On the second Sunday of every month the PMA will showcase short films about the intersections between life and art.  Anna Russell Jones: Praisesong for  a Pioneering Spirit will screen with Open Score on Sunday October 12th, 2008 @ 2pm. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to see ARJ on the big screen and see the building that critics have raved about. Open Score will screen first, followed by ARJ.

Tickets are $7, PMA Members $5; this includes films and admission to the museum.
Location: Perelman Building
26th Street, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Fairmont Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Anna Russell Jones: Praise Songs for a Pioneering Spirit (1993, 26 min). Produced by Marlene G. Patterson. Directed by Nadine Patterson.  Narrated by Toni Cade Bambara. Music by Warren Oree and the Arpeggio Jazz Ensemble. Meet Anna Russell Jones (b. 1902) an African-American woman who made great strides in the early 20th century as a textile designer, World War II veteran and nurse. In 1926 she was the first African American woman to graduate from the Philadelphia School of Design for Women (now Moore College of Art). One of the only women to work as an independent textile designer in the 1930’s.  And one of the oldest women at the age of 39 to join the military during World War Two. This half hour documentary shows the accomplishments of this talented Philadelphia design artist, who had the presence of mind to save her life’s work and donate it to the African American Museum of Philadelphia.  Through photographs, hand drawn textile designs, and personal stories we learn timeless lessons about what it takes to be an artist and an independent woman in America. Winner, Best Documentary African American Women in the Arts Film/Video Festival, Chicago 1993.