Who wants a $100 bucks??

There's a Grit & Beauty Blog Contest

10 students will win $100 each. (Open to all undergraduates.)
Like any very real place, Philadelphia is sometimes beautiful and sometimes gritty. Most of the time it is a little--or a lot--of both. Post text, images, audio, video expressing the mix of grit and the beauty that can make our city so interesting.
The contest ends October 30, 2009.


... yeah I got it!! (confidence, cockiness, whatever I know... but once you get into competition mode you have to be to survive) Now Im just waiting on the results, but no really I am pretty humble. I just love this piece Im submitting... Im submitting me.

F the police that's how I treat 'em

This piece is a mixture of a few things. It started off as one of my tourist series sketches (check out the post a little further back). I took it into Photoshop and painted the skin and boots of the correctional officer a.k.a. POEPOE and drew the little character in Illustrator. Lastly I put them in the setting of one of my photos down at LOVE Park. sweet huh??

Here's a couple of musical artist who feel the same way about the police...

Kanye West- All Falls Down (skip to 2:05 to hear it)





Public Enemy- F... The Police (explict... starts off with the general message lol)

In the news...

Philadelphia Free Library System is shutting down

Posted by Cory Doctorow, September 13, 2009 9:19 PM | permalink

The Philadelphia Free Library system is broke, and they're shutting it down, including cancelling "all branch and regional library programs, programs for children and teens, after school programs, computer classes, and programs for adults" and "all children programs, programs to support small businesses and job seekers, computer classes and after school programs" and "all library visits to schools, day care centers, senior centers and other community centers" and "all community meetings" and "all GED, ABE and ESL program."

Just look at that list of all the things libraries do for our communities, all the ways they help the least among us, the vulnerable, the children, the elderly. Think of every wonderful thing that happened to you among the shelves of a library. Think of the millions of lifelong love-affairs with literacy sparked in the collections of those libraries. Think of every person whose life was forever changed for the better in those buildings.

Think of the nobility of libraries and librarianship, the great scar that the Burning of Alexandria gouged in human history. Think of the archivists who barricaded themselves in the Hermitage during the Siege of Leningrad, slowly starving and freezing to death but refusing to desert their posts for fear that the collections they guarded would become firewood.

Think of the librarians who took a stand during the darkest years of the PATRIOT Act and refused to turn over patron records. Think of the moral unimpeachability of those whose trade is universal access to all human knowledge.

Picture an entire city, a modern, wealthy place, in the richest country in the world, in which the vital services provided by libraries are withdrawn due to political brinksmanship and an unwillingness to spare one banker's bonus worth of tax-dollars to sustain an entire region's connection with human culture and knowledge and community.

Think of it and ask yourself what the hell has happened to us.

All Free Library of Philadelphia Branch, Regional and Central Libraries Closed Effective Close of Business October 2, 2009

Everyone head to the Scanning Room... Yes we have one on this flight

I'm scanned and Adobe Illustrated!!! Who's next?

Everyone find your pairing partner we're experiencing some TURBULANCE

This was a part of my tourist sketch series. Many tourists who come to Philadelphia hover over the famous LOVE statue at JFK Park aka Love Park.If you ever rode the metro in Philadelphia you know you will spot a variety of people traveling along with you. Some people talk about others behind their backs, criticizing them or whatever and then some who are just to themselves. This sketch was entirely inspired by my surroundings. I had some colored pencils in my hand and I was on the train observing people and honing into people's conversations.

This pairing is somewhat a giveaway. The subway routes are home to some of the most extravagant graffiti artworks. The South St station I was at even showcases a series of advertisement signs that commissioned graffiti artists and other artists to create pieces
which are inspired by PBR (Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer).

It seems we are close to our destination

The Tate Modern gallery played host to an eclectic powerhouse group of pop artists in its Pop Life – Art in the Material World exhibition. The show’s premise is inspired by Andy Warhol’s “Good business is the best art” quote as many of the artists brought to the stage each share a distinct brand-aspect behind their art. Participating artist include Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Richard Prince and Takashi Murakami among others. The show runs until January 17th, 2009. We share images from the opening of this not-to-miss show here.

If you turn your attention to the front we have a movie selection for you!!

German artist case will be exhibiting a new series of works on canvas at Carmichael Gallery on October 8th. Entitled The L.A. case, it is his first US solo exhibition and the second time he has exhibited at Carmichael Gallery.

case’s new body of work references imagery from elaborate, self-staged photo shoots using spray paint on canvas. Combining exacting technical expertise with an innovative hint of liberation and irony, he investigates the parallels that exist between the conflicting states of convention and controversy, manipulating beauty in a dark, thrilling and provocative manner.

case is widely recognized as one of the best photorealistic spray paint artists in the world. His groundbreaking technique, detailed in the book Ma’Claim: Photorealistic Graffiti, Falk Lehmann and Steffen Petermann, Publikat Verlags und Handels GmbH and Co. KG, Germany, 2006, has set new standards and established a strong international collector base and fan network.
Born in Erfurt, Germany, in 1979, case has exhibited his fine art in galleries in the UK, Germany and US. He achieved his Diploma in Art Restoration and Conservation from Erfurt University Of Applied Sciences. case is also a founding member of graffiti crew Ma’Claim, a group of artists renowned throughout the world for their striking photorealistic murals. He currently lives and works in Frankfurt.

Watch case create one of the pieces for the show in this great video below.