Behind him were two works by Philadelphia painters Francis Coates Jones and Thomas Hovenden, both depicting an elderly Black named Sam, who lived in the Germantown<\/a>\/Chestnut Hill<\/a> area, simply enjoying moments in nature. Another Dox Thrash <\/a>etching of a man holding a banjo suggests he\u2019s more than an entertainer, but also introspective thinker.<\/p>\n Contemporary artist Allan L. Edmond\u2019s lithograph, America\u2019s Bicentennial features luminaries Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, and Barack Obama alongside scenes of African American struggle and achievement. <\/p>\n What if America in the 19th century \u2014 when many of these works were made \u2014 embraced Black men\u2019s humanity?, I thought. What if we came to terms with how unfair treatment of women, minorities, and immigrants in the past impacted our lives today? <\/p>\n Would America be a different place?<\/p>\n These questions find answers in every nook, cranny, and inch of Woodmere\u2019s \u201cArc of Promise\u201d<\/a> exhibit. Each painting, ceramic, map, or mixed media collage speaks to how Philly artists \u2014 from the 17th century through today \u2014 envisioned the idea of America. <\/p>\n Many \u2014 including Barbara Bullock\u2019s seminal sculpture honoring the life of Trayvon Martin<\/a> and the charcoal works of the late Peter Paone<\/a> \u2014 are a part of Woodmere\u2019s vast permanent collection. <\/p>\n But there are several important works on loan including protest photography by Harvey Finkle <\/a>and a mixed-media handcrafted necklace by Teri Hislop<\/a>, a member of the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania. Henry Bermudez<\/a>\u2019s Miss America, completed in 2019 offers a layered vision of America through migration, mythology, and identity. It sits next to sculptor Hiram Powers<\/a>\u2019 \u201cAmerica,\u201d in which 19th century America is depicted as a Greek goddess. <\/p>\n There is a lot of pomp, circumstance, and sparkle in this lively retrospective. The must-see gallery, however, is the Schnader Gallery Hall because it includes a pristine collection of refurbished American landscapes by local 19th century artists Frederic Edwin Church and James Hamilton featuring many a Schuylkill<\/a> waterfall. Think of this gallery as a place to retreat from bustling Fourth of July weekend. <\/p>\n \u201cArc of Promise\u201d takes its name from watercolor artist, Jerry Pinkney<\/a>, a longtime friend of the Woodmere who used the term as a way to speak to an America of unfolding potential, despite its past unequal treatment of Black people, immigrants and women. <\/p>\n \u201cArc of Promise\u201d runs through Nov. 2, 2026. Woodmere\u2019s Smith Hall is located at 9201 Germantown Avenue. <\/p>\n \u2014 Elizabeth Wellington <\/p>\n Excavating history with \u2018Basil Biggs\u2019<\/p>\n There is something so powerful about seeing someone grapple with their personal experience of American history. As Semiquincentennial<\/a> fanfare reached fever pitch in Philadelphia, this workshop of a developing play by actor\/playwright Anna Deavere Smith was a deeply moving performance about her great-great-grandfather, a conductor on the Underground Railroad. Smith learned of Biggs for the first time in an episode of Finding Your Roots<\/a>; even then, she knew his story was worthy of a play, though she didn\u2019t start writing until a decade later. <\/p>\n Biggs was a veterinarian and farmer in Gettysburg during the Civil War, a free Black man who helped fugitives escape slavery and buried the tens of thousands of soldiers who died in the war\u2019s bloodiest battle. The Biggs family house in Gettysburg still stands today, and Smith visited the grounds, as well as the Adams County Historical Society, while she researched the time period. There was little preserved in the archive about her family, so this work is narrative speculation based on her archival research, much like groundbreaking scholar Saidiya Hartman\u2019s critical fabulation<\/a>: In the absence of preserved records about African Americans in history, visionaries use archival materials to imagine the lives of those largely erased from written memory. <\/p>\n Smith crafted a riveting world that showcased fierce resilience, disarming humor, and profound empathy during a painfully divided time, fueled by original music from actor\/violinist Edward W. Hardy. It was an honor to experience one of the earliest presentations of this play, which will likely grow into a major production in the future. It\u2019s the kind of honest work about this nation\u2019s bloody, conflicted history that feels like essential viewing for anyone who calls themself a patriot. <\/p>\n \u2018Basil Biggs\u2019 ran June 26-28 at the Wilma Theater as part of ArtPhilly\u2019s What Now: 2026 festival<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u2014 Rosa Cartagena<\/p>\n Romping, stomping, piano-pounding resistance with Low Cut Connie<\/p>\n Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie has stressed that the band\u2019s eighth studio album, whose release is timed to America\u2019s 250th birthday, is an act of resistance. <\/p>\n Shortly after becoming one of the first artists to cancel at the Kennedy Center <\/a>after the Trump administration\u2019s takeover of the Washington, D.C. institution in early 2025, Weiner recorded what became the title song. <\/p>\n As he explains in an explanatory note that accompanies the album, it addresses \u201cthe atrocity of ICE, authoritarianism, racism\u201d and led to a full set of songs \u201cabout the times we are living through in America 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n But while Weiner\u2019s political stance is unequivocal \u2014 \u201cI made this album to say f\u2014 you to this regime, to the brutality, and inhumanity of our tech leaders,\u201d he writes \u2014 his music is much more subtle.<\/p>\n Many of the titles like \u201cOh Yeah\u201d and \u201cGet Down\u201d on Livin in the USA are essentially party songs: romping, stomping, piano-pounding and saxophone-wailing celebrations of diversity and sexuality that aren\u2019t the slightest bit preachy or pedantic. <\/p>\n Singing a gospel of self-liberation, Weiner is accompanied by the touring LCC band, which includes singer Amanda \u201cRocky\u201d Bulwinkel,\u201d guitarist-sax player Kelsey Cork and drummer Jarae Lewis. Occasionally, as in the grinding, \u201cHuman Condition,\u201d the songs are overt in their condemnation of life during Trump time, which he likens to \u201cliving in a house of detention.\u201d <\/p>\n But in general, he heeds lessons learned from favorite albums like Bruce Springsteen<\/a>\u2019s Born in the USA and Sly and the Family Stone\u2019s There\u2019s A Riot Goin\u2019 On. When delivering a heavy message, always keep the groove going, and the rock rolling. <\/p>\n \u201cJust because the world is collapsing,\u201d Weiner writes in his Livin album note, \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t go skinny dipping this weekend.\u201d \u201cCan\u2019t Be Wrong\u201d is perhaps the most grabby ear worm in a tight, 10-song set whose energy never flags. In that song, the prospect of \u201cgettin\u2019 naked in the afternoon, or maybe later underneath the moon\u201d leads to an obvious conclusion: \u201cOh babe, you know it can\u2019t be wrong.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cLivin in the USA\u201d releases on July 3<\/p>\n \u2014 Dan DeLuca<\/p>\n Remembering LGBTQ+ activists<\/p>\n Resting in peace can also mean resting in pride and power. This new Gayborhood mural provides a tribute that does exactly that. <\/p>\n In Pride, In Power, In Memory is located on the side of Voyeur Nightclub at 1221 James Street, a prominent spot amid Philadelphia\u2019s queer nightlife. <\/p>\n Painted by artist Santiago Galeas, the mural displays portraits of Gloria Casarez, Michael S. Hinson, Jr., Tyrone Smith, Nizah Morris, and Dawn Munro; all LGBTQ+ activists who called Philadelphia home. <\/p>\n Each figure is accompanied by a flower that symbolizing the person\u2019s life and identity; Casarez\u2019s portrait is adorned by Mexican marigolds, for example, as a nod to her heritage. The faces were all drawn referencing photos of them looking hopeful and optimistic.<\/p>\n The mural is strikingly bright, with vivid shades of purple and yellow illuminating the portraits. <\/p>\n These trailblazers pursued several kinds of activism in their lives, including AIDS awareness, trans rights, and community organization to rally for queer rights. Without them, the status of Philadelphia\u2019s acceptance of the queer community may have looked completely different today.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Pride, In Power, In Memory\u201d is located on the side of Voyeur Nightclub at 1221 James Street<\/p>\n \u2014 Morgan Ritter<\/p>\n As a columnist, I write about gender, race, fashion, culture and wellness. I share my personal take on the way we live and how we style our lives. <\/p>\n![\"Woodmere](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/XG3DUP422BAJFBULHDIFRYOQFM.jpg\")
Woodmere director Bill Valerio stands in the Antonelli Gallery at the opening of the Chestnut Hill museum’s ‘Arc of Promise’ exhibition featuring the work of Philadelphia artists who painted Black people with humanity during the Civil War era.Elizabeth Wellington<\/p>\n![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/YMOZYFWHIRG6XBNKDUR7W7FOEI.jpg\")
From left to right, “Untitled,” 1874; by Charles V. Brown; Francis Coates Jones; “The Fifteenth Amendment (or Civil Rights), 1875; “Left in Charge,” 1882; Thomas Hovenden, “I’s So Happy,” 1882; Dox Thrash, “Played Out” c. 1937; “American Bicentennial,” Allan L. Edmunds. These photos show the humanity of Black men during an era when art didn’t portray them as such.Elizabeth Wellington<\/p>\n![\"Actor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/MGHMUMDFURBTNJOZHPOPQHTQCY.jpg\")
Actor John Clarence Stewart as the titular character in ‘Basil Biggs’ at the Wilma Theater.REC Philly<\/p>\n![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/VI6EFUCTMZB7VNOEGXKBCVQDA4.jpg\")
Adam Weiner of Low Cut Connie. The band’s new album is ‘Livin’ in the U.S.A.’Danny Clinch<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GSGQKP65J5DFFLL4ACGBYAHZ2E.jpg\")
The mural is located outside of Voyeur Nightclub in Philadelphia’s Gayborhood.Morgan Ritter<\/p>\n![\"Elizabeth](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/https:\/\/author-service-images-prod-us-east-1.publishing.aws.arc.pub\/pmn\/71b72dca-4e87-4be6-93ce-98bf.jpeg\")
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