Tyler Blog

August 24, 2023

Alumna Shows Pride through Philly's Chinese Lantern Festival

Author: Wanda Motley Odom

Journeying from China to Philadelphia to study at Temple nearly 10 years ago, Ellen Zhang, TYL ’17, now gets to showcase the pride she has in her heritage as arts and culture manager at the Philadelphia Chinese Lantern Festival. In that role she’s been able to make that dream a reality, helping curate the outdoors museum-like spectacle, and allow others to experience the culture she’s so incredibly passionate about. Read story by Matthew Michaels in Temple Alumni News.   Photo credit: Temple University Read More

August 21, 2023

Gemologist Emily Phillippy (BFA '12) Speaks on Ethics in Hidden City

Author: Wanda Motley Odom

Tyler alum Emily Phillippy (BFA '12) has distinguished her jewelry store, Emily Chelsea Jewelry in Philadelphia’s Fishtown neighborhood, for its ethical stance on using 100 percent recycled precious metals, Fairmined gold and diamonds, and colored stones that are either recycled or can be traced back to responsible sources. “If we don’t know where it comes from, we won’t work with it,” she says. Read More

July 19, 2023

Art History Grad Students Curate Print Exhibition at Berman Museum

Author: Wanda Motley Odom

Art history graduate students Jessica Braum (left) and Natalie Cruz arrange prints for hanging.In early 20th century American artist Asa Cheffetz’s (1897-1965) wood engraving Deserted Farm, the carved lines are so adroitly executed that they create the illusion of wind blowing across a field of grass.“It is remarkable that an artist can convey such a fleeting movement and sensorial experience of the wind blowing in nature by incising lines in wood in a specific manner,” said Tyler art history graduate student Jessica Braum, who along with eight other Art History graduate students and Art History Associate Professor Ashley West co-curated a print exhibition for the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College in Collegeville, 30 miles outside of Philadelphia. Read More

Jessica Braum Danielle Cooke and Brittany Rubin laying out prints
July 18, 2023

Curating an upcoming exhibit at the Berman Museum at Ursinus

Author: Jane DeRose Evans

This past spring nine Art History graduate students and alumni co-curated a print exhibition for the Berman Museum at Ursinus College, whose Executive Director (Lauren McCardel) is a current doctoral student in our program and whose Collections Manager, Catherine Sirizzotti, is one of our MA alumni. The students acting as co-curators are: Jessica Braum (PhD student), Danielle Cooke (MA alum 23), Natalie Cruz (MA alum 23), Emma Holter (PhD student), Rachael Reynolds (PhD student), Samantha Rhodes (PhD student), Brittany Rubin (PhD student), Alexandra Schoolman (PhD student), and Jessica Sternbach (PhD candidate). Read More

July 11, 2023

Tyler Alum Tim McFarlane (BFA '94) Aims for the Monumental in His Work

Author: Wanda Motley Odom

As part of his artistic journey, Tyler alum Tim McFarlane (BFA '94) has in recent years veered toward the monumental.Putting his typical works on canvas or panel aside, McFarlane has preferred work at the large scale afforded him by murals and other wall-based installations -- applying acrylic paint, drawings and sculptural forms complete with silver and frosted Mylar, pushpins, nails, tape to walls and other surfaces. Read More

June 22, 2023

Henry Morales (BFA '21) on Personal Trajectories and Finding Purpose Through Art

Author: Emily Herbein

Henry Morales (BFA '21), Tyler's Program Coordinator for Academic Enrichment, feels right at home working for his alma mater -- having the opportunity to assist students in collaborating with the arts in their community, something that he feels passionate about. He also recently curated an exhibition at Haverford College, centered on a multigenerational Latinx experience. Morales credits his personal and professional growth to his time pursuing his undergraduate degree at Tyler, which is what he hopes to encourage within the events he organizes for students. Read more about his career trajectory and advice for students still trying to find their footing. Read More

June 22, 2023

Printmaking Graduate Exhibition on Display at Partners and Son

Author: Emily Herbein

When it comes to distributing a work of art far and wide, there are few avenues better than printmaking to share the wealth.In the spring 2023 semester, MFA students in Associate Professor Amze Emmon’s Graduate Printmaking Projects class put this truth to the test with a collaborative publication of works by more than 30 artists across the United States and in Belgium, Brazil, Indonesia, and Iran.Entitled “HELP YOURSELF,” the publication is on exhibit at Partners and Son in Philadelphia from June 23rd to August 6th. The creators have described it as “a poly-vocal collection of creative work responding to the theme of self-help from artists from around the world.” Read More

June 12, 2023

Alex Strada Awarded Graham Foundation Grant

Author: Emily Herbein

Assistant Professor of Photography Alex Strada has received a Graham Foundation grant for her research project House of D, which explores the history of New York City's Jefferson Market Library, a lavishly decorated Art Deco icon in Greenwich Village that served as the Women’s House of Detention (WHD) from 1932–1974. The WHD was once championed by NYC officials and prison reformers as a “school” to punish women, transgender men, and gender nonconforming people who broke the law or flouted societal norms. Thousands were detained in the heavily congested, fortress-like prison, including activists Angela Davis, Afeni Shakur, and Andrea Dworkin.  Read More

June 12, 2023

William Toney on: Curating Meaningful Exhibitions

Author: Emily Herbein

William Toney, Graduate Assistant at Temple Contemporary and current MFA candidate in Tyler's Photography program recently curated his first exhibition, Message Received, which was on view until June 17th. The exhibition engages artists from Tyler as well as Temple at large in conversations surrounding the relationships between visual art and the written word. Toney speaks on his experience curating this exhibition, his role working in Temple Contemporary this year, and what he hopes to bring to the space in the upcoming months.Describe your role with Temple Contemporary? How does this position speak to your larger goals as an artist? Read More

June 8, 2023

Barbara Chase-Riboud (BFA '57) Reminisces on Tyler's Early Years

Author: Emily Herbein

Artist, writer, and poet Barbara Chase-Riboud (BFA '57) spoke with Serpentine Galleries, which organized a recent exhibition of work that spanned seven decades of her career. Barbara Chase-Riboud: Infinite Folds, which was on view October 11, 2022- April 10, 2023, showcased her " innovation in sculptural technique, exploring memory, history and power through monumental sculptures and works on paper," Serpentine Galleries writes. "Her unique approach to sculpture and materiality involve "the interplay between folds of cast bronze or aluminum and coils of wool and silk which are knotted, braided, looped, and woven.""For me," Chase-Riboud says as she opens the interview, "sculpture was never a hobby. Sculpture was something integral to life." Read More