H&H has received a grant from the Penn Treaty Special Services District (PTSSD) to produce a unique exhibition and publishing pilot we have dubbed The Riverwards Arts & Letters (RA&L) Salon Series.
What is the RA&L Salon Series, exactly? Over the past few months, H&H has formed a committee of mentors responsible for nominating Riverwards-based/ -connected artists and writers to showcase their work at a series of three Salon-style exhibitions at H&H Books leading to the publication of three original chapbooks in spring/summer 2024. The goal: a neighborhood hub where writers read and artists exhibit with an aim towards sparking collaborations and ultimately creating a published works together. In essence, the RA&L Series is a creative cross-pollination experiment.
When is the RA&L Salon Series? H&H Books is flinging wide its doors to host Salons on September 8, November 17, and January 26, 2024. Each Salon will be free to the public and will feature the work of three artists and three writers on display. Come one and all to witness the visual-verbal alchemy!
November 17th Line-up:
Artists
Lou
Pronouns: she/her
Lou is a passionate artist and storyteller. A graduate of Philadelphia University of the Art's Illustration program, her creative pursuits span poetry, printmaking, collage, zines and comics. A strong recurring motif is the meaning of home, as explored in her "HomeSick" zine, and through her many house drawings. Lou's most recent fascination is with the ornamental iron fences and window coverings common to her current home, Philadelphia. Lou hopes to one day be fully supported by her own work.
Holly Jansen
Prounouns: She/Her
I’m Holly Jansen, an illustrator and designer based in Philadelphia, PA specializing in traditional and digital illustration and design. I love the experimentation process when I create my work, and getting my hands messy. I’ve been creating in traditional mediums my whole life. Mastering techniques in paints, watercolors, collage, clay, even gave glass blowing a shot to express myself through my art. The best challenge of moving to a digital space is discovering how I can incorporate those traditional, hand-made qualities and still make “happy accidents.”
Manuela Guillén
Pronouns: she/her
Manuela Guillén is a freelance painter, muralist, and digital illustrator currently living in Philadelphia, PA. Born in Miami to Cuban and Salvadorian immigrant parents, Manuela has always had a love for art. She has collaborated with local, national, and global art organizations such as PangeaSeed, Mural Arts Philadelphia, Gender Justice Fund, and more. Her murals can be found in both the U.S. and Mexico. Inspired by plants, tropical colors, and her cultural upbringing, Manuela aims to bring awareness to art education, mental health, sociopolitical, and environmental issues. As an Art teacher, Manuela hopes to inspire her students to be creative as she continues to bring communities closer together through art.
Writers
Lauren Ballester
Pronouns: she/her
Lauren Ballester is a queer, mixed Dominican-American childcare worker and nonfiction writer. A former middle school English teacher, she is working on a project about mothering. @laaaaaurenelizabeth on Instagram.
Vriddhi Vinay
Pronouns: she/they/he
I am a South Indian Philadelphia-based writer, poet, researcher, art reviewer, and poetic anthropologist. A December 2022 Temple University graduate, I use my multidisciplinary background to write about anti-colonial art, South Asian feminism, and sexuality. From 2018-2022, I was the Artistic Director for Babel Poetry Collective, which organized 2-3 public workshops or curated collected poetry shows in a venue space in the Philadelphia area. I love to explore the intersection of sexual reclamation, radical survivorship, community between brown women, queerness, and memory. The ethos of my art writing surrounds highlighting braveness, archive-keeping, and subversion in artistic works. My work has appeared or is forthcoming in Violet Indigo Blue, Artblog Philadelphia, MUNDI Global Academic Journal, Kweli Journal, Tilted House, Cosmonauts Avenue, Apiary Magazine, and The Inklette Magazine. Find me at vriddhivinay.wordpress.com to read more of my work.
Mary Zhou
Pronouns: they/she
Mary Zhou (they/she) is an artist based in Philadelphia. They explore devotion, identity, and the body through writing, dance, and visual art. They are a 2023 VONA/Voices Fellow in Poetry. Their work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and is shared in The Rumpus, Oversound, ANMLY, and more.
Miriam Saperstein (writer and artist)
Pronouns: they/them
Miriam Saperstein is a writer, mixed-media artist, and arts educator based in West Philly and originally from Metro Detroit. They work with decomposition and Jewish ritual histories, combining research, spiritual practice, and my artistic crafts. They are the recipient of a 2023 Sachs Program for Arts Innovation grant, and have received fellowships and awards through Michigan in the World, New Voices / Jewish Currents, the Hopwoods Program at the University of Michigan and the Tompkins Poetry Prize at Wayne State University. Recently, Miriam’s visual work was at the William Way LGBT Community Center, and featured in the Radical Jewish Calendar. Their writing appears in publications such as Syllabus, Pollux Journal, and Jewish Currents.