Jennay Overton's List: Philadelphia Art

In 1982, Sylvester Stallone, Hollywood movie star and producer of the Rocky film series, donated a statue of his Rocky Balboa movie character to the City of Philadelphia.  It was left near the entrance to the Philadelphia Art Museum, where it touched off a 20-year controversy over its location and artistic merit.  

     In the first Rocky movie of 1976-77 – which won the Academy Award for Best Picture – Rocky Balboa, South Philly’s “Italian Stallion,” is a down-and-out heavyweight boxer who is unexpectedly given an opportunity to fight in a world championship bout.  In his training for the big fight, he runs the long series of steps that rise up to the entrance plaza at the Philadelphia Art Museum.  The steps climb to a location that also offers one of the finest views of Philadelphia’s skyline.

Gary Bernard graduated from Rhode Island School of Design   in 1990 with a BFA in illustration.  His work has appeared   in publications such as Billboard Magazine, Technical Analysis  of Stocks and Commodities, The New Republic and National  Review. Relocating to the west coast, Gary became Art Director at the  Constitutional Rights Foundation in Los Angeles, where he stayed until  moving to France in 1994. During his stay in Europe, Gary walked the  Camino of Santiago de Compostella, traveled through Spain, France, Italy,  Greece, Austria, Yugoslavia and Sweden. While living in Bois Colombes,  France for three years he painted, exhibited, and worked constructing  theatrical sets at the Comedie Francaise in Sarcelles. Currently living  and working in Philadelphia Gary continues to paint, art direct, illustrate  and raise a