Hello from The Philly Occasional
A Periodic Missive from Philadelphia Art Writers, with Reviews, Commentary and Musings
Welcome to the first email newsletter from the writers of The Philly Occasional. Below you will find brief excerpts from recent posts, with links back to the full articles on the publication’s web page. We hope you enjoy this community of voices and subjects covered by writers who wrote for Philly Artblog and now are continuing the conversation here. Comments and feedback are welcome. The times are troubled and troubling, the art world is in a vulnerable place. We hope you will find a home here with us as we report on what we see, hear, think and feel. Let’s move forward together.
—Andrea Kirsh, Elizabeth Johnson, Patrick Coué, Roberta Fallon, Sharon Garbe, more to come.
Passionate art writing, plus humor and more!
A Note from The Philly Occasional Team
Sharon Garbe, Elizabeth Johnson, Patrick Coué, Roberta Fallon, Andrea Kirsh
Nov 12, 2025
Welcome to the debut of The Philly Occasional, a publication by arts writers about art and life in our city and elsewhere. This venture springs from the closing of Artblog in June, 2025, after 21 years of publishing. We wrote for Artblog and we are now continuing to share thoughts about the scene and why it matters.
The Occasional’s editorial policy is to bring you solid writings directly from the writers ourselves, on a schedule that will be a little relaxed instead of fixed. Our philosophy is that all voices belong at the table. Read more
Art Review | Megan Biddle: Through Line at No. 5 Butchie Alley
Exhibition Dates: September 6 - October 12, 2025
Nov 12, 2025
My visit to the opening of Megan Biddle’s exhibition of glass sculptures and monoprints at No. 5 Butchie Alley in early September was my introduction to the gallery and to Biddle’s work. I was intrigued by both and arranged to come back and talk to Megan when it was quieter. Little did I know that a Sunday afternoon visit would include a delicious slice of plum Dutch Baby freshly made by the gallerist, Terri Saulin, who is also a ceramicist and chef. I was also treated to a crash-course explanation of glass casting by Megan, who teaches at Tyler. I’ve never worked in glass and after hearing all that goes into it, I probably never will. But understanding the pâte-de-verre technique Megan uses gave me a better appreciation of her experimental and process-driven work. The granular texture of the medium also explained why the glass pieces look like sugary confections. In pâte-de-verre, glass powder or frit (crushed glass) is mixed with a binder to create a paste that is then applied to a mold, fired in a kiln, then cold-worked for any clean up. The fused powder takes on a mysterious translucence with elusive sparkles. You almost have to look sideways to see them through the matte finish. Read More
An Occasional Roundup
A ramble through shows in New York and Philly
Nov 12, 2025
NEW YORK - The Drawing Center and the International Center of Photography
Steve and I go to New York off and on and I’m always looking for non-standard fare to see, away from the museums, which we love, but which need supplementing to give a more complete (although still incomplete) picture of the art world.
The Drawing Center, for example, has big shows in their small space, which they use in creative ways, even hanging work salon-style sometimes. It’s free to visit, and they have a small, solid giftshop. In late July we checked out the Beauford Delaney show. My introduction to Delaney was through the Philly Museum of Art, which owns one of the artist’s paintings, a portrait of his good friend James Baldwin. I always loved that painting but had no real grasp of the breadth of Delaney’s works. He was broad and deep, a great sensitive portraitist and colorist and expressionist landscape painter of jazzy interiorized works, ala Van Gogh’s, with bright-colored geometric shapes fitting together like puzzle pieces. Delaney was a schooled artist but couldn’t make a living in New York, and at the urging of his friend Baldwin, he moved to Paris in 1951, never to return. Read More
Caroline Healy and John Phillips: “Heavy Merge” at Drexel
Nov 12, 2025
Caroline Healy and John Phillips create immersive installations of multiple media that have often referred to the history of the exhibition site itself. “Heavy Merge” at Drexel University’s Leonard Pearlstein Gallery, August 19-October 4, 2025, addressed a subject that was at once more universal and more personal: the workings of the mind. It was based upon extensive research about evolving neuroscience as well as ongoing introspection about thought and artistic production.
On entering the very large, high-ceilinged and semi-darkened gallery one saw a competing range of objects; some hung in varied configurations from the ceiling, others spread across the floor, still others were sited around the peripheral walls. Videos of abstract imagery were projected on a wall to the right and two walls in the distant corner and their soundtracks created ambient sound. Read More
Art Review | Bill Scott: My Trail of Breadcrumbs
Patricia M. Nugent Gallery, Rosemont College
Exhibition dates: August 28 – September 29, 2025.
Nov 12, 2025
I met Bill Scott, an art writer and painter, in 2024 while interviewing the Gross McCleaf Gallery community for their exhibit Fortitude at 50. My first impression during our exchange was how important friends, other artists, and mentors have been for Bill throughout his career. In the text of his artist talk for My Trail of Breadcrumbs, Bill says, “Paintings, for me, can parallel friendships, in that each one is unique and defined by how far you and the other person are able and are willing to go together. Paintings are similar except it only depends on how far I can go.” Read More
A Pioneering Institution in Oakland, CA: Creative Growth Art Center
Nov 13, 2025
I once visited the Collection de l’Art Brut in Lausanne, Switzerland, with a painter friend. The museum is one of the foremost institutions in the world showcasing outsider art. Outsider art broadly refers to artists who are untaught, who don’t follow established artistic norms, and who consequently fall outside the conventional system. It generally includes art produced by inmates, children, and people with developmental disabilities. Read More
Thank you so much for The Philly Occasional! I am so glad it exists.