Heather A. Davis

Whether they were creating inflatable pillow-like structures or burying the front ends of cars in the ground to form Cadillac Ranch (right), the members of Ant Farm pushed the boundaries of installation art. With a sharp eye, the art and architecture collective—founded in San Francisco during the late 1960s—criticized consumerism while experimenting with video, design and performance art.

What is the best type of affordable housing for Philadelphia? What do individual neighborhoods need most? How can architects design buildings that fit in with the character of the other structures on the street?

  Included in this special report:

Penn Athletics is set to roll out an eye-catching new logo this fall. The revamped design, an update of the familiar split “P”, will be on display at Franklin Field and the Palestra this fall and on many team uniforms by next year.

Don’t feel left out. Though it’s true that most of the shows in the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe (through Sept. 18) take place in Old City, this year several are taking up residence here in University City.

As Andrew Exum C’00 told a Penn Bookstore crowd June 14, midway through his Penn career, he faced a hard decision. “I was told, ‘You can just muddle through or you can be a leader.’ ” Then part of Penn’s ROTC program, Exum opted for the latter, joining the infantry after graduation and serving as platoon leader in operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.

Whatever your pleasure—sci fi or fantasy novels, modern or 18th-century poetry—Jennifer Snead thinks you should read it. And if you’re an undergraduate who wants to start a literary magazine, run a tutoring project or host a reading with a favorite poet, she thinks you should do that, too.

Penn faculty and staff who want to call West Philadelphia home can still rely on their friendly neighborhood employer for a helping hand. Thanks to the Enhanced Mortgage Program—open to all Penn and Health System employees—buyers who purchase homes within a defined area of West Philly can obtain a forgivable loan of $7,500 from the Office of Community Housing.

When David Gilman Romano Gr’81 attends this summer’s Olympic Games in Athens, he’ll watch the track and field events with particular interest. A track coach and runner who competed at the University of Oregon with legend Steve Prefontane, Romano is also a leading expert on ancient athletics and the Olympic Games.

Institute of Contemporary Art Senior Curator Ingrid Schaffner once put on a show in New York about people who want everything—those who collect material possessions to try to fill their lives. Now, she’s launched a show about nothing.