Join the Conversation with Phillips' Mill ArtTalk

Artist Chee Bravo exactingly builds up layers of color to create energetic, motion-filled prints of musicians playing. Her carefully planned work nevertheless conveys a sense of carefree action. You can almost hear the music. Chee will show us her process for creating her many-layered screen prints.

But the layers aren’t just in Chee’s printing process. Her’s is a very personal body of work that stems from her life experiences. The people who populate her prints are friends from her favorite jazz club in Trenton. We’ll take a look at Chee’s paintings of the people she met on a trip to her husband’s native Cuba, paintings filled with all the character, color and energy of her screen-prints.

Join us as we explore the layers of Chee Bravo’s work.

We’re very proud to present the Youth Art Show. Every year at this time we present the works of students from area high schools.  This year we represent 25 schools, working with art teachers to curate the show. We never fail to be impressed with the art they share with us. They are accomplished artists, even so young. Their work also has a lot to say. At Phillips’ Mill we’ve been exhibiting local art for 93 years. We’re delighted every year when these young artists prove that our future of presenting moving works is secure.

The ArtTalk team, including producers Jen McHugh, Dennis Riley and Jean Mihich, have put together the following video for you.  Youth Art Exhibition Chairs, Susan Brussock and Kathy Schroeher, talk about putting the show together. Some of the award winners have made  videos about their inspiration. And of course we feature the artwork.

Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoy the show.

Renowned travel photographer Bob Krist has said that a perfect picture is made up of three components: great composition, great light and a sense of moment. That’s true whether you’re a photographer or a painter. Krist’s search for the perfect picture has taken him around the world. We were able to catch him at home to be our guest on a very special ArtTalk. Join us with your questions for Bucks County’s own master photographer and juror for the 2022 Phillips' Mill Photographic Exhibition. Click Here to view the slideshow from the presentation.

Bob Krist

Renowned National Geographic and Smithsonian travel photographer Bob Krist is a freelance photographer and filmmaker whose work has taken him to all seven continents and has won awards in the Pictures of the Year, Communication Arts, and World Press Photo competitions. He was named “Travel Photographer of the Year” by the Society of American Travel Writers three times, in 1994, 2007, and 2008. A late career convert to video storytelling, his short films have been exhibited in film festivals in Italy, Iceland, and the USA and have won several gold and silver Lowell Thomas awards for broadcast travel journalism. Bob was a contributing editor/photographer at National Geographic Traveler magazine and a columnist for Outdoor Photographer magazine and was recently featured as the instructor in a comprehensive course, called Fundamentals of Travel Photography, produced by National Geographic and The Great Courses. www.bobkrist.com

Bill Jersey has been creating for over eight decades. At 11 he was drawing to escape the restrictions of a fundamentalist home. He became a documentary filmmaker to have what he considered a more financially secure and yet still creative career. Jersey’s work in film and on canvas both are his way of exploring the world. He’s a keen observer in both media, looking for the telling moment or perspective.

Jersey’s paintings explore the rural landscape and architecture of the Delaware River Valley. He’s known for a vibrant palette but as a documentarian he often worked in black and white. In film he worked in a two dimensional medium but he says in painting you’re working toward three dimensions. We’ll talk about how his creative philosophy as a documentarian applies to painting, including how photography influences his artwork — and its limitations.

Bill Jersey has won two Emmy’s, three Peabodys and was twice nominated for Oscars. In over 100 films he’s explored race relations in the U.S., religious fundamentalism, criminal justice, evolution. He’s profiled luminaries such as Maya Angelou, Justice Earl Warren, Designer Ray Eames and Mozart. Jersey owns his own production company, Quest Productions. He earned a Masters Degree in Cinema from the University of Southern California. He’s represented by Artists’ Gallery in Lambertville, NJ.

Bill Jersey is the juror of the 2022 Youth Art Exhibition, which is now live until February 27, 2022.

Click Here to view the slideshow from the presentation.

A conversation with Frank Hyder could go anywhere. He loves to talk about the cultural influences of art colonies like ours in Bucks County, or the state of art education in the academies. During this ArtTalk, we will ask him about his participation in the sprawling art fair overtaking Miami during Art Basel. His broad contemporary experience and deep knowledge of art history inflect his stories of the international art scene. Frank is always as entertaining as he is informative, and he clearly cares deeply about art and the people who make it. Whenever we chat with Frank, we know it will be fascinating, enlightening and thought-provoking — and we never know where the conversation will go!

Frank is a local artist who has transcended boundaries. We know him as a sculpture juror of the 92nd Phillips’ Mill Art Show. He has shown at the Michener Museum here in Bucks County with his Janis Project — a wandering global public art phenomenon of outsized inflatable heads that carry a humorous message of equality and goodwill. He had a gallery in Philadelphia for many years and maintains strong connections to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. He’s had over 100 solo art exhibitions spanning most continents, although he says he’s particularly popular in Latin America.

Click Here to view the slides from the presentation.

William Lathrop and his wife Annie famously hosted Sunday afternoon tea parties for his colleagues and students. Annie was a gifted cook and a gracious hostess. She took a genuine interest in the students' well-being and would house, feed, and encourage them in a warmly maternal fashion.

The Lathrop's home and the Mill became the intellectual and spiritual center of the art colony. He encouraged other artists and their families to move to the area, as he and Annie did in 1899. The New Hope art community has been comprised of artistic families ever since.

We want to honor the families that have helped to make our regional art community and the Phillips’ Mill Community Association the home for artists that it is today.

We hope you enjoy this special peek into the amazing couples that are part of the community today.

The drawings and paintings of David Stier have been described as introspective, atmospheric, moody and ethereal, like viewing memories and dreams, nuanced and enigmatic. What is it about David’s work that makes it so intriguing? The color? The shapes? The brushstrokes? Viewing his works, one observes that often he uses earth tones, focusing on form, space, light and shade. His color palette is often subdued, which leads to peaceful observation that brings you in with his intuition and emotional exploration. His subjects range from still life forms to interiors, human figures, and landscapes. He cites William Lathrop as a key influence in his work, and one can see the similarities. But how does one look to the work of one artist for inspiration and then make it unique?

When painting, David likes to go to different places and spend a lot of time there at various times of the day doing drawings. In his own words, “I work not only from what I see in the visual world but from my imagination; the two inform each other; that is, your ability to see and process the outer world informs your ability to interpret and completely reinterpret the world through your imagination.”

Click Here to view the slides that were presented during the conversation with David Stier and take a closer look at his works.

View even more of David's work at http://davidstier.com.

Live theater is back! The readings of the winning works from the 4th Annual Emerging Playwright Competition will be held at the Mill on November 20th. During this event you will have an opportunity to meet the playwrights. But what about the people behind the production, specifically the jurors? Join us when Judith Hallberg, Kimberly Kalaja and Wilbert Turner will sit down with Laura Womack to have a conversation about writing for theatre, playwriting competitions and what they have learned through the years.