Brandywine Workshop and Archives

10/25/2023

Artist El Anatsui received the Brandywine Workshop and Archives’ Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017, since then Anatsui made a commitment to donate art to be sold by BWA to support a new, ongoing program providing residencies in printmaking for artists living and conducting their studio practice in Africa.

Get to know the first-ever participants in Brandywine’s newly established El Anatsui Fellowships for Africa-Based Artists—Alexandre Kyungu Mwilambwe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Vitjitua Ndjiharine of Namibia—during a BWA CONVERSATION presented in-person and online Thursday, October 26, 7:00–8:00 PM EST. Alexandre and Vitjitua will discuss their lives, art, experiences-to-date at BWA and in Philadelphia, and the El Anatsui residency with Executive Director Michele A. Parchment and José Ortiz-Pagán, a former BWA Visiting Artist, curator, and organizer.

This CONVERSATION will take place in-person in the Printed Image Gallery, upstairs at BWA’s historic Firehouse Building at 730 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia.

Those unable to join in-person are invited to enjoy the discussion virtually by registering here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/conversation-mwilambwe-and-ndjiharine-at-bwa-tickets-740280477837?aff=oddtdtcreator.

CONVERSATIONS is a free broadcasted event and the link will be sent to ticket holders on the night of the event. Tickets are free of charge.

Alexandre and Vitjitua’s CONVERSATION is presented by BWA in partnership with Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI), Miami, FL.

10/24/2023

Get to know the first-ever participants in Brandywine’s newly established El Anatsui Fellowships for Africa-Based Artists—Alexandre Kyungu Mwilambwe of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Vitjitua Ndjiharine of Namibia—during a BWA CONVERSATION presented in-person and online Thursday, October 26, 7:00–8:00 PM EST.

Alexandre and Vitjitua will discuss their lives, art, experiences-to-date at BWA and in Philadelphia, and the El Anatsui residency with Executive Director Michele A. Parchment and José Ortiz-Pagán, a former BWA Visiting Artist, curator, and organizer.

This CONVERSATION will take place in-person in the Printed Image Gallery, upstairs at BWA’s historic Firehouse Building at 730 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia.

Those unable to join in-person are invited to enjoy the discussion virtually by registering here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/conversation-mwilambwe-and-ndjiharine-at-bwa-tickets-740280477837?aff=oddtdtcreator.

CONVERSATIONS is a free broadcasted event and the link will be sent to ticket holders on the night of the event. Tickets are free of charge.

Alexandre and Vitjitua’s CONVERSATION is presented by BWA in partnership with Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI), Miami, FL.

10/19/2023

El Anatsui Fellowships Africa-Based artists Alexandre Mwilambwe (Republic of Congo) and Vitjitua Ndjiharine (Namibia), our first two artists sponsored by the program, have been spending their time at BWA since the beginning of October and will be joining us next week for a CONVERSATION!

CONVERSATIONS will happen live and in-person on Thursday, October 26 at 7-8pm EST. Come join us in our Printed Image Gallery at 730 S. Broad Street to hear the artists speak live with Executive Director Michele A. Parchement and artist José Ortiz-Pagán.

If you are unable to attend the live discussion in person, please join us virtually through the link in our bio or by following the link below! CONVERSATIONS is a free broadcasted event and the link will be sent to ticket holders on the night of the event. Tickets are of course free of charge.

Link to Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/conversation-mwilambwe-and-ndjiharine-at-bwa-tickets-740280477837?aff=oddtdtcreator

the featured artworks are Vitjitua Ndjiharine, Presence in Absence, 2022 and Alexandre Kyungu Mwilambwe, Untitled, 2020

10/17/2023

Coming up next week is our new spin on the classic ArtistsNConversations event, CONVERSATION featuring featuring El Anatsui Fellowships Africa-Based artists, Alexandre Mwilambwe (Republic of Congo) and Vitjitua Ndjiharine (Namibia), our first two artists sponsored by the program.

CONVERSATIONS will happen live and in-person on Thursday, October 26 at 7-8pm EST. Come join us in our Printed Image Gallery at 730 S. Broad Street to hear the artists speak live with Executive Director Michele A. Parchement and artist José Ortiz-Pagán.

If you are unable to attend the live discussion in person, please join us virtually through the link in our bio or by following the link below! CONVERSATIONS is a free broadcasted event and the link will be sent to ticket holders on the night of the event. Tickets are of course free of charge.

Link to Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/conversation-mwilambwe-and-ndjiharine-at-bwa-tickets-740280477837?aff=oddtdtcreator

10/05/2023

Last Friday we celebrated the closing of our long-term exhibition "Harm Reduction: Art in Response to Trauma" and the opening of our new Glass Gallery exhibition, "Words in the Workshop". Collections Manager and Curator Jessica Hamman shared a few closing words for her show "Harm Reduction" and guests were able to take a final look at the pieces it featured, telling their stories of how each artist used their artwork to overcome hardship and trauma.

Later, curator of "Words in the Workshop", Content and Engagement Specialist Ben Roe, shared the thoughts and inspiration that led to his exhibition. "Words in the Workshop" features poetry in reaction to prints from our collection, it is our first interactive exhibition as well which allowed visitors to respond to the selected prints themselves using post-it notes on an interactive wall.

09/28/2023

Please join us tomorrow, September 29, at 6PM to usher out our Harm Reduction exhibition and welcome in our new exhibition, Words in the Workshop!

Brandywine Workshop and Archives will launch its fall 2023 season of exhibitions and public programs on Friday night, September 29, with the opening of Words in the Workshop in the Glass Lobby Gallery and a celebratory send-off for Harm Reduction: Art in Response to Trauma in the Printed Image Gallery. This free event will be open to the public from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Please join us in sending off Harm Reduction and welcoming in our newest exhibition.

09/27/2023

Words in the Workshop will be opening in Brandywine's Glass Gallery this Friday, September 29, 2023. The opening reception will take place from 6pm to 8pm in a joint event with the closing of Harm Reduction. The curator of this exhibition, Content and Engagement Specialist Ben Roe, will be giving some opening remarks around 7pm and introducing the community to this new kind of exhibition for Brandywine! This exhibition is BWA's first interactive exhibition, allowing visitors to engage and share their thoughts about the works on an adjoining wall of the gallery.

Words in the Workshop explores the interplay between expression and interpretation by inviting poets to respond to prints at varying levels of abstraction. Four prints—selected for their narrative potential and relative ambiguity—were given to poets across the world with no title, artist, or other identifying information. Presenting four ekphrastic poems in response to each print (ekphrasis is verbal description of visual art), the exhibition shares with visitors 16 distinct statements of interpretation,a dialogue that speaks not only to the creativeprocess itself, butalso to emotion and the humanexperience.

09/22/2023

With much gratitude we would like to announce Brandywine Workshop and Archives has been awarded a grant of $360,500 from The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage to support PrintLab, a comprehensive, ongoing reinvention of BWA's diversity-driven artist residency program that will further advances in printmaking, from the use
of related technologies that are transforming the field, to the format of residencies themselves, to how prints are made, exhibited, discussed, and understood.

It will be accompanied by a robust roster of artist-centered, in-person and online opportunities for community engagement and will culminate in a major exhibition at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and BWA in 2026.

On September 14, the Center announced its 2023 grants and fellowships, which will support artistic and cultural work, programs, and events that will enliven and enrich the Philadelphia region. The Center’s 40 grants awarded in 2023 total $9 million. The grant to BWA includes both project funding and an additional 20% in unrestricted, general operating support.

PrintLab will be a multi-site, multi-platform expansion of BWA’s acclaimed existing Visiting Artist Residency Program, which has welcomed and facilitated the work of more than 600 artists since 1975. BWA Executive Director Michele Parchment noted, “PrintLab will provide access to new ways of thinking and working boldly in printmaking as a dynamic and collaborative creative medium. It was conceived and will work as a community activator that answers creative needs. Brandywine is honored and excited to receive this grant funding from the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, which enables us to make our vision for PrintLab a reality.”

Thank you to for giving us this opportunity!

09/20/2023

Opening in the Glass Lobby Gallery on September 29, 2023 will be "Words in the
Workshop: Poetry in Response to Prints."

Words in the Workshop explores the interplay between expression and interpretation by inviting poets to respond to prints at varying levels of abstraction. Four prints—selected for their narrative potential and relative ambiguity—were given to poets across the world with no title, artist, or other identifying information. By compiling four ekphrastic poems in response to each print, the exhibition opens with sixteen distinct statements of interpretation—a dialogue that speaks not only to the creative process itself, but also to the intricacies of emotion and the human experience.

09/14/2023

Up now on the BWA Youtube channel is the Drexel Co-op Review featuring our three Drexel Co-ops: Ben Roe, Julia Yun, and Blue Koenig! You can watch the video now at the following link or by visiting our Youtube channel. Thank you Co-ops for all of your hard work and talent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMYyqilaaRM

09/05/2023

09/01/2023

So much work and preparation was put into delivering and installing our new printing press! This press broadens the range of printmaking techniques available for our artists-in-residence to explore and employ. It's called a "relief press"--in relief printing, an image is carved into a wood or linoleum block and fed through the press to transfer the image onto paper. We can't wait to see what beautiful works will be created with the help of this new equipment!

08/28/2023

Last week a new press was delivered to our workshop! This press broadens the range of printmaking techniques available for our artists-in-residence to explore and employ. It's called a "relief press"--in relief printing, an image is carved into a wood or linoleum block and fed through the press to transfer the image onto paper. We can't wait to see what beautiful works will be created on our new press! Stay tuned to our social channels for a special video showing the process of delivering this important new piece of artmaking equipment!

08/24/2023

We are pleased to introduce Michele A. Parchment, Brandywine Workshop and Archives’ new Executive Director and successor of Founder Allan L. Edmunds as of August 21, 2023.

Ms. Parchment is a highly accomplished professional who has served in a broad range of administrative roles in the development of influential cultural institutions, including the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, Detroit, MI; Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture, Charlotte, NC; and the Sarasota Art Museum, Sarasota, FL, among others. Ms. Parchment earned her MA in history at American Public University, Charlestown, West Virginia, and BA at Excelsior College of Liberal Arts, Albany, New York. In addition to positions of leadership in management and program development, with particular focus on art education, Ms. Parchment has developed a vast network of fellow arts professionals over a 30-year career. Ms. Parchment arrives in Philadelphia from her most recent position as Consultant/Registrar for Diaspora Vibe Cultural Arts Incubator (DVCAI) in Miami, FL.

Michele Parchment’s professional philosophy is to provide an innovative approach to developing collaborative, engaging thought leadership regarding trends that utilizes current strengths as a springboard to build strategic planning, team development, and alliance building to cultivate sustainable growth and mission-driven outcomes.

Ms. Parchment begins her tenure as Executive Director at a time when BWA is operating with the strongest financial and programmatic strength it has achieved in its 50-plus year history. A five-year grant of $2.5 million from the Mellon Foundation will provide significant operational support and stability for BWA’s core programs. Welcome Michele and we look forward to seeing how BWA will grow with you by our side!

08/18/2023

Our founder, Allan Edmunds shares his thoughts about our dear friend Libby Newman and her recent passing:

"A great friend, mentor, and forever inspiration to me during my professional
journey died on August 8, 2023. I met Libby Newman as I was graduating with
my BFA from Tyler School of Art in 1971. As a promising young artist -printmaker
we shared two things in common- the love of making prints and the desire to
make the world of art in Philly more inclusive.

Libby encouraged me to join the Artist Equity Association, which needed
diversity at that time, and became the first serious local artist who would allow
my young art students to work with her to train in editioning prints at what
would become inn 1972 the Brandywine Graphic Workshop at 1923 Green Street
in the Spring Garden Community of Philadelphia. Through her early support of
me and my desire to train local Puerto Rican and African American youth in the
editioning process, we did many creative collaborations. Libby brought me into
her world, and she supported me through her contacts – professional and
financial. The small garage workshop, which started with hand-made
equipment, is now an internationally acclaimed diversity- driven cultural
institution, Brandywine Workshop and Archives, promoting the fine art of
printmaking.

Libby’s legacy and service will be remembered due to the living memorial she
created through the Libby Newman Donor Advised Fund that supports Local
Visiting Artist Residencies at Brandywine. Donations to the fund can be made
here:
https://www.philafound.org/funds/libby-newman-legacy-residency-award-
fund/

I was honored by Libby’s great friendship and her enduring support over five
decades. I experienced her sincerity and passion for sharing her good fortune
and creating paths for others to pursue their dreams. My journey as an artist and
art administrator was accelerated by Libby’s attraction to me as a young artist,
the insights, love, and motherly attention she sent my way."

Allan L. Edmunds
Founder-President Emeritus
Brandywine Workshop and Archives

08/17/2023

Today artist Mike Gamble will be joining us for ArtistsNConversation! Gamble is a very talented painter and printmaker who joined us recently as part of the Libby Newman Residency Project which allowed him to create a print with us. Gamble is also known for his work inspired by the American rock band TOOL which is one of the many things he will discuss this evening! You can register for the free webinar session this evening at 7pm using the link below.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/artistsnconversation-mike-gamble-tickets-689310063957

08/16/2023

We are saddened to announce the passing of our friend and avid supporter of art and artists, Lillian "Libby" Newman.

Newman was born in Rockland, Delaware, and graduated from the University of the Arts with a BFA in printmaking in 1980. She was a government arts advocate and the founding director and curator of the University City Science Center Art Gallery (Esther M. Klein Gallery). Newman was also the curator for Pennsylvania’s Governor’s Residence under Richard Thornburgh. Her work is in the collections of more than 32 museums and libraries around the world. During her lifetime, Libby received numerous honors, awards, and citations, including the Gold Medal Award from Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey and was named a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania. She also received the Percy Owens Award from the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts recognizing her support and mentorship of other artists.

Libby Newman said of her relationship with Brandywine, “I applied for an internship at the Brandywine Workshop in 1984 to learn more about printmaking under the guidance of master printers currently at the Brandywine. Allan Edmunds had shown such a commitment and knowledge to the art that I knew I could learn a great deal from him. My thinking proved correct. I believe in giving back to the art community that has always been so generous to me.” She established the Libby Newman Residency Fund, which has supported many Philadelphia-based artists in creating work with us here at Brandywine, including our ArtistsNConversation guest on August 17th, Mike Gamble.

In lieu of flowers, Libby requested donations to the Residency Fund to ensure continued and growing support for more Philadelphia artists into the future. If you wish to donate in her memory, you can do so at the following link. Libby Newman will be dearly missed by Brandywine Workshop and Archives and all its friends. Her work has truly touched and supported us and will continue to do so for years to come.

08/14/2023

Remember to register for this week's ArtistsNConversation with painter and printmaker Mike Gamble! Mike’s most recent printmaking work consists of multi-layer reduction woodcuts created using a pointillist technique, meticulously incising pinpoint-sized dots into birchwood to form each layer of the print. These stippled layers give the prints a tonal quality not typical of carved relief. The works are mainly figurative and surrealistic, focusing on connections between all living beings with one another and with the surrounding world. Identity and individualism are stripped away, and dissected figures reveal the aspects of life universal among us all.

You can register for this weeks free webinar event using this link!
https://brandywineworkshopandarchives.org/events/artistsnconversation-mike-gamble/

08/11/2023

It's almost Third Thursday and that means it's time for ArtistsNConversation!! This month we have artist and printmaker Mike Gamble joining us for a discussion about the work he recently created with us here at Brandywine Workshop.

This ArtistsNConversation will happen on Thursday 8/17 at 7pm. Follow the link below to register and watch for free online!

https://brandywineworkshopandarchives.org/events/artistsnconversation-mike-gamble/

08/10/2023

For this week's we have one of our print animations created with the help of the iCreate High School Internship program. This print comes from this week's Artura.org featured artist Jack Malotte and is titled "Screaming Eagle Blues". The full video and all other videos within this animated collection can be found on the BWA Youtube channel.

08/01/2023

For today's we wanted to let everyone know that we have new videos and recordings up on our youtube channel! You can now watch our VAST presention on our virtual database Artura.org, a new CuratorsNConversation, and two new ArtistNConversation videos. Feel free to check them out!

07/31/2023

07/24/2023

Have you ever wanted to learn more about the artists who created work in the BWA Workshop and our sister workshops across the country? Artura.org posts weekly about the artists within the Brandywine Archives in the series "Bon à tirer"; featuring their backgrounds, other works, and the reasons for why they create.

Check out Artura.org social media pages to follow the "Bon à tirer" series each week! This week Native American artist Jean LaMarr will be featured and her artwork titled "Covergirl" will be analyzed through the information in the Artura.org archive.

07/21/2023

Finishing out our visit from the VAST program was a presentation by our own Matt Singer and John Cardone from Being Design who introduced the educators to our teaching resources available on Artura.org. The educators heard about our current "Harm Reduction" exhibit from Matt and saw a presentation from John detailing how to use Artrua and asking the educators how we can better adapt the website to fit their needs. It was a wonderful and helpful discussion for all of us!

VAST stands for Visual Arts as Sources for Teaching which is a summer program for educators of all backgrounds to participate in through the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Educators learn how the visual arts can apply to their teaching practices and consider new ways to explain concepts to students using artwork.

07/19/2023

During last week's VAST program teachers of all backgrounds got to pay a visit to our print archive and listen to Curatorial Assistant & Collections Manager Jessica Hamman talk about a handful of our prints that touched on VAST's theme of identity. Thank you again to the PMA for visiting with the VAST program and inspiring thoughtful discussions with us!

VAST stands for Visual Arts as Sources for Teaching which is a summer program for educators of all backgrounds and subjects to participate in through the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Educators learn how the visual arts can apply to their teaching practices and consider new ways to explain concepts to students using artwork.

07/17/2023

Last week members of this summer's VAST program through the PMA visited with us to explore some of the archival and workshop work that happens here at Brandywine!

Here papermaking apprentice Jessie explains all of the possibilities papermaking has to offer and shows our visiting educators the process of creating paper from pulp. Jessie is a current University of the Arts student pursuing a MFA in Book Arts and Printmaking

VAST stands for Visual Arts as Sources for Teaching which is a summer program for educators of all backgrounds to participate in through the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Educators learn how the visual arts can apply to their teaching practices and consider new ways to explain concepts to students using artwork.

06/30/2023

Happening this evening is a panel discussion relating to our current exhibition "Harm Reduction: Art in Response to Trauma"

We will be joined by the exhibition's curator and our Curatorial Assistant and Collections Manager, Jessica Hamman, and Doctor of Social Work Meagan Corrado as well as Najya Williams a multidisciplinary artist and M3 at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. We will discuss the thinking behind the exhibition, respond to the featured artworks, and explore art as a form of therapy.

Please join us in person at 7PM for this panel discussion in our gallery on 730 South Broad Street. Light refreshments will be provided. A livestream will also be available through our Youtube channel for anyone unable to join us in person.

All the prints included can be seen tonight in the show!
-"Growing up in Hollywood", Alex Alferov
-"Blues for the Middle Passage I", John T. Scott
-"Family Pictures", Tomie Arai
-"To Change", Rick Bartow