Framing Fraktur

Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation

Bob and Roberta Smith, Art Makes People Powerful (2013). Fabric with applique and embroidery. Courtesy of the artist and Pierogi Gallery. — Bob and Roberta Smith, *Art Makes People Powerful* (2013). Fabric with applique and embroidery. Courtesy of the artist and Pierogi Gallery.

Bob and Roberta Smith, MoMA WILL BE FREE (2011) and CREATING THINGS (2011), installed as part of Framing Fraktur at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia. — Bob and Roberta Smith, *MoMA WILL BE FREE* (2011) and *CREATING THINGS* (2011), installed as part of *Framing Fraktur* at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Untitled work by Bob and Roberta Smith, installed as part of Framing Fraktur at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia. — Untitled work by Bob and Roberta Smith, installed as part of *Framing Fraktur* at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Marian Bantjes, Lost Child, installed as part of Framing Fraktur at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia. — Marian Bantjes, *Lost Child*, installed as part of *Framing Fraktur* at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Courtesy of the Free Library of Philadelphia.

Recipient

Grant Year 2014

Grant Amount $300,000

Status Completed

Updated May 30, 2023

This exhibition of contemporary art by seven artists serves as the complement to another exhibition of the library's outstanding collection of Fraktur: Pennsylvania German folk artworks from the 18th and 19th centuries, which resemble illuminated manuscripts. Framing Fraktur includes a major new installation in the library's grand staircase by Romanian-born, Germany-based brothers Gert and Uwe Tobias, whose art similarly uses a powerful combination of text and image. Other works displayed throughout the library are by artists working internationally—in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Pakistan—placing the locally grown art form of Fraktur within an international context.

*Additional unrestricted funds are added to each grant for general operating support.*

Primary EventsEvents & Exhibitions

Framing Fraktur

Mar 2–Jun 14, 2015
Free Library of Philadelphia's Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine Street

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uestions of ractice

Detail from J.B. Murray, Untitled, c. 1978–1988, ink, marker on paper. Courtesy of Cavin-Morris Gallery.

Interview

Text Made Visible in the Works of Self-Taught Artists

Interview

Questions of Practice: Graphic Artist Marian Bantjes on Textual Embellishment

Interview

Questions of Practice: Artist Bob and Roberta Smith on Art as Advocacy

Interview

Questions of Practice: Artist Bob and Roberta Smith on Virtuosity

Recipient

Free Library of Philadelphia Foundation

The Free Library of Philadelphia is the city's public library, with 54 locations serving more than six million users annually. Its main branch on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway is a grand Beaux-Arts building that houses the largest rare book collection in the country, in addition to a massive print archive. Recently, the Free Library renovated gallery space to showcase more of its extraordinary collections, including a selection of Fraktur, a manuscript-based folk art created by the German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania in the early 1700s.

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