Conference 2000: “Pleasures and Terrors of the City 2000”
The year 2000 was consumed by preparations for and recovery from an ambitious regional conference, held October 20–22 at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Conference Chair Sandy Sorlien and seven enthusiastic board members developed the theme “Pleasures and Terrors of the City 2000” as the counterpart to our 1999 theme, “Living in the Sprawl Zone.”
The conference kicked off Friday night with a large crowd (at least 250) for Keynote Speaker Bruce Davidson, whose career retrospective slide presentation was riveting. The Sol Mednick Award for service to the photographic community was presented to Stephen Perloff of the Photo Review. A reception for the student exhibition in UArts new Media Arts facility followed. Former board member Gabriel Martinez did a masterful job organizing this enormous show of work from around the region, juried by new Philadelphia Museum of Art curator Kate Ware. Saturday’s programming on city imagery included slide talks by students Diana Spartis and Melinda Rose; artists Karen Serago, Lawrence Salzmann, Lynn Silverman, James Abbott, Michael Lonier, Helen Stummer, and Don Camp; and photo-historian Miles Orvell. Board member Judy Gelles organized an informative panel on Adjunct Teaching Issues. All these sessions were very well attended in spite of an overheated auditorium.
Bruce Davidson and Miriam Mednick Rothman
With the help of a $2000 grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Humanities, we were able to bring in several distinguished speakers on urban issues for afternoon presentations and a lively (if fractious) panel discussion. They were ethnologist Elijah Anderson, writer James Howard Kunstler, and Inquirer metro columnist Tom Ferrick, Jr. Don Camp also joined the panel for the photographer's perspective.
Gabe Martinez’s martini, Alan Rutberg and Geoff Delanoy
A jolly dinner party at the nearby Print Center followed. Board members Alan Rutberg and Geoff Delanoy mixed martinis in stainless steel developing tanks. I’ll have mine up with a dash of Photo-Flo, please. The regional board¯joined by all those in attendance—applauded its own efforts, the efforts of many student volunteers, and, especially, the efforts of conference chair Sandy Sorlien. We also thank Abbey Camera and the Pennsylvania Humanities Council for their contributions.
“Philadelphia Essays,” an exhibition of nearly 100 images by ten Philadelphia photojournalists, was on view in the Great Hall of The University of the Arts during the conference. It ws was organized by Clem Murray of the Philadelphia Inquirer, Sandy Sorlien of SPE/UArts, and Rebecca Barger of the Inquirer/UArts.
Regional Business Meeting
At the Sunday, October 22, regional business meeting, four board members were re-elected by acclamation (Blaise Tobia, Geoff Delanoy, Sandy Sorlien, and Leigh Kane). Four more are continuing their terms (Alan Rutberg, Priscilla Smith, Jill Berry, Judy Gelles). By some mysterious process only dimly understood, Sorlien became Chair and Delanoy Vice Chair. We then discussed plans for increasing membership in our region, which is low considering the number of large art schools. We named a task force, including Lynn Estomin of Lycoming College in Western PA, to embark on recruiting visits to underrepresented schools this spring, particularly in Pittsburgh, which is in the MidAtlantic region but seems very far away. We would like to hold the 2002 regional conference there.
Tobia mentioned that we should determine what concrete steps may have been taken by National to get “affiliated organization” status for SPE with the College Art Association (CAA). We discussed the possibility of getting SPE one or more panel slots at the CAA conference in Philadelphia in 2002.
Acknowledged accomplishments in the year 2000 included Blaise Tobia’s elegantly designed conference website, newsletters, and programs. His hard work has done much to attract members and conference attendees this year.
Discussion began on a venue for the 2001 “Reege” next fall. The tentative theme is “Fiction and Fantasy” although that could change. Geoff Delanoy and Alan Rutberg will be conference co-chairs. Washington DC was thoroughly investigated and found wanting, in spite of the generous efforts of Margaret Paris to line something up at her high school. We are now considering several possibilities in Baltimore.
