelphia, collects art and is the owner of Fleisher/Ollman gallery. Under John Ollman’s early direction, Fleisher/Ollman was among the first galleries to feature work by self taught artists including Henry Darger, Sister Gertrude Morgan, Bill Traylor, and Martin Ramirez. The gallery also features work by local contemporary artists including Anthony Campuzano, Steven and Billy Dufala, Isaac Tin Wei Lin, Jennifer Levonian, Jayson Musson, Paul Swenbeck and Tristin Lowe.
Libby Rosof, with fellow writer and artist Roberta Fallon, created the publication now known as theartblog.org, because their giant sculptures of concrete and their small hand-held objects that they gave out on the street didn’t get reviewed on the front page of the city’s papers.
The problem was bigger than both of them. Philadelphia print media coverage was contracting and the art scene was growing. In the 10 years since theartblog began, Philadelphia’s alternative gallery scene has developed a national and even an international reputation. So has theartblog, which now has a real-world presence, giving tours; teaching and mentoring art students and writers; and giving talks about contemporary art.
Libby is married to the author Murray Dubin. They commute to San Francisco on a regular basis to visit their grandson, Baby Oscar.