Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Thora Jacobson, 77, of Philadelphia, award-winning former chief executive officer at the Fleisher Art Memorial, former executive director at the Philadelphia Art Alliance, former director of design review for Mural Arts<\/a> Philadelphia, former chief operating officer for Philagrafika, former chair of the Philadelphia Art Commission, onetime adjunct instructor at Drexel University<\/a>, independent curator, artist, mentor, Mummers<\/a> Parade judge, and much more, died suddenly Sunday, Aug. 2, at her home. The exact cause of her death has not been determined.<\/p>\n Born and reared in Ridley Park<\/a>, Delaware County<\/a>, Ms. Jacobson<\/a> became interested in art education, administration, and conservation at Trinity Washington College in Washington D.C. in the 1960s. She settled in South Philadelphia<\/a> after college in the 1970s and spent the next 50 years organizing, promoting, and inspiring local artists and art organizations. <\/p>\n \u201cPhiladelphia richly deserves to be known as a place that honors its own,\u201d she told The Inquirer in 2006. <\/p>\n She joined Fleisher in 1972, rose to CEO in 1983, and left in 2006 to work over the next two decades at Philagrafika, Mural Arts Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Art Alliance, and elsewhere. During her 34 years at Fleisher, she developed its Center for Works on Paper, the Community Partnerships in the Arts program, and the Challenge series juried competition.<\/p>\n She also oversaw three capital campaigns and told The Inquirer that her priority was \u201cseeing connections and possibilities between and among artists, institutions, and their constituencies.\u201d A colleague said on Facebook<\/a>: \u201cTo many of us she was Fleisher.\u201d<\/p>\n She prepared Philagrafika<\/a> to host the city\u2019s first international festival of printmaking in 2010, consulted with artists on major projects<\/a> at Mural Arts, and organized popular national juried exhibitions<\/a> at the Art Alliance. \u201cHer love and commitment to the arts knew no bounds,\u201d Jane Golden, executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia, said in a tribute. \u201cThora\u2019s imprint was profound.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll Philadelphia needs is a more-open perspective on the world. We are getting there.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Jacobson in 2006<\/p>\n John Ittmann, former curator at the Philadelphia Museum of Art<\/a>, told The Inquirer in 2006. \u201cThora is a real firecracker. She has a wonderful type of energy that is really infectious.\u201d<\/p>\n Ms. Jacobson was also chair of the Philadelphia Art Commission for a decade, interim director of operations for the Asian Arts Initiative, vice president of the Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, trustee of the National Guild of Community Arts Education, member of the American Swedish Historical Museum, and most recently a visual arts management consultant.<\/p>\n \u201cThora was kind and clear,\u201d colleagues at Social Impact Studios said on Facebook<\/a>, \u201cbut firm as she pushed us to keep tweaking things until they were as strong as they could be.\u201d<\/p>\n She was an adjunct instructor at Drexel University from 2010 to 2014 and led research projects at Drexel and the University of Pennsylvania<\/a> on social impacts of art in Philadelphia neighborhoods. Her first job out of college was coordinator of the student center at the Art Museum. <\/p>\n \u201cThora really transformed [Fleisher] over the 30 years she worked there.\u201d<\/p>\n Happy Fernandez, then president of Moore College of Art & Design, in 2006 <\/p>\n She curated<\/a> and juried shows<\/a>, and wrote forwards and essays for art books and catalogs. She drew in her spare time and judged the Mummers Parade for years. <\/p>\n She was featured in The Inquirer and Daily News, and appeared in the 1992 TV art documentary Monuments in Love<\/a>. In 2006, she earned the Visionary Woman Award from Moore College of Art & Design, and was honored for lifetime achievement by Tri-State Artists Equity. <\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s really respected throughout the arts community in Philadelphia,\u201d Happy Fernandez, then president at Moore said in 2006. Anne d\u2019Harnoncourt, then director of the Art Museum, said Ms. Jacobson\u2019s \u201cimpact has been enormous.\u201d<\/p>\n William Valerio, director and CEO of the Woodmere museum, said: \u201cThora was a towering figure in the arts of Philadelphia, a builder of institutions whose accomplishments are lasting.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Why did best-selling author Carol Saline email The Inquirer\u2019s obit writer?<\/a><\/p>\n Thora Elizabeth Jacobson<\/a> was born Feb. 19, 1949, in Ridley Park. The youngest of three children, her father died when she was 3. She played field hockey in high school, was fascinated by words and language, and graduated from the old Holy Child Academy in Sharon Hill. <\/p>\n She met her husband, Antonio Sorgini, when he was taking classes at Fleisher, and they married in 1980, and had a son, Antongiulio. Her husband died in May.<\/p>\n Ms. Jacobson was a talented seamstress and baker. She did humorous impersonations, collected art, and enjoyed working with young people. <\/p>\n Friends noted her \u201cmany kindnesses\u201d and \u201cdecades-long advocacy for artists and the cultural community\u201d in online tributes<\/a>. Woodmere\u2019s Valerio said: \u201cShe was both a strong voice and a warm friend to many.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: Survivors give advice about mourning their loved ones, as told to The Inquirer\u2019s obit writer<\/a><\/p>\n Her son said: \u201cShe had a sharp wit and relished cheerful banter among friends and colleagues. Above all, she took the work of mentorship very seriously.\u201d <\/p>\n In addition to her son, Ms. Jacobson is survived by a sister and other relatives. A brother died earlier.<\/p>\n A celebration of her life is to be held later.<\/p>\n Donations in her name may be made to the Fleisher Art Memorial<\/a>, 719 Catharine St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19147; and Mural Arts Philadelphia<\/a>, 1727-29 Mt. Vernon St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19130.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min Thora Jacobson, 77, of Philadelphia, award-winning former chief executive officer at the Fleisher…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265255,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70,112005],"class_list":["post-265254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-thora-jacobson-obituary-philadelphia-ridley-art-fleisher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=265254"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/265254\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/265255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=265254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=265254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=265254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}