News Briefs: Monday, January 17, 2000

ICA associate director leaves for R.I. post Tannenbaum said she was looking forward to "exciting and challenging" work in her new position at RISD, which has not previously had a formal curator for contemporary art. She will assume her new position on June 1, but will stay on at the ICA until after the May 12 opening of a show she has been organizing. "I've had a wonderful time here, but I've been here 14 years," Tannenbaum said of her tenure at the ICA. Tannenbaum had previously served as assistant director of the ICA and served as the Institute's acting director in the late 1980s when the ICA put on a controversial exhibition that included erotic photography by Robert Mapplethorpe. It was followed by a national debate over public funding of the arts in which Tannenbaum defended the ICA and public financing. ICA Director Claudia Gould, who took office this past summer, said the ICA was sorry about Tannenbaum's departure. "Not only did she help contribute to the ICA's international reputation and its local reputation, but she made this position," Gould said. "Judith is irreplaceable." The ICA is currently conducting a search to find a replacement for Tannenbaum and Gould said she hopes to fill the position by June 1. -- Jeffrey Joseph Blackwell takes post as majority leader When Philadelphia Mayor John Street formally took his new post on January 3, West Philadelphia Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell stepped up with him, becoming the new City Council majority leader. City Council's Democrats elected Blackwell -- who represents the Third Council District of Philadelphia, including the area surrounding Penn -- as their majority leader in late December, but her appointment did not become official until Street's inauguration. Blackwell said she sees this new title as an opportunity to move the Council away from partisan divisions and help new and incumbent members with their own work. "It's my responsibility to assist the [City Council] president in organizing the council and to help with consensus voting, especially on the budget," she explained. In addition to her new role, Blackwell plans to continue bringing economic development to her council district and intends to push for improvements in the city's public schools. "We believe there are minimum standards below which no school goes -- no school goes without books," Blackwell said. "I look forward to working very hard on these issues of education." The Third District has seen more economic development than any other area in Philadelphia since Blackwell was first elected to City Council in 1992, she said. Similarly, Blackwell has sponsored over 60 pieces of legislation on issues surrounding school safety and the quality of public education in West Philadelphia during her seven years on the Council. -- Stacy Humes-Schulz