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Philadelphia Daily News October 16, 2006 Tribute to Thora by G.W. Miller III

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Philadelphia Daily News October 16, 2006 Tribute to Thora by G.W. Miller III Philadelphia Daily News October 16, 2006 Tribute to Thora By G.W. Miller III Philagrafika's Jacobson wins Moore's Visionary Woman Award ALEJANDRO A. ALVAREZ/Daily News OUTSIDE THORA Jacobson's office window, construction is all around. New homes are being built due north, on Bainbridge Street, and a condo tower is rising on Broad. Cranes hover in the distance, closer to the ever-growing city skyline. "They always say we are on the verge, the next great city," Jacobson scoffed. Rather than wait for the accolades and adulation to come to the city, Jacobson, the chief operating officer of Philagrafika, the region's foremost promoter of printmakers, is bringing the international stage here. In 2010, Philagrafika will sponsor a worldwide print competition expected to draw an estimated 300,000 people to the city over a four-month period. "All Philadelphia needs is a more-open perspective on the world," Jacobson said. "We are getting there." For her work with the competition, as well as for her lifelong commitment to promoting the arts, Jacobson will be honored on Thursday with Moore College of Art & Design's Visionary Woman Award, along with photographer Mary Ellen Mark and art historian Linda Nochlin. Jacobson, 57, a Ridley Park native who lives in South Philadelphia, said that she is flattered but uncomfortable with being labeled a visionary. "I tend to think of visionaries as those who create panoramic images in their heads and then go about realizing them," Jacobson said. "My 'vision' is on a different scale — seeing connections and possibilities between and among artists, institutions and their constituencies." Before arriving at Philagrafika in February, Jacobson directed the Samuel Fleisher Art Memorial, at 8th and Catharine streets, for 23 years. She helped foster a communal appreciation of the arts at the tuition-free art center, the oldest of 728 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA / Tel: 215.557.8433 / Email: [email protected] / www.philagrafika.org its kind in the nation. She developed the Center for Works on Paper there in 2001 and shepherded the organization through several growth spurts over the years. Before becoming director, Jacobson was on the center's staff for a decade. "Thora really transformed it over the 30 years she worked there," said Moore College president Happy Fernandez. "She's really respected throughout the arts community in Philadelphia." Countless aspiring and accomplished artists studied and practiced their craft at Fleisher under Jacobson's tenure, including her husband, Antonio Sorgini, whom she met when he was taking classes. Nationally acclaimed Philadelphians, like stained-glass artist Judith Schaechter and photographer Zoe Strauss, also spent a great deal of time at the center. Jacobson, whose father was a copy editor for the old Philadelphia Bulletin, said she is proud of Fleisher's long- standing mission of making art accessible to women and people of color. "For a long time, the art world said, 'We're giving the people art,'" Jacobson said. "Excuse me?" she snapped, sounding like a woman who could judge the Mummers Parade, which she has done since 1988. "Art is not yours to give!" In 1978, Jacobson helped launch Fleisher's Challenge Exhibition Series, a juried competition that aims to expand people's ideas about art. "That gave many artists their first real public exposure," said John Ittmann, the curator of prints at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. "Thora is a real firecracker. She has a wonderful type of energy that is really infectious." Jacobson sees Philagrafika as a continuation of her work at the Fleisher Memorial. "This moves the focus of a community into the community of Philadelphia," she said. The organization recently welcomed three new project artists: Rachid Koraichi from Algeria, Berni Searle from South Africa and Cuban multimedia artist Maria Magdalena Campos Pons. "They were bowled over by Philadelphia, bowled over by hospitality," Jacobson said. "Philadelphia welcomes not just parts of the creative economy, but we also welcome fine artists." The project artists are funded through Philagrafika, which operates on a $200,000 annual budget largely collected through donations and grants. Jacobson is one of five staffers who have made it their mission to increase the number of working artists and collectors and the amount of work space available to artists, especially printmakers, in the city. "Philadelphia richly deserves to be known as a place that honors its own," she said. Moore first offered the Visionary Woman Awards in 2003 as part of a five-year strategic plan. 728 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA / Tel: 215.557.8433 / Email: [email protected] / www.philagrafika.org "We thought, 'Why shouldn't we, as the only visual-arts school for women, highlight the achievements of women?'" said Fernandez. Past recipients include internationally renowned artist and feminist Judy Chicago, Manayunk architect Denise Scott Brown, Mural Arts Program director Jane Golden and clothing designer Adrienne Vittadini, a 1966 graduate of the college. "We are building a network of women across the country for our students to interact with and learn from," Fernandez said. Philagrafika, Fernandez said, looks toward the future of art. It is the first large-scale print competition in the continental United States that aims to redefine the printed image in contemporary art. "It points towards Philadelphia as the center of this international printmaking community," she said. Jacobson sees the print competition as a megaphone for the city to declare its world prominence. "In the next bid for the Olympics," she said, "they won't say that Philadelphia isn't an international city." —G.W. Miller III 728 South Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, USA / Tel: 215.557.8433 / Email: [email protected] / www.philagrafika.org .
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