February 2014

Avance

Art of Food — Produced by Monica Rogozinski

Avance is French for advance. And advance is what Chef Justin Bogle and Avance Restaurant plan to do. Avance is located at 1523 Walnut Street, an address formally occupied by Georges Perrier and famed Le Bec-Fin. Bogle and his team knew they could not open a “Le Bec-Fin 3.0” and have created a contemporary restaurant with a progressive American menu that honors the legacy of their address. Avance focuses on using modern techniques and interesting combinations to highlight regional ingredients in their dishes. This month, Art of Food visits Avance to discuss the legacy of Le Bec-Fin and their visions for a new legacy with Justin Bogle, partner Chris Scarduzio and general manager Adam Olland.

A Life on Ice

Art of Life — Produced by Karen Smyles

Very few colleges and universities have figure skating teams, but one of the best in the country is located right here in our area at The University of Delaware. Which should come as no surprise because the campus is also home to one of the best training facilities in the country,The Fred Rust Arena. Champion figure skaters from around the world have trained here.

Friday Arts visits with the University of Delaware Figure Skating Team as they prepare for the 2014 Intercollegiate Championships which will be held in March. The team won the 2013 championship for the 3rd time since their founding in 2000, and no one was more thrilled than UD graduate, Vice President Joe Biden, who sent the team a congratulatory letter.

At UD, figure skating is a club sport and the team is made up of 30–40, male and female skaters. The team is represented by skaters of various levels and many of the skaters have prestigious individual skating careers.

Art of Life takes to the ice for an inside view into how it’s all made to look so graceful and effortless. We talk with team members and the team’s coach and learn why figure skating is such a dominate part of their lives.

The Artblog

Art — Produced by Michael O’Reilly

The Artblog is 10 years old this year and Libby Rosof and Roberta Fallon are celebrating. In 2003, when “blogging” (a compound word derived from “web log”) was not that well-known, Libby and Roberta started diverting their artistic energies from art making to art criticism. They saw a burgeoning art scene on the fringes of the Philadelphia art scene and yet no one in the mainstream media seemed to be covering it. Instead of printing something on their own, or writing for the already established media outlets, they chose to establish their own electronic “non-paper” presence. Join us as we follow Libby and Roberta as they tour alternative art on a cold and snowy First Friday, remarking on art and trends and meeting and re-meeting artists along the way.