Main Line Artist Makes a Rather Unique Plea for Arts Funding
Plus, who the hell has Heart's mandolin? Yes, as in the rock band.
Main Line artist and photographer Sarah Bloom as seen in a funding plea for Da Vinci Art Alliance (image courtesy Sarah Bloom)
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Main Line Photographer Makes a Rather Unique Plea for Arts Funding
I’m a musician as well as a lover and promoter and booster of the arts in Philadelphia, so I naturally have been talking to many artists in the Philadelphia area about how federal funding cuts are affecting them. It’s a seemingly insurmountable problem, especially in the cases of some of the smaller organizations. And I’ve been trying to wrap my head around how to cover this in the most effective way. There are just so many people and groups feeling the negative impact.
Then Sarah Bloom, who lives in Merion Station, sent me a message. You may remember this Best of Philly-winning local photographer and artist for her nude self-portraits taken in abandoned Philadelphia buildings or her iconic photo from the civil unrest in Philly in 2020. Bloom is a board member of South Philly’s Da Vinci Art Alliance, which is facing a harsh new reality thanks to the aforementioned slashing of arts funding. So she made a video asking for donations for the non-profit and asked me to share it.
“I know you probably get stuff like this all the time,” she told me. “So I completely understand if you can’t help me out.”
Then I watched the video, and, well, it’s pretty damn entertaining, if in a pretty dark way. So I thought I would share it with you here, and then you can decide if you’d like to make a donation to Da Vinci, which you can do here. But I mean, she literally played the cancer card, so if you’re not moved to give at least something to these folks, I’m not sure we can be friends anymore.
You can watch her full video below… you’ll want to play it through to the end:
Also, I thought this would be a good opportunity to say that if you have a local arts organization that’s in peril, get in touch with me via the tips form above, and we’ll see what we can do about it. Even better if you send me your own entertaining video. I’ll run what I can.
From the Department of Good News
According to this NPR story, fentanyl deaths in Philly — and the rest of the country — among young people are declining sharply. That’s after fentanyl deaths in the U.S. nearly quadrupled among young people from 2018 through 2022.
OK, Who Has Heart’s Mandolin?!
The rock band Heart was playing in Atlantic City recently, and someone made off with their guitar and mandolin, which were somehow stolen off the stage before the show. Police arrested a 57-year-old guy for the theft, and an appropriate punishment would seem to be to make him swim with… wait for it… No, sorry, I can’t even make the bad joke. Anyway, police were able to recover the guitar but not the mandolin. So if your husband is suddenly playing a mandolin in his man cave, you might want to ask him where it came from.
By the Numbers
$50 million: Amount that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and his family just donated to Penn and CHOP to create the Lurie Autism Institute. It’s good to see him putting all those Super Bowl riches to good work. And perhaps all that good karma will lead to… another Super Bowl win!!!
$20 billion: Amount Amazon plans to invest to build a network of AI and cloud computing facilities in Pennsylvania. According to Governor Josh Shapiro this is the “largest private sector investment in the history of Pennsylvania.” Now if all that AI can just figure out how to get you a table for four at Zahav on Friday night.
300,000: Pennsylvania residents who could lose their Medicaid coverage if the current federal budget bill goes through. Nobody freak out, though. President Trump promises that your local Dollar General will have plenty of bleach on hand to cure what ails ya.
Local Talent
If you’re a fan of jazz piano, look no further that Philly pianist Orrin Evans, who has been thrice nominated for a Grammy. (One day, Orrin. One day.)
Orrin Evans, photographed in 2024 by Marek Lazarski
Think you’re up to jamming with this local jazz great? Find out on Wednesday night when he hosts a jazz jam at World Cafe Live. Make sure you sign up early when you get there. Demand is high.
