(upbeat music) - Next on "You Oughta Know," travel with us to Chadds Ford to observe the beauty of peonies in full bloom, plus, see how this West Philly restaurant is rewarding students for a job well done and inspiring the next generation of entrepreneurs, and memorializing a special time in motherhood.

Welcome to "You Oughta Know."

I'm Shirley Min.

Events celebrating the 50th anniversary of the groundbreaking Focus exhibit have been happening throughout the city as part of "(Re)FOCUS: Then and Now," and the Philadelphia Museum of Art has held several exhibits contributing to the dialogue about the role of art in the feminist movement.

(soft music) - The Philadelphia Museum of Art is very pleased to be engaged in Women's History Month.

We involve work by women artists all of the time.

We've embraced women in leadership roles throughout our history.

We have works on view in the permanent collection with paintings by Georgia O'Keeffe, Frances Simpson Stevens, and Edith Clifford Williams.

In conjunction with the "(Re)FOCUS" project, we're very pleased to be shining a light on three installations at the museum, an exhibition of photographs called "In the Right Place," "Diana Scultori: Engraver in Renaissance Rome," and "Seeing with Empathy: The Female Gaze in American Modernism," in addition to having works throughout the galleries that are by women artists.

(soft music) - This exhibition brings together work by three photographers, Melissa Shook, Barbara Crane, and Carol Taback.

They were all thinking about photography in similar ways.

There was an interest in all three in seriality, looking at one place and working in one place and returning to it again and again over the period of months or years.

For Melissa Shook's project, which was a series of self-portraits that she made over a period of nine months, most of that work was made in her own apartment.

It's a moment when people are giving a lot of critical eye to male photographers' depictions of female bodies, and there are artists, including Melissa Shook, who are looking at that long history of photography, seeing that work in galleries around them, and trying to navigate a path forward where they can picture themselves in a way that they feel is more representative.

Barbara Crane is a photographer who worked for a long time in Chicago and was in her first decade of work as a photographer when she made the series that's on view in this gallery called "People of the North Portal."

And for that series, Crane positioned herself and a large format view camera on the top step of the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and photographed people coming in and out of that space.

You get this wild mix of people in a space that is otherwise very ordinary and that you might not think about as a public space.

The third photographer is Carol Taback, and she actually was not trained as a photographer but as a designer and painter and was primarily working as a designer and book illustrator in Philadelphia when she discovered the photo booth at the Woolworth's Store in Center City and became so enamored with the medium that she bought a photo booth for her home studio, and she's taking multiple strips of the same subject and then arranging those strips into grids.

Often, the pattern repeats almost to the point of abstraction.

All three of them, to the best of my knowledge, were single parents at the time that they were making pictures.

This is often something that's undervalued when we talk about women artists, but I think there is a real interest from each of them in trying to find a space that works for a project that can have depth and meaning to them as artists.

(gentle pleasant guitar music) - Diana Scultori was an Italian renaissance artist who is particularly notable for being the first woman in Europe to work as a professional engraver.

This is a moment in time when women were not particularly present in the art world.

However, she came from a family of artists.

Her father was an engraver, a painter, and a sculptor who worked at the court of the Gonzaga family in Mantua.

They were the Dukes of Mantua, and he trained Diana and her brother Adamo in the work of engraving, which is the art of incising images into copper plates and then printing them on paper.

What's really exciting about this project is that we own one of the largest collections of work by Diana Scultori in the country.

The vast majority of them have never been on view before.

Like many engravers at the time, Diana worked primarily from images created by other artists.

For that reason, she had access to imagery that was not typically what women of the period would be engaging with.

You can see that she has some female nude figures here that she likely would not have depicted had she not been working from examples by another artist.

The image on the right that we have here is an impression of the same image printed from the same copper plate but many years later that shows just how popular her work remained well after she died.

Her plates were purchased and passed on by subsequent publishers, and it continued to be printed, even when the image was no longer as strong as the original one.

As visitors walk through these galleries, I hope they come away with an understanding that women have been active in the art market and the commercial art world as professional artists for centuries.

(soft piano music) - For this installation, the goal was to find works of art that were women artists representing women's subjects in all different ways, all from the first half of the 20th century, which was such an important moment for women's history.

If you think about 1920s being the year when white women received the right to vote, there were other landmarks for women at this period, but it was a moment when women artists really struggled for a claim.

So this work is really quite radical in its day for the way the woman artist is being self reflexive, turning a romantic gaze on her subjects, looking at the people around her, and kind of commenting on society morays.

So from the museum's perspective, women artists always are part of the story, and they appear in the galleries in different ways, and it serves as a bit of a teaser looking ahead to the exhibition "Mary Cassatt at Work," which includes works from the permanent collection but also includes works lent from collections around the country and abroad, focusing on the seriousness of Mary Cassatt's pursuit as an artist.

It's a really fresh take on an important artist who has Philadelphia roots but an international reputation, and we're looking forward to that opening in May.

- MilkMade Keepsakes specializes in making breast milk jewelry.

It's a way for moms to remember this special time with their babies.

- [Nicole] Hi, I'm Nicole Trainor.

I own MilkMade Keepsake, and I make breast milk jewelry.

(bright upbeat music) Someone will bring me their breast milk, and then I'll preserve it to create tiny little stones that I'll put in earrings, necklaces, rings, bracelets.

- [Shirley] Breast milk jewelry came about because Nicole is a newborn photographer.

Seeing moms coming in to be photographed with their babies and seeing how precious that connection is, Nicole wanted to create something so mothers could remember this short moment in time.

- I started testing a process with cow's milk.

You know, cow's milk isn't breast milk, but it was close enough, and through figuring out different ways that I could harden this milk with without it turning yellow or brown is kind of where I came into the process.

But a lot of moms, their first question will be, "Is my stone gonna turn yellow?

I don't want it to."

The process that I do hopefully will make sure that it doesn't, but I absolutely recommend adding a little bit of translucent color.

- This is the Milk Drop II necklace?

- Exactly.

So this is the Milk Drop II, and you'll see the difference.

This has just breast milk, no translucent powder added, and then down here has the white translucent powder added.

- It's so pretty.

This is also popular, little mama bear with her cubs.

- You got it.

So this is the Mountain Bear Mama, and this is an infused charm, and what that means is that the milk is just set right into the mountains, right into the bears.

- So this is something else you're working on.

- [Nicole] This is a keepsake plaque, and this is the breast milk right here.

(soft music) - [Shirley] Nicole launched MilkMade Keepsake during the pandemic in April 2020.

Through word of mouth and social media, her business has grown steadily.

- And just little by little, I think over a month or two, 2,000 followers, emails, messages.

So yeah, the business grew really quickly.

(laughs) It really told me that there is a market for this.

- [Shirley] Nicole gets orders from all over, but if you're local, you can drop your breast milk in this milk box outside of Nicole's Newark, Delaware workshop.

- [Nicole] This is something that I don't feel like a lot of people know about, but the people that do know about it love it.

- Great gift idea for new moms this Mother's Day.

Here's how you can connect with Nicole at MilkMade Keepsake.

Well now I wanna introduce you to Janay Williams, the lead vibe curator at High Tea and Happy Hour.

Janay, I love the title, - Thank you, Shirley.

- and welcome to "You Oughta Know."

- Thank you so much.

- So you're here to show us some simple ways to celebrate mom this Mother's Day, and you have decorated this high top table for us.

It is beautiful, by the way.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

- How would you describe this aesthetic that you've achieved here?

- Yeah, so the aesthetic for my Moment for Mom table is a warm spring maximalist table.

- And when you say maximalist, what does that mean?

- Yeah, so maximalist is the aesthetic of excess.

More is always more here.

- Not less is more, which is what we always hear.

(laughs) So more is more, and you're really creating this like high-end experience.

You've sort of like elevated what is just gonna be kind of like a Mom's Day brunch maybe.

- Yeah, so the dinner party is back, and everybody wants these high-end experiences in chill environments, which is basically creating vibey aesthetics in a very comfortable space.

- How can we recreate this at home?

- Yeah, for sure.

So the great thing about maximalist is it gives you a lot of options of layering and aesthetics to add.

So I've layered in candlesticks.

I've layered tablecloths.

I've layered in flowers, which flowers for Mom on Mother's Day is perfect.

I've layered in bows that adds a regal essence to the table, but remember layering, layering, layering.

- So I love that we've started with flowers.

We've already sort of incorporated it into everything in the decor.

You're also using food as a filler but as a like part of the decor as well.

- Yes, and that's also trending, to have food as the centerpiece, and you don't need to be a professional plater, you know?

Let the cake stands and the plates do the work here.

- And you have a special cocktail that you made?

- I do.

So this also reinforces that flowers for mom situation.

So this is a two-ingredient rose spritzer.

It's just rose syrup and ginger seltzer.

If you wanted to make this into a cocktail, you would replace it with the alcoholic syrup as well as the champagne.

- I love the color scheme of it.

Now you have a background in interior design.

So how are you able to come up with these ideas, and like where do you draw your inspiration from?

- Yeah, so Shirley, I have to come up with a lot of ideas.

(women laugh) So I have to make it specific to the person and the situation.

My mom loves brown, so you see a lot of tones of brown bouncing around in this design, but I would say think about the person or thing that you're designing for.

- Do you have to spend a lot to achieve this look?

- No, and that's the great thing about maximalism.

You're bringing together a lot of different things.

We're not doing matchy matchy anymore.

We're bringing in different elements to create a collage of interest on the table.

- I love it, and different textures, too.

Can you reuse some of this stuff?

- For sure.

So I would definitely take all of these things and have a picnic.

This is travel friendly.

- Oh, that's great.

- It's beautiful.

So like take this, bring the candlesticks, bring the flowers, and go have a picnic.

- Moms love picnics, too.

- Yes, we do.

(women laugh) We do - With a little cocktail.

Yes, definitely.

Okay, well check out Janay's Instagram where you will find inspiration for everything from date night ideas to cute snacks and crafts.

Janay, thank you so much for being here.

- Thank you, Shirley.

- This is really beautiful.

You're a mom.

Happy Mother's Day.

- Hey Mother's Day to you.

- Thank you.

If you ask around, Bookers Restaurant on Baltimore Avenue in West Philly is known as a gathering spot for good food and fellowship, and the new owners are making sure their impact extends to the community as a whole.

(upbeat jazzy music) - When I came to Philadelphia, I fell in love with the history, the culture, and you've got all different kind of eclectic people, academic people, conscious people, but West Philadelphia was special to me because of Baltimore Avenue.

It really, really reminded me of home.

When Tracey and I started dating, we came to Bookers often, and the previous owner, she was the staple in the community, being kind of a pioneer in this neighborhood, was definitely enterprising and forward thinking, and saying, "Hey, I'm gonna make a really nice restaurant in the middle of Baltimore Avenue in West Philly."

I think that's really, really important, first of all, because it's a large population of people of color, and this is a place that they can come, and it's elevated experience, and they get to have that experience that most people have to go down into Center City to have.

We believe that we are really an economic juggernaut in this neighborhood.

- We definitely believe that, in order to be great business partners in the community, you have to be great neighbors, and we really realized that the schools are a big part of that, our children, and our children's future is a big part of that.

As restaurateurs in this community, we wanted to pour into them.

So being connected with the schools in the West Philadelphia has been a great partnership that we've enjoyed just watching.

- Yeah, I love it.

(upbeat funky music) - I live in West Philadelphia, and Bookers is very, very close by in the community, very close to the school, so it's just been really great to have all of those pieces of West Philadelphia come together.

Sage goes to Samuel Powell School.

He is a full of life, full of opinions, full of energy 2nd grader that you could imagine, perfect attendance, honor roll student, and we found out that there was a new initiative with Bookers Restaurant to celebrate students who had achieved both of those things.

And so the first time, first quarter, we got this amazing surprise, gift certificate for this great food from Bookers as a part of that, and I felt really responsible for the perfect attendance, so I felt like it was my award as well.

- My school is a really great school.

It has lots of nice teachers and fun things to do, and I got the triple A.

The triple A stands for attendance, achievement, and attitude.

I had to be here every day, and I had to get As and Bs.

You can get a gift card for $25.

When we ordered, I got the Booker burger.

It was so big, I couldn't even eat it.

- I love when they come in and redeem their gift cards.

I love when I'm at the schools, giving 'em out.

They're all excited.

Exposure is key.

Education is key, and so it's been a really fulfilling experience for both of us.

(bright upbeat rhythmic music) - YELP stands for Youth Entrepreneurial Leadership Program.

In that program, I did get to meet Mr. And Mrs. Syphax because they came in to speak about their business.

In September, I landed my job here at Bookers Restaurant and Bar.

I take care of mostly reservations, emails, bookkeeping, cash, collation, a whole lot of daily tasks I do every day just to keep the restaurant up and running.

- Jessie has that type of drive.

She's the person that can order food.

She's the person that can order supplies.

She's the person that can be a host.

She is that all around person.

Her personality really stands out, so like I said earlier, it is just a great opportunity to pour into someone like Jessie to see them blossom and to see them flourish.

- We believe that we do that investment on the front end.

They see entrepreneurs, they see thriving businesses with people of color, and then they have something to aspire to.

- Move over soccer, lacrosse, and football.

There is a new sport taking over.

In Washington Township, New Jersey, boys and girls are playing rugby, a sport requiring discipline, sportsmanship, and a drive to reach their highest potential.

- Get up, get up!

Good!

Rugby is one of the fastest growing youth sports in America right now.

A lot of our players play other sports.

What we've been noticing though is the first year that they play rugby, they're playing part rugby and part baseball or lacrosse, and the next year, they're just playing rugby.

Step it down!

Get on the outside.

Good.

(upbeat funky music) - It's one of my favorite sports.

It's basically like football but like no pads, and the pads like slow you down a bit.

- For rugby, you need cleats, and you need mouthpiece, and that's it.

A rugby ball is a little bit wider than a football.

The big difference between football and rugby is that, when you're tackling in rugby, you can't come up above a certain height.

If you do, you automatically get thrown outta the game.

Rugby begins with a kickoff.

The ball is live.

So if the team that's kicking off gets down to the field and catches the ball first, it's their ball.

- And go, and loop, step it down, and good.

Good one.

- You can only play the ball backwards, so it's gotta be a pitch.

You can't go forward.

If somebody goes to catch the ball and knocks it forward and hits the ground, that's a knock on.

It goes to the other team.

You can get five points for a try.

A try is the same as a touchdown, and then you kick two extra points or, if you kick from the field, you can get three points for a field goal.

Rugby is for boys and girls.

The ages are six to 19.

The flag program that we have, which is rookie called Rookie Rugby, is from six to 12.

It's co-ed.

Some of our best U-12 players are the girls.

They really pack a punch sometimes.

- All the girls have their own team now, which is gonna be a little downfall for us because like most of the best players from last year were females, so.

- We're really excited about our girls program.

Rugby is an amazing teacher of how to be a team player.

- I just really like, you know, the team aspect, the coming to practice, and the younger guys, you know, they learn a lot from us, like the toughness, the hustle.

- I'm gonna pass it, right?

And then he's through.

- [Kevin] The idea of trust and the work that they put in and what they do for each other really builds team spirit and builds team.

- Number two, stay deep!

Move on to the ball!

- [Kevin] It's a very community-based sport.

At the end of the day, everybody comes together, and you all sit and talk and eat, regardless of what happened on the field.

It really builds a community spirit.

It'll get into your blood.

You won't be able to get away from it.

It's a lot of fun.

(people shout indistinctly) (whistle blows) - In 2010, an oil rig explosion spilled millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.

This environmental disaster inspired an artist and a retired psychologist to educate the community about protecting the habitat we all live in.

(slow dramatic music) - 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, an entire summer of oil spilling.

Platform blew up, killed a bunch of people, and then just continued to poison the Gulf of Mexico, killed all kinds of creatures and people.

So I had to do something different.

I've been a visual artist basically my entire life.

I love painting, I love having gallery shows, but I had to do something different.

(soft tense ethereal music) And I ended up doing a graphic novel, and it's "The Big Belch," and it's a very silly graphic novel.

I did all the drawings and writing.

It's about a corporation's PR stuff almost blowing up the planet.

The graphic novel directly led to me having this radio show.

(laughs) (birds chirp) - You're listening to Germantown Community Radio, 92.9 FM WGGT LP Philadelphia and online at gtownradio.com.

- Hi, this is "Planet Philadelphia," here on Germantown Community Radio.

Linda Rosenwein, our assistant producer reporter, is here with me, and.

- I grew up in a family where we bird watched, We went all over the world looking for birds, and my family was very interested in the natural world.

So after I retired, I didn't wanna do psychology anymore, but I felt that the environment was the moral issue of our time.

(uplifting music) We heard about pollution from runoff from nitrogen fertilizer.

And, in fact, some have thought.

I knew from activist things I'd done in the past that I wanted to do something that made a difference.

- [Kay] The first show was in September 2015.

- We spent a lot of time thinking about the topic, reading about it, and preparing questions.

- [Radio Speaker] Where does rainwater go?

We don't wanna just do what is everybody is covering.

We wanna do something where we think we have something new to say and can go in more depth.

- [Radio Speaker] Instead of saying, "We're going to send the rainwater out of here," we talk about sites drinking their own rainwater.

- We try to make the, at least a little bit, delve into the relationships of what's happening globally and what's happening locally but also across topics, I guess, like social justice and environmental justice, trying to explain some of the connections between what's happening here in our backyards and how it's affected by everything that's happening around us.

Do you remember the smoke this summer?

That was from fires 3,000 miles away, and our skies were orange.

- [Radio Speaker] Space was doing ecological services for the park and for a wider community that are now like have been led.

- [Kay] It's a show about our environment.

- Which is everything around us.

Hopefully we're educating people to think much more deeply about the environment.

We try to make everything hopeful.

We try to give hopeful things or what you can do.

(soaring instrumental music) - With spring upon us, that means it's almost time for the sixth annual Festival of the Peony.

(lively bright string music) Here at Styer's Peonies, the flowers are in full bloom.

You can take a stroll or drive through to see the beauty and breathe in the fragrance of thousands of peonies all around you here in Chadds Ford, PA. - We have 200 varieties here.

That gives you an opportunity to see peonies that some people will never have seen.

It's a lot of varieties, and the color, it's a smorgasbord of all colors.

- [Shirley] You can even pack a picnic with wine and enjoy dinner with friends embedded among the peonies for Styer's Tailgate Night.

- What people enjoy the most is bringing in their own food, their wine, their drinks, set, decorating their table, and just having that secret garden experience in a bed of peonies.

- [Shirley] Back in the day, you couldn't buy cut peonies until botanist J Franklin Styer pioneered the idea of selling fresh cut peonies in the early 1900s.

Sales went through the roof for the delicate flowers that looked like clouds of tissue paper.

(bright lively symphony music) - It is the Rolls Royce of all flowers.

I can't say anything more.

You know, it's like there's nothing better.

- The sixth annual Festival of the Peony goes from May 17th through the 27th.

You can get your tickets now at styerspeonies.com.

You can't take a bad photo there.

It is beautiful.

All right, well, that is our show, and now you are in the know.

Goodnight, everyone.

(upbeat music)