#nyfa hall of fame benefit

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Featuring | NYFA Hall of Fame Honoree Sanford Biggers

On April 11, 2019, Biggers (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ’05) will be inducted into NYFA’s Hall of Fame alongside Karl Kellner and Min Jin Lee

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) will celebrate the induction of three arts luminaries into its Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on Thursday, April 11, 2019 at Capitale, 130 Bowery, New York, NY 10013. The event recognizes visual, literary, and performing artists who have received NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships and have had a profound impact on the arts through their creative work, as well as patrons of the arts who have championed the value of the arts in the world around us. 

Among the honorees is Sanford Biggers, a visual artist who received a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Performance/Multidisciplinary in 2005. Biggers’ work is an interplay of narrative, perspective, and history that speaks to current social, political, and economic happenings while also examining the contexts that bore them. His diverse practice positions him as a collaborator with the past through explorations of often overlooked cultural and political narratives from American history. 

Working with antique quilts that echo rumors of their use as signposts on the Underground Railroad, Biggers engages these legends and contributes to this narrative by drawing and painting directly onto them. In response to ongoing occurrences of police brutality against black Americans, Biggers’ BAM series is composed of bronze sculptures recast from fragments of wooden African statues that have been anonymized through dipping in wax and then ballistically ‘resculpted.’ Following a residency as a 2017 American Academy Fellow in Rome, Biggers began working in marble. Drawing on and playing with the tradition of working in this medium, he creates hybridized forms that transpose, combine, and juxtapose classical and historical subjects to create alternative meanings and produce what he calls “future ethnographies.”

Seph Rodney, an editor and writer at Hyperallergic, wrote that Biggers’ 2017 Selah exhibition “recognizes that being black in the United States is a syncretic state of being, that the African and the American have become lodged together in ways that are at times brilliant, grandiose, and also violent and inscrutable.” In an ARTnews review from 2000, Tom Finkelpearl, the then-director of MoMA P.S.1′s studio program and now-commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, was quoted as saying: “Biggers is always juggling cultural signs” and has “an incredible formal sense.” A 2018 New Yorker profile by Vinson Cunningham highlighted the subtlety and humor in Biggers’ eclectic body of work, noting that the artist “strives for a balance between formal play and an interest in race and history that manages to be at once sincere and ironic.” 

Biggers has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, with work in group exhibitions at the Menil Collection, Tate Modern, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. His work is currently on view as part of the traveling exhibition Artists as Innovators: Celebrating Three Decades of New York State Council on the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowships, and is held in the public art collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, among others.

Biggers is also the creative director of Moon Medicin, a multimedia concept band that straddles visual art and music with performances staged against a backdrop of curated sound effects and video, that will perform at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. this April. He lives and works in New York City.

All tickets to NYFA’s 2019 Hall of Fame Benefit come with a limited-edition signed print by Sanford Biggers. Learn more about NYFA’s Hall of Benefit here. Sign up for NYFA’s bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News, to receive announcements about future NYFA events and programs.

Images: Sanford Biggers (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ‘05), Photo Credit: Alex Freund, and Sanford Biggers, Eclipse, 2006, painted wood, 2 pieces, ©Sanford Biggers, Courtesy of the artist and Marianne Boesky Gallery

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Celebrating Carolee Schneemann (1939-2019)

We honor the legacy of an artist who pushed boundaries and influenced future generations.

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is saddened by the passing of Carolee Schneemann (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ’87, Hall of Fame ’18), whose pioneering investigations into subjectivity, the social construction of the female body, and the cultural biases of art history have cemented her status as one of the most influential artists of the second part of the 20th century. Schneemann recognized her influence in a 2014 interview with The Guardian, saying that her work “became a bridge that had to be crossed by young feminists working with their bodies.”

In his review of the MoMA PS1 retrospective exhibition Carolee Schneemann: Kinetic Painting, New York Times Art Critic Holland Cotter praised Schneemann not only for having star quality and for majorly shaping art history but for being “one of the most generous artists around: generous with her presence, her thinking, her formal and political risk-taking, and her embrace of embracing itself—across genres, genders, and species.”

In addition to MoMA PS1, Schneemann’s painting, photography, performance, and installation work has been exhibited at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Whitney Museum of American Art; and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Her work has been screened as part of film and video retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art; National Film Theatre, London; and San Francisco Cinematheque. She taught at many institutions including New York University, California Institute of the Arts, Bard College, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Smith College. In 2017, she was recognized with a Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale.

Schneemann also published widely, authoring books including More than Meat Joy: Complete Performance Works and Selected Writings (McPherson & Co, 1979); Correspondence Course: An Epistolary History of Carolee Schneemann and Her Circle, edited by Kristine Stiles (Duke University Press Books, 2010); and Carolee Schneemann: Uncollected Texts (Primary Information, 2018).

In a 2017 interview with Pipilotti Rist, Schneemann was asked about the best advice she had ever received or given. “I guess my best advice is this: Be stubborn and persist, and trust yourself on what you love. You have to trust what you love,” she answered.

For more remembrances of Schneemann and her extraordinary life and career, see obituaries by ARTnews, The Art Newspaper, and artnet News.

Image: Carolee Schneemann at NYFA’s 2018 Hall of Fame Benefit, Image Credit: Jay Brady Photography

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Featuring | NYFA Hall of Fame Honoree Carolee Schneemann

Schneemann (Fellow in Performing/Multidisciplinary ‘87) will be inducted into the NYFA Hall of Fame on April 12, 2018 alongside Paul Beatty (Fellow in Poetry ‘93) and Phil Gilbert - Patron of the Arts and General Manager of Design, IBM.

Carolee Schneemann is one of the most influential artists of the second part of the 20th century. Her pioneering investigations into subjectivity, the social construction of the female body, and the cultural biases of art history have had significant influence on subsequent generations of artists. Recent honors include receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale in 2017, and being celebrated with a career retrospective at MoMA PS1. 

Her MoMA PS1 exhibition, Carolee Schneemann: Kinetic Painting, debuted in Fall 2017 to critical acclaim. Holland Cotter, co-chief art critic of The New York Times, praised Schneemann not only for having star quality and for majorly shaping art history but for being “one of the most generous artists around: generous with her presence, her thinking, her formal and political risk-taking, and her embrace of embracing itself—across genres, genders, and species.” In a New Republic story titled “Carolee Schneemann Finally Gets Her Due,” writer Jillian Steinhauer said Kinetic Painting gives a “fuller and more complex portrait of an artist whose best work remains doggedly vital.”

In addition to MoMA PS1, Schneemann’s painting, photography, performance, and installation work has been exhibited at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Whitney Museum of American Art; and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Her work has been screened as part of film and video retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art; National Film Theatre, London; and San Francisco Cinematheque. She has taught at many institutions including New York University, California Institute of the Arts, Bard College, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Smith College.

Schneemann has also published widely, authoring books including More than Meat Joy: Complete Performance Works and Selected Writings (McPherson & Co 1979); Correspondence Course: An Epistolary History of Carolee Schneemann and Her Circle, edited by Kristine Stiles (Duke University Press Books 2010); and the soon-to-be published Carolee Schneemann: Uncollected Texts (Primary Information 2018).

For more about Schneemann, visit interviewmagazine.com for a Q&A conducted by artist Pipilotti Rist.

All tickets to NYFA’s 2018 Hall of Fame Benefit come with a limited-edition signed print by Carolee Schneemann. Learn more about NYFA’s Hall of Benefit here. Sign up for NYFA’s bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News, to receive announcements about future NYFA events and programs.

Image: Carolee Schneemann (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ‘87) in Salzburg, 2015, Photo Credit: Andy Archer

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Featuring | NYFA Hall of Fame Honoree Phil Gilbert

Gilbert - Patron of the Arts and General Manager of Design, IBM, will be inducted into the NYFA Hall of Fame on April 12, 2018 alongside Paul Beatty (Fellow in Poetry ‘93) and Carolee Schneemann (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ‘87).

Phil Gilbert is a recognized leader in the technology industry who has led the IBM design program since 2012, spearheading a broader transformation of how the company’s teams understand and solve complex problems. 

IBM’s design program is based on two principles: adding formally-trained designers into IBM at an unprecedented scale, and reskilling its global workforce in design thinking and agile practices. Under Gilbert, IBM has built the largest design team in the world, with more than 1,600 professionally-trained designers working on the latest technologies like AI, blockchain, and cybersecurity.

In February 2018, IBM partnered with NYFA to host Inform: A Symposium on Cultural Entrepreneurship. The invite-only symposium explored the critical intersection of arts and business, and featured talks, panels, and interactive sessions led by an esteemed lineup of art, business, academic, and government leaders. Gilbert participated in a panel that examined cultural entrepreneurship from the perspective of four sectors: business, academic, government, and nonprofit arts.

Prior to being General Manager of Design, Gilbert led the Business Process Management segment for IBM, where he drove the simplification of its portfolio and the ease-of-use of its products. He joined IBM in 2010 via the acquisition of Lombardi Software, where he was President. 

Gilbert has been awarded multiple patents across his career and is a thought-leader on topics of portfolio and software design, design governance, strategy, and culture. He has most recently been called upon to advocate before the U.S. Congress for a new “Digital Americans with Disabilities Act.” He lives in Austin, Texas.

Read more about Gilbert and how he is helping to transform business through design in this 2017 Forbes article and 2015 New York Times article. 

Stay tuned for our next post about 2018 Hall of Fame Honoree Phil Gilbert, and learn more about NYFA’s 2018 Hall of Fame Benefit here. Sign up for NYFA’s bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News, to receive announcements about future NYFA events and programs.

Image: Phil Gilbert - Patron of the Arts, Photo Courtesy: IBM

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NYFA Inducts Sanford Biggers, Karl Kellner, and Min Jin Lee into its Hall of Fame

NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows and Patron of the Arts celebrated at April 11 Hall of Fame Benefit in Manhattan.

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) inducted three arts luminaries into its Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on April 11 at Capitale. The evening’s honorees were Sanford Biggers, a visual artist whose work speaks to current social, political, and economic happenings while examining the contexts that bore them; Karl Kellner, patron of the arts, Senior Partner, New York Office Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company, Inc., and a former NYFA Board Member; and Min Jin Lee, novelist of the best-selling books Free Food for Millionaires and Pachinko (Grand Central Publishing, 2007 and 2017). The gala was Co-Chaired by Marc Jason and J. Wesley McDade, both members of NYFA’s Board of Trustees. The silent auction was Co-Chaired by Marjorie W. Martay, a NYFA Board Member, and Marjorie Croes Silverman, a NYFA Leadership Council Member.

Guests included Tom Finkelpearl, Commissioner, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; Anne del Castillo, Acting Commissioner, New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment; artists Derrick Adams, Samira Abbassy, Debi Cornwall, Phyllis Galembo, Ekwa Msangi, Rajesh Parameswaran, Dread Scott (also a NYFA Board Member), Michael Stamm, and Nina Yankowitz; Thomas Bouillonnec, President & CEO, Graff Diamonds; Liz Christensen, Curator, Deutsche Bank;  Cameron Esposito, Comedian; Stephanie Gabriel, Director, Marianne Boesky Gallery; Suzanne Gluck, Literary Agent, William Morris Endeavor Entertainment; Lorin Gu, Founding Partner, Recharge Capital and NYFA Board Member; Colm Kelleher, CEO, Morgan Stanley; Huriyyah Muhammad, Founder, Black TV & Film Collective; Sang Lee, CEO, Volta Talent Strategies; Howard Pyle, SVP, Customer Experience Design, MetLife and NYFA Board Member; Lucy Sexton, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Arts and Culture; Justin Tobin, Founder & President, DDG and NYFA Board Member; Tiana Webb Evans, Founder, ESP Group and NYFA Board Member; and Shelley V. Worrell, Founder, caribBEING. Artist and NYFA Board Member Carmelita Tropicana served as the event emcee.

Nearly 300 guests gathered to celebrate the 2019 Hall of Fame inductees over cocktails, dinner, and a silent auction of art, experiences, and more. All tickets came with a signed, limited-edition print by Biggers that was created exclusively for the event. Each year, the glamorous gala recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened patrons of the arts. Biggers and Lee are past recipients of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, which is an individual unrestricted grant made to artists who are living and working in New York State.

NYFA Board Chair Judith K. Brodsky described NYFA’s support of working artists and why the arts are especially meaningful. “Artists pave the way for dialogue and understanding among diverse viewpoints and voices, something that we desperately need in today’s world,” said Brodsky.

Karl Kellner was the first honoree of the night to be inducted into NYFA’s Hall of Fame. In his acceptance remarks he described his personal interest in the arts, how it led him to NYFA, and how he’s helped to support NYFA through his work at McKinsey & Company, Inc. Here, he describes the value that the arts bring to society, and why they’re worth fighting for: “Artists play a critical role in the world-at-large. For me, art is one of the most energizing, the most incredibly inspiring parts of the fabric of life. It needs supporters, it needs benefactors, it requires appreciators and even aficionados. So I think art is something that we all need to invest in and the return that you get is something that’s unique and personal, and very, very special.”  

Fellow honoree Sanford Biggers spoke about how he came to be an artist and described the varied influences and materials that he incorporates into his multidisciplinary work. He recounted when he received a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, saying: “When I got the NYFA award in 2005, I was not showing with a gallery. I was extremely excited for multiple reasons: number one, I got a check, which was a good thing. But beyond that,” Biggers added, “I was acknowledged as the artist that I was becoming and I was in this interdisciplinary field. It was a validation that I didn’t have to put myself into ‘sculpture’ or ‘painting’ but I could sort of traverse between many different forms including performance and video. And I think that that acknowledgement at that point was extremely important to me, and it was an affirmation.”

Min Jin Lee discussed her process and interests, and reflected on the hardships of being a professional artist, especially as a woman of color. She also described the impact of receiving a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship: “I needed to have this kind of support that somehow what I did mattered. And that was so important to have NYFA recognize that my little question was worth supporting, and I think that when the average person in this country thinks that art matters, that’s a huge step. Because it is so often seen as less important than food, and housing, and jobs, and healthcare, and all those things are really important for me, too. But I chose this path because I think that literature can create the level of empathy that many things cannot. I believe that, I believe that with everything that I do.”

Following the award ceremony, multidisciplinary artist and choreographer Angel Kaba spoke about her experience as a mentee in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program. Born in Belgium to parents from the Congo and Martinique, she moved to New York five years ago to chase her dream of being an artist. She recounted how she made $250 a month and lived with eight roommates during her first three years in the city. Kaba, who began to question her artistry, found positive change by participating in NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program: “It was about the support system. That they really cared about us, they really gave us the opportunity to be ourselves, to express, to connect, to learn to share stories and experiences with amazing talented artists of different nationalities. At the end of the program, I learned more about myself than anything else,” she said. Kaba now teaches across the United States and is a member of Alvin Ailey’s extension faculty.

The evening concluded with dessert and remarks from NYFA Executive Director Michael L. Royce. “I think everyone in this room knows that without artists many stories would not be known. Stories allow us to share who we are, what we’ve experienced, and what we imagine. They are a special communication from one individual to another, and as I was thinking about this event I realized that all of us together are making up the story of NYFA,” said Royce.

Past NYFA Awardees include Ida Applebroog, Paul Beatty, James Casebere, Christopher d’Amboise, Anna Deavere Smith, Phil Gilbert, Zhou Long, Christian Marclay, Terry McMillan, Mira Nair, Lynn Nottage, Eric Overmyer, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Perron, Dwight Rhoden, Faith Ringgold, Carolee Schneemann, and Andres Serrano.

There are still items available for purchase in NYFA’s online Benefit Auction, which features artworks, event tickets, and one-of-a-kind experiences. Click here to view and buy now to help support the arts.

Legends Limousine, a family-owned car service based in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is NYFA’s transportation partner for the 2019 NYFA Hall of Fame Benefit.

Sign up for NYFA’s bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News, to receive announcements about future NYFA events and programs.

Images: Michael L. Royce, Tom Finkelpearl, Karl Kellner, Min Jin Lee, Judith K. Brodsky, and Sanford Biggers; Dread Scott, Sanford Biggers, and Derrick Adams; Angel Kaba and Lorraine Bell; All Images Credit: Jay Brady Photography

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Featuring | NYFA Hall of Fame Honoree Min Jin Lee

Lee will be celebrated at NYFA’s 2019 Hall of Fame on April 11, 2019 alongside Sanford Biggers and Karl Kellner.

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) will induct Min Jin Lee, Sanford Biggers, and Karl Kellner into its Hall of Fame during its 2019 Hall of Fame Benefit on April 11, 2019. The ticketed event will feature cocktails; dinner; and a live/silent auction of art, experiences, and more. All tickets come with a signed, limited-edition print by Sanford Biggers created exclusively for the event. 

2019 Hall of Fame Inductee and Novelist Min Jin Lee (Fellow in Fiction ’00) was born in Seoul, South Korea and immigrated to Queens, New York with her family in 1976 when she was seven years old. Her extensively-researched, emotionally-resonant novels Pachinko (Grand Central Publishing, 2017) and Free Food for Millionaires (Grand Central Publishing, 2007) create “radical empathy through art” and center on the Korean diaspora; she’s currently at work on the third diaspora novel of her trilogy “The Koreans,” titled American Hagwon. The book will focus on hagwons, or private institutions for supplemental education that are commonplace in South Korea but stigmatized in the United States. 

“I’ve been asked why I write about Koreans,” said Lee in a February 2019 interview in Harvard Magazine. “And it seems like such a strange question. Because why wouldn’t I write about Koreans? To me, Koreans are mothers and fathers and daughters and sons, which means Koreans are like us; we are worthy of consideration and reflection.”

A graduate of Yale College and Georgetown University, Lee worked as a corporate lawyer for several years in New York prior to writing full time. Success did not immediately follow: “After I failed for a long time, I decided that I would write to seek answers for my personal questions instead of writing to earn external validation,” said Lee in a National Novel Writing Month blog post. 

It was 12 years before Free Food for Millionaires was published. The novel, which follows the story of the Korean-American daughter of first-generation immigrants as she strives to join Manhattan’s inner circle, was a national bestseller that was recognized as a “Top 10 Book of the Year” by The Times of London, NPR’s “Fresh Air,” and USA Today. 

Lee’s second novel, Pachinko, follows a Korean family through seven decades as they struggle through conflict and cultural displacement. “Like most memorable novels, Pachinko resists summary. In this sprawling book, history itself is a character. Pachinko is about outsiders, minorities, and the politically disenfranchised. But it is so much more besides,” wrote Krys Lee for The New York Times. NPR’s Jean Zimmerman reported that Pachinko is “the kind of book that can open your eyes and fill them with tears at the same time.” The book was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction; a runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize; and was included on The New York Times, BBC, CBC, and New York Public Library lists of “The 10 Best Books of 2017,” among other “best of” lists from NPR, PBS, CNN, and many others. It has since been translated into 24 languages. 

Lee’s work has appeared in publications and programs including The New Yorker, NPR’s “Selected Shorts,” The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. She also served three consecutive seasons as a “Morning Forum” columnist for The Chosun Ilbo of South Korea. 

In 2018, Lee was named to Adweek’s “Creative 100” for being “one of the 10 writers and editors who are changing the national conversation” and The Guardian’s “The Frederick Douglass 200” list of people who best embody the spirit and work of Frederick Douglass. Lee is a recipient of fellowships in Fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard, and is currently a Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College.

Image: Min Jin Lee (Fellow in Fiction ’00), Photo Credit: Elena Siebert

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Featuring | NYFA Hall of Fame Honoree Karl Kellner

Kellner will be inducted into NYFA’s Hall of Fame on April 11, 2019 alongside Sanford Biggers and Min Jin Lee.

We are a month out from The New York Foundation for the Arts’ (NYFA) 2019 Hall of Fame Benefit, which annually honors NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows in the visual, literary, and performing arts who have had a profound impact on the arts through their creative work and patrons of the arts who have championed the value of the arts in the world around us. We’re pleased to induct Karl Kellner, Sanford Biggers, and Min Jin Lee into our Hall of Fame on April 11, 2019.

Today, we’re focusing on Patron of the Arts Karl Kellner, former NYFA Board Member and Senior Partner, New York Office Managing Partner at McKinsey & Company, Inc. He has more than 20 years of consulting experience, predominantly in health care management, with a focus on strategy development and performance improvement. 

In addition to his work at McKinsey, Kellner is active in the New York City community. He was a committed member of NYFA’s Board of Trustees from 2006-2018, where he held roles including Treasurer and Strategic Planning Committee Chair. During his tenure, he generously donated his time to advise NYFA Board and Staff in shaping NYFA’s programmatic and operational strategies. He also secured countless hours of professional services from the consulting firms he worked for to help NYFA better support working artists and emerging organizations across all disciplines. In addition to serving on NYFA’s Board, he was a multi-year member of the Clinton Global Initiative and led an eight-year partnership with former President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation to create economic opportunity and assist small businesses in Harlem and several other urban areas across the U.S. He has also been involved with New York Cares since the 1990’s. 

Kellner holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA degree from Oberlin College. He lives in New York City with his wife, Suzannah, who works in the arts, and two children, Cassandra and Marshall.

All tickets to NYFA’s 2019 Hall of Fame Benefit come with a limited-edition signed print by Sanford Biggers. Learn more about NYFA’s Hall of Benefit here. Sign up for NYFA’s bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News, to receive announcements about future NYFA events and programs.

Image: Karl Kellner, Courtesy: McKinsey & Company, Inc

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Event | Sanford Biggers, Karl Kellner, and Min Jin Lee to be Honored at 2019 Hall of Fame Benefit

The event recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened arts patrons.

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) will celebrate the induction of three arts luminaries into the NYFA Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on Thursday, April 11, 2019 at Capitale, 130 Bowery, New York, NY 10013. The event recognizes visual, literary, and performing artists who have received NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships and have had a profound impact on the arts through their creative work, and patrons of the arts who have championed the value of the arts in the world around us. The evening’s honorees are:

Sanford Biggers, Visual Artist (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ’05)

Karl Kellner, Senior Partner, New York Office Managing Partner, McKinsey & Company, Inc.: Patron of the Arts

Min Jin Lee, Novelist (Fellow in Fiction ’00)

The ticketed event will feature cocktails; dinner; and a live/silent auction of art, experiences, and more. Carmelita Tropicana (NYFA Board Member; Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ’87 and Playwriting/Screenwriting ’91, ’06) will serve as the event emcee. All tickets come with a signed, limited-edition print by Sanford Biggers created exclusively for the event. Attire is festive cocktail.

On the inductees, feminist visual arts advocate and NYFA Board Chair Judith K. Brodsky said: “Sanford Biggers and Min Jin Lee’s work actively explores and responds to topics of race, class, and diaspora—and tells important stories that are not often part of the dominant historical narrative. We’re thrilled to induct them into our Hall of Fame along with Karl Kellner, a Patron of the Arts who has helped to champion the needs of working artists through his involvement on NYFA’s Board of Trustees.”

The event recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened patrons of the arts. Biggers and Lee are past recipients of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, which are individual unrestricted grants made to artists who are living and working in New York State. Other past NYFA Hall of Fame Inductees include Ida Applebroog, Paul Beatty, James Casebere, Christopher d’Amboise, Phil Gilbert, Anna Deavere Smith, Zhou Long, Christian Marclay, Terry McMillan, Mira Nair, Lynn Nottage, Eric Overmyer, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Perron, Dwight Rhoden, Faith Ringgold, Carolee Schneemann, and Andres Serrano.

“We’re thrilled to bring artists like Sanford Biggers and Min Jin Lee back to NYFA as part of our annual Hall of Fame Benefit,” said Michael L. Royce, Executive Director, NYFA. “The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship is often among the first professional recognitions that artists receive, so it’s a special honor for us to celebrate all they’ve accomplished in the time since,” he added.

NYFA is proud to present this year’s honorees and celebrate their impact in the cultural community:

Sanford Biggers’ work is an interplay of narrative, perspective, and history that speaks to current social, political, and economic happenings while also examining the contexts that bore them. His diverse practice positions him as a collaborator with the past through explorations of often overlooked cultural and political narratives from American history. He has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Brooklyn Museum, with work in group exhibitions at the Menil Collection, Tate Modern, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Biggers’ work is held in the public art collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Walker Art Center, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture, among others. In 2017, he was awarded the Rome Prize in Visual Arts. Biggers is also the creative director of Moon Medicin, a multimedia concept band that straddles visual art and music with performances staged against a backdrop of curated sound effects and video. He lives and works in New York City.

Karl Kellner, Patron of the Arts and former NYFA Board Member, is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company and leads the firm’s New York Office. He has more than 20 years of consulting experience, predominantly in health care management. Kellner’s client service spans across the health care sector and includes health plans, provider organizations, pharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacy-benefit managers and private equity firms. His clients include CEOs, board directors, and C-level executives, and he focuses primarily on strategy development and performance improvement. In addition to his work at McKinsey, Kellner is active in the New York City community. He served from 2006-2018 on NYFA’s Board of Trustees, where he held roles including Treasurer and Strategic Planning Committee Chair. He led an eight-year partnership with former President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation to create economic opportunity and assist small businesses in Harlem and several other urban areas across the U.S., and was a multi-year member of the Clinton Global Initiative. He has also been involved with New York Cares since the 1990’s. Kellner holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a BA degree from Oberlin College. He lives in New York City with his wife, Suzannah, who works in the arts, and two children, Cassandra and Marshall.

Min Jin Lee’s 2017 novel Pachinko (Grand Central Publishing) was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction; a runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize; and was included on The New York Times, BBC, CBC, and New York Public Library lists of “The 10 Best Books of 2017,” among other “best of” lists from NPR, PBS, CNN, and many others. The book has since been translated into 24 languages. Lee’s debut novel Free Food for Millionaires (Grand Central Publishing, 2007) was a national bestseller that was recognized as a “Top 10 Book of the Year” by The Times of London, NPR’s “Fresh Air,” and USA Today. Her work has appeared in publications and programs including The New Yorker, NPR’s “Selected Shorts,” The New York Review of Books, The New York Times Magazine, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. She also served three consecutive seasons as a “Morning Forum” columnist for The Chosun Ilbo of South Korea. In 2018, Lee was named to Adweek’s Creative 100 for being “one of the 10 writers and editors who are changing the national conversation” and The Guardian’s “The Frederick Douglass 200” list of people who best embody the spirit and work of Frederick Douglass. Lee is a recipient of fellowships in Fiction from the Guggenheim Foundation and the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard, and is currently a Writer-in-Residence at Amherst College.

Ticket prices start at $650 and Tables at $6,500; you can purchase tickets here. For more information about NYFA’s Hall of Fame Benefit, please contact Barbara Toy at btoy@nyfa.org or 212.366.6900 x 207.

Legends Limousine, a family-owned car service based in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is NYFA’s transportation partner for the 2019 NYFA Hall of Fame Benefit.

Images L to R: Sanford Biggers (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ’05), Photo Credit: Alex Freund; Karl Kellner - Patron of the Arts, Image Courtesy: McKinsey & Company, Inc.; Min Jin Lee (Fellow in Fiction ’00), Photo Credit: Elena Siebert

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Announcing | Artists Supporting Artists: A NYFA Benefit Show

Samira Abbassy, Polly Apfelbaum, Amy Hill, LoVid, Barbara Nessim, Joan Semmel, Daniel Rich, Miriam Schapiro, and Sandy Skoglund are among the participating artists.

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is pleased to present Artists Supporting Artists: A NYFA Benefit Show from Tuesday, March 17 - Friday, April 3, 2020 at ChaShaMa’s Space to Present at 340 East 64th Street.* All works, created by more than 50 established and emerging artists, will be up for bidding on Tuesday, March 17; proceeds will support NYFA programs and resources that serve artists throughout the United States and internationally. 

*As of March 16, all ChaShaMa spaces are closed due to the threat of COVID-19. All works can be viewed via the online auction catalog. 

The pieces on display will range from colorful abstract and figurative paintings to textile art, drawings, artist books, collage works, photography, and sculptures. 

Featured artists include:

Samira Abbassy, Leslie Alfin, Fanny Allié, David Ambrose, Polly Apfelbaum, Tomie Arai, Andrea Arroyo, Katie Bell, Judith Brodsky, Deric Carner, Bill Carroll, Darlene Charneco, Cecile Chong, Ellen Colcord, Maria de los Angeles, Marylyn Dintenfass, Sally Egbert, Patricia Fabricant, Jim Gaylord, Janet Goleas, Michael Haggiag, Amir Hariri, Amy Hill, Jean Holabird, Barry Holden, Brian Hopkins, Anna Kott, Eleanora Kupencow, Donald Lipski, Nicola López, LoVid, Sangram Majumdar, Jeanette May, Andy Mister, Aya Miyatake, Ryan Sarah Murphy, Natalia Nakazawa, Barbara Nessim, Lee O’Connor, Paul Pagk, Dorothy Paolo, Joel Perlman, Armita Raafat, Daniel Rich, Jessica Rohrer, Michael Rosch, Carol Ross, Toni Ross, Nadia Sablin, Miriam Schaer, Joan Semmel, Miriam Schapiro, Sandy Skoglund, Arlene Slavin, Claire Watson, Edwina White, Shihori Yamamoto, and Nina Yankowitz. 

Sign up for NYFA’s bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News, to receive announcements about future NYFA events and programs.

Image: Sandy Skoglund (Fellow in Sculpture ’88)  Homepage Image Detail: Maria de los Angeles, Virgin de Guadalupe y El Indio, 2019

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Ida Applebroog, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Christopher d’Amboise, and Lynn Nottage to be Inducted into NYFA Hall of Fame

Applebroog, Cooper Cafritz, d’Amboise, and Nottage will be celebrated on April 4, 2017 at NYFA’s annual benefit.

NYFA is celebrating the induction of these four arts luminaries into its Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on Tuesday, April 4, 2017, at 583 Park Avenue. The glamorous ticketed event will begin with cocktails and art installations at 6:30 PM, with a dinner and awards presentation to follow. 

On the inductees, feminist visual arts advocate and NYFA Board Chair Judith K. Brodsky said: "I'm thrilled that NYFA is honoring Ida Applebroog, a fearless artist and feminist art heroine; Lynn Nottage, whose powerful, visionary work has just hit Broadway; Peggy Cooper Cafritz, for her tireless championing of African American artists; and Christopher d'Amboise, a brilliant choreographer whose work continues the tradition of excellence started by his father, Jacques."

The event recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA and the vision and commitment of enlightened patrons of the arts. Applebroog, d'Amboise, and Nottage are all past recipients of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, which are individual unrestricted grants made to artists who are living and working in New York State. These fellowships are not project grants, but are intended to fund an artist's vision regardless of the level of their artistic development.

"The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program has been a significant source of support for artists of all disciplines for more than 30 years," said Michael L. Royce, Executive Director, NYFA. "We're proud of the creative contributions our Fellows have made, and are honored to be part of their story," he added.

Ida Applebroog (Fellow in Graphics ‘86, Painting ‘90) is a pioneering artist of the feminist movement whose work explores themes of violence and power, gender politics, women’s sexuality, and domestic space using images that are at once beguiling and disturbing. Her work has been shown in many solo exhibitions at museums and galleries in the United States and abroad, and it resides in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art, among others. Applebroog will be featured in an eponymous show at Hauser & Wirth London from May 19-July 29, 2017.

Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Patron of the Arts and former President of the District of Columbia Board of Education, is known for championing contemporary and emerging African American artists, with The New York Times describing her collection as a “mash-up of the best of what you might find in a group show at the Studio Museum in Harlem, PS1, and the Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea.” Her dual passions for art and education led her to co-found the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington D.C., now one of the premiere arts high schools in the country. Among her many other achievements, she has helped bring greater racial and cultural diversity to the Smithsonian’s professional ranks, exhibitions, and educational programs as former Co-Chair for the Smithsonian Institution’s Cultural Equity Committee.

Christopher d’Amboise (Fellow in Choreography ‘89) was born into a family of dancers and has had many careers: dancers, choreographer, playwright, director, and educator. As Principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, d’Amboise worked closely with George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, originating works as well as performing major repertoire. His work has been recognized by some of the industry’s top honors, including a Tony nomination for “Best Featured Actor in a Musical” in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance, and a Helen Hayes Award for “Outstanding Choreography in a Play” for the Olney Theater’s production of Colossal. He is currently at Moving Story, a production company he founded that supports innovative dance-driven projects, as well as Heritage Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA.

Lynn Nottage (Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting ’94, ’00) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose plays have been produced widely and throughout the world. Her latest play, Sweat, opened on March 26 on Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater and wide critical praise. The play, which some see as a timely reflection of America’s current political state, is based on extensive interviews conducted with blue-collar people in the factory town of Reading, PA whose livelihoods have been affected by the decline in American manufacturing. Nottage was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Ruined and is a past recipient of the MacArthur ‘Genius Award’ among many other honors. She is Co-Founder of the production company Market Road Films and is an Associate Professor in the Theater Department at Columbia University School of the Arts.

Past NYFA Awardees include James Casebere, Anna Deavere Smith, Faith Ringgold, Zhou Long, Junot Diaz, Yvonne Rainer, Spike Lee, Ross Bleckner, Errol Morris, David Hammons, Terry McMillan, Christian Marclay, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Andes Serrano. Find out more about NYFA’s Hall of Fame Benefit by clicking here.

The benefit’s sponsors and donors include Agnes Gund, Hauser & Wirth, Judith K. Brodsky, Louise Gund, J. Whitney Stevens, Stuart Thompson, and Lynda Logan. 

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Featuring: NYFA Hall of Fame Honoree Peggy Cooper Cafritz

Cooper Cafritz will be honored at our Hall of Fame Benefit on April 4, 2017

Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Patron of the Arts and former president of the District of Columbia Board of Education, began collecting art as a law student. She’s known for championing contemporary and emerging African American artists, with The New York Times describing her collection as “a mash-up of the best of what you might find in a group show at the Studio Museum in Harlem, PS1, and the Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea.” 

Her dual passions for art and education led her to co-found the Duke Ellington School of the Arts with Mike Malone, which today is one of the premiere arts high schools in the country. Several years later she chaired the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, and in 1993 was appointed by President Clinton to serve as Vice Chair of the President’s Committee in the Arts and Humanities. 

Cooper Cafritz served as co-chair of the Smithsonian Institution’s Cultural Equity Committee that led efforts to bring greater racial and cultural diversity to the Smithsonian’s professional ranks, exhibitions, and educational programs. This Smithsonian cohort identified a need to hire a founding director of the National Museum of the American Indian, which spurred the more rapid development of this and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Cooper Cafritz has advocated for arts and education repeatedly throughout her professional and personal life. She served on the Executive Committee of the D.C. Board of Higher Education, which merged three institutions to create the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), for which she was a member of the board of trustees. Cooper Cafritz left this position to take office as the first citywide, publicly-elected president of the District of Columbia Board of Education. 

Prior to her work in education and following law school, Cooper Cafritz worked as a programming executive and documentary producer for Post-Newsweek Stations and WTOP-TV (now WUSA), earning both Emmy and Peabody Awards for her documentary work. Cooper Cafritz also served as Executive Director of the Minority Cultural Project, a joint venture between Harry Belafonte and WQED/Pittsburgh to develop a dramatic literary series for the Public Broadcasting Corporation. For 14 years Cooper Cafritz appeared as an arts critic on WETA-TV’s “Around Town,” for which she also received an Emmy Award.

Cooper Cafritz’s extensive public service has continued through the decades. Today she serves on the National Advisory Board of the W.E.B Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research of the Hutchins Center at Harvard University. She has also maintained a commitment to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, where she serves the school and its nonprofit fundraising affiliate, the Ellington Fund. Cooper Cafritz is also a member of the executive committee of the governing board of the school. 

A single mother, Cooper Cafritz raised two sons, now 25 and 32, and a daughter, 36, in addition to a number of teenaged foster children and countless godchildren. Each year she gives college scholarships to three Duke Ellington School of the Arts students in honor of her children.

Cooper Cafritz has been a Washington, D.C., resident since 1964. She attended the George Washington University, earning an undergraduate degree in political science in 1968 and a law degree in 1971.

Her fellow honorees are NYFA affiliated artists Christopher d’Amboise (Fellow in Choreography ‘89), Ida Applebroog (Fellow in Graphics ‘86, Painting ‘90), and Lynn Nottage (Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting ‘94 & ‘00). Stay tuned for our next post on Lynn Nottage, and find out more about NYFA’s Hall of Fame Benefit by clicking here.

Image: Courtesy Peggy Cooper Cafritz

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Featuring: NYFA Hall of Fame Honoree Lynn Nottage

Nottage will be honored at our Hall of Fame Benefit on April 4, 2017

Lynn Nottage (Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting ‘94 & ‘00) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose plays have been produced widely and throughout the world. Her playwriting credits include By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Ruined; and Intimate Apparel.

Her latest play, Sweat, will open on March 26, 2017 on Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater and wide critical praise. The play, which some see as a timely reflection of America’s current political state, is based on extensive interviews conducted with blue-collar people in the factory town of Reading, PA, whose livelihoods have been affected by the decline in American manufacturing. 

Sweat has been featured by several publications in the lead-up to its Broadway premiere. It was recently named one of the “5 Must-See Shows if You’re in New York This Month” by The New York Times, and was the focus of a New Yorker article titled “The First Theatrical Landmark of the Trump Era.” The article appears in the March 27, 2017 issue and details the origins of Sweat, Nottage’s career path in playwriting, and how the stories of one small town came to portray “the America that came undone.” MarketWatch also recently spoke with Nottage about the timing of Sweat, why she chose Reading, PA as the play’s setting, and the real-life economic shifts in American life that inspired the work. 

Nottage was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Ruined and is a past recipient of the MacArthur ‘Genius Award’ and Guggenheim Fellowship among many other honors. She is Co-Founder of the production company Market Road Films and is an Associate Professor in the Theater Department at Columbia University School of the Arts. Over the years, she has developed original projects for HBO, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Showtime, This is Than, and Harpo. Nottage is writer/producer on the upcoming Netflix Series “She’s Gotta Have It,” directed by Spike Lee (Fellow in Film ‘85).

Her fellow honorees are NYFA affiliated artists Christopher d’Amboise (Fellow in Choreography ‘89), Ida Applebroog (Fellow in Graphics ‘86, Painting ‘90), and Patron of the Arts Peggy Cooper Cafritz. Find out more about NYFA’s Hall of Fame Benefit by clicking here.

Image: Courtesy Lynn Nottage

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Event | Kay WalkingStick and Chin Chih Yang to be Honored at 2020 NYFA Hall of Fame Benefit

The event recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened arts patrons.

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) will celebrate the induction of two arts luminaries into the NYFA Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on Thursday, April 2, 2020 at Capitale, 130 Bowery, New York, NY 10013. The event recognizes visual, literary, and performing artists who have received NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships and have had a profound impact on the arts through their creative work, and patrons of the arts who have championed the value of the arts in the world around us. The evening’s honorees are: 

Kay WalkingStick, Visual Artist (Fellow in Painting ’92, Murray Reich Award ’18)

Chin Chih Yang, Multidisciplinary Artist (Fellow in Digital/Electronic Arts ’11)

The ticketed event will feature cocktails; dinner; and a live/silent auction of art, experiences, and more. For the first time, items included in the live/silent auction will be on display during a public preview exhibition in Manhattan; it will run from March 17 - April 1 at ChaShaMa’s Space to Present at 340 East 64th Street (Tues - Fri, 1:00 PM - 6:00 PM). All Hall of Fame Benefit tickets come with a signed, limited-edition print by Kay WalkingStick created exclusively for the event. Attire is festive cocktail.

On the inductees, arts advocate and NYFA Board Chair Marc Jason said: “Kay WalkingStick and Chin Chih Yang are creating important works that prompt us to question our relationship with the environment. Their work captivates because it is both highly personal—in terms of the spiritual and physical impact of landscape—and universal for how we navigate an increasingly complex world.”

The event recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened patrons of the arts. WalkingStick and Yang are past recipients of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, which are individual unrestricted grants made to artists who are living and working in New York State. Other past NYFA Hall of Fame Inductees include Ida Applebroog, Paul Beatty, Sanford Biggers, James Casebere, Christopher d’Amboise, Phil Gilbert, Anna Deavere Smith, Min Jin Lee, Zhou Long, Christian Marclay, Terry McMillan, Mira Nair, Lynn Nottage, Eric Overmyer, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Perron, Dwight Rhoden, Faith Ringgold, Carolee Schneemann, and Andres Serrano. WalkingStick was also more recently recognized with the Murray Reich Distinguished Artist Award, which is awarded to mature and established visual artists with a long history of creative practice.

“We’re thrilled to induct Kay WalkingStick and Chin Chih Yang into our Hall of Fame,” said Michael L. Royce, Executive Director, NYFA. “Both first came to NYFA as NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellows, which is often seen as a validation of an artist’s vision and voice by their peers. It’s wonderful to bring them back to NYFA in this significant way, to further recognize their contributions in the arts and beyond,” he added.

NYFA is proud to present this year’s honorees and celebrate their impact on the cultural community:

Kay WalkingStick is a Cherokee painter who focuses on the American landscape and its metaphorical significances to Native Americans and all citizenry. Her diptych paintings are particularly powerful metaphors that express the beauty of uniting the disparate and has resonance for WalkingStick because of her biracial background. “It is also a useful construct to express the conflicts and bivalence of everyone’s lives,” she has said. The varied rendering of landscape in WalkingStick’s art is the thread that weaves together the many painterly directions her art has taken over the last 50 years. The filter of memory is a constant, with paintings based on site sketches and photos with figures drawn from her imagination; neither are a depiction of a specific place or activity, but instead suggest how a place or activity would feel. In 2015, WalkingStick was celebrated with a solo show “Kay WalkingStick: An American Artist” at The National Museum of the American Indian. It later traveled to the Heard Museum, Dayton Art Institute, Kalamazoo Institute of Art, Gilcrease Art Museum, and Montclair Art Museum. Her work is currently on view in Stretching the Canvas: Eight Decades of Native Painting at the National Museum of the American Indian in New York through Fall 2021 and is part of the permanent collections of institutions including the Albright-Knox, Denver Art Museum, Detroit Institute of the Arts, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and The Whitney Museum of American Art. WalkingStick was inducted as a full member in the National Academy of Design in 2019, and received the Lee Krasner Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in 2011. She was recognized with a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in 1992, and the 2018 Murray Reich Distinguished Artist Award. WalkingStick is represented by June Kelly Gallery, NY and lives in Easton, PA with the artist Dirk Bach.

Chin Chih Yang is a multidisciplinary artist from Taiwan who lives and works in New York. His work uniquely incorporates the rhythms and discords of human society, exhibiting them in terms of the waste materials that are discarded by industrialized production. Yang’s interests in ecology and constructed environments have resulted in interactive performances and installations that have been exhibited nationally and internationally at venues and fairs including Rockefeller Center, the United Nations, Union Square Park, Queens Museum, and the Taipei Art Fair. His performances often dramatize the divided quality of the self, and he uses video projections to create a discordant ambience specific to the themes of his performances. Burning ICE, an interactive ice environment, invited Union Square Park-goers to cool down on a giant ice bench in August 2009. Human warmth melted the frozen water, mirroring how human activity has hastened the melting of the world’s great ice deposits. Another project, Kill Me or Change, staged at Queens Museum of Art, involved Yang being buried under 30,000 aluminum cans—the average number of cans one person throws away over a lifetime. It showed quite literally the suffering effects of one person’s polluting and served as a call-to-action for audience members to reconsider their consumption (and waste) habits. Yang’s work has been highlighted in publications including The New York Times, Taipei Times, BBC, CBS, Time Out New York, NY1, and Art Asia Pacific. In addition to his 2011 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Digital/Electronic Arts, Yang has received an Urban Artist Initiative fellowship, a fellowship from Franklin Furnace, a fellowship from the New York State Council for the Arts, and a “Swing Space” residency at Governors Island from Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.

Ticket prices start at $650 and Tables at $6,500; you can purchase tickets here. For more information about NYFA’s Hall of Fame Benefit, please contact Kim Goodis at kgoodis@nyfa.org or 212.366.6900 x 207.

Images: Kay WalkingStick, Photo Credit Julia Maloof and Chin Chih Yang, Courtesy Chin Chih Yang

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NYFA Inducts Paul Beatty, Phil Gilbert, and Carolee Schneemann into its Hall of Fame

Arts leaders celebrated at April 12 Hall of Fame Benefit

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) inducted three arts leaders into its Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on April 12 at Capitale. The evening’s honorees were Paul Beatty, celebrated writer who received the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2015); Phil Gilbert, patron of the arts and General Manager of Design, IBM; and Carolee Schneemann, pioneering visual artist who was recently celebrated with a career retrospective at MoMA PS1. The gala was Co-Chaired by Marc Jason, J. Wesley McDade, and Anne Spalter, all members of NYFA’s Board of Trustees. The silent auction was Co-Chaired by Marjorie W. Martay, a member of NYFA’s Board, and Marjorie Croes Silverman, a member of NYFA’s Leadership Council.

Guests included artists Elia Alba, Clarence Coo, Barry Holden, Abeer Hoque, Mac Premo, Lynn Saville, Laura Schecter, and Nina Yankowitz; Judith K. Brodsky, Board Chair, NYFA; Michael L. Royce, Executive Director, NYFA; Anneliis Beadnell, Director, P.P.O.W. Gallery; Michele and Marty Cohen, philanthropists; Lonti Ebers, art advisor and philanthropist; Michael Findlay, Director, Acquavella Galleries; Robert Goff, Director, David Zwirner; Nell Painter, artist, academic, and NYFA Board Member; Saïd Sayrafiezadeh, writer and NYFA Board Member; and Cristin Tierney, Founder, Cristin Tierney Gallery. Artist and NYFA Board Member Carmelita Tropicana served as the event emcee.

More than 275 guests gathered to celebrate the 2018 Hall of Fame inductees over cocktails, dinner, and a silent auction of art, experiences, and more. All tickets came with a signed, limited-edition print by Schneemann that was created exclusively for the event. The glamorous gala recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened patrons of the arts. Beatty and Schneemann are past recipients of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, which are individual unrestricted grants made to artists who are living and working in New York State.

NYFA Board Chair Judith K. Brodsky described the support that NYFA services and programs provide to artists of all disciplines at all career stages. “NYFA provides resources for artists so they can write the books and plays, create the art, compose the music, shoot the films,” said Brodsky. “This supports the best in our humanity,” she added.

Paul Beatty was the first honoree of the night to be inducted into NYFA’s Hall of Fame. In his acceptance remarks, he spoke of the deep satisfaction that writing gives him and how the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship impacted his career. “It was this affirmation that I’m trying to do things that are different, and maybe not accessible for different reasons. But still, the fact that somebody is trying to encourage me, not feed me literally but kind of feed my drive, it was very important. It’s just nice to get some kind of recognition, and the support was huge.”

Fellow honoree Phil Gilbert spoke about the importance of design at IBM and how it relates to the work of NYFA. “The role of the artist in the world, the role of the designer at IBM, it’s all the same thing: it’s about how we create human connections so that we can advance the state and the condition of mankind,” said Gilbert.

Carolee Schneemann described how she paved her path in the art world and reflected on her NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship: “The year that I got a NYFA grant, that changed my life completely. I had three part-time jobs: I was a dog dryer in a pet shop, I was an extra in porno films, and I taught Sunday School on Sundays…I was pretty desperate for funding as usual in those years and the grant really changed my life.”

The evening concluded with impassioned remarks from NYFA Executive Director Michael L. Royce. He described how art can change lives, citing his own formative experience after seeing the movie version of Cabaret, “No matter what the chaos is, underneath it all is remarkable grace. That day, I got a glimpse that in fact beauty can speak. Spirituality can dance. And compassion can be spoken to.” He closed by highlighting the importance of artists in trying times and their ability to answer our biggest questions, urging attendees to show their support: “We need artists, and they need us.”

Past NYFA Awardees include Ida Applebroog, James Casebere, Christopher d’Amboise, Anna Deavere Smith, Zhou Long, Christian Marclay, Terry McMillan, Mira Nair, Lynn Nottage, Eric Overmyer, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Perron, Dwight Rhoden, Faith Ringgold, and Andres Serrano.

Legends Limousine, a family-owned car service based in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is NYFA’s transportation partner for the 2018 NYFA Hall of Fame Benefit.

Sign up for NYFA’s bi-weekly newsletter, NYFA News, to receive announcements about future NYFA events and programs.

Images: Honorees Paul Beatty, Carolee Schneemann, and Phil Gilbert with NYFA Board Chair Judith K. Brodsky and Executive Director Michael L. Royce; Gala Co-Chairs Marc Jason, J. Wesley McDade, and Anne Spalter; Auction Co-Chairs Marjorie Croes Silverman and Marjorie W. Martay; All Images Credit: Jay Brady Photography

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Celebrating Peggy Cooper Cafritz (1947-2018)

Impassioned advocate for the arts and education leaves a lasting legacy.

It is with sadness that New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) learns of the passing of Peggy Cooper Cafritz, patron of the arts and former President of the District of Columbia Board of Education. Cooper Cafritz, who was inducted into the NYFA Hall of Fame in 2017, was known for championing contemporary and emerging African American artists, with The New York Times describing her collection as a “mash-up of the best of what you might find in a group show at the Studio Museum in Harlem, PS1, and the Jack Shainman Gallery in Chelsea.” 

Her dual passions for art and education led her to co-found the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington D.C., now one of the premiere arts high schools in the country. Among her many other achievements, she has helped bring greater racial and cultural diversity to the Smithsonian’s professional ranks, exhibitions, and educational programs as former Co-Chair for the Smithsonian Institution’s Cultural Equity Committee. Writing for USA Today, Mark Nichols reflects that “Peggy Cooper Cafritz will be remembered as a passionate civil rights activist, educator, philanthropist and avid art collector.” 

Image: Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Photo credit: Carl Timpone/BFA.com

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Event | Paul Beatty, Phil Gilbert, and Carolee Schneemann to be Honored at 2018 Hall of Fame Benefit

The event recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened arts patrons.

The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) will celebrate the induction of three arts leaders into the NYFA Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on Thursday, April 12, 2018, at Capitale, 130 Bowery, New York, NY 10013. The event recognizes visual, literary, and performing artists who have received NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowships and have had a profound impact on the arts through their creative work, and patrons of the arts who have championed the value of the arts in the world around us. The evening’s honorees are:

Paul Beatty (Fellow in Poetry ‘93): Novelist and Poet

Phil Gilbert: Patron of the Arts and General Manager of Design, IBM

Carolee Schneemann (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ‘87): Visual Artist

The glamorous ticketed event will feature cocktails, dinner, and a silent auction of art, experiences, and more. Carmelita Tropicana (NYFA Board Member and Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ’87 and Playwriting/Screenwriting ’91, ’06) will serve as the event emcee. All tickets come with a signed, limited-edition print by Carolee Schneemann created exclusively for the event. Attire is festive cocktail.

On the inductees, feminist visual arts advocate and NYFA Board Chair Judith K. Brodsky said: “NYFA is honoring three brilliant, creative people: Paul Beatty, whose multi-layered humor and biting social commentary has solidified his status as a truly original voice in contemporary literature; Phil Gilbert, arts supporter and one of the first to lead a groundbreaking effort to apply design thinking in a business setting; and Carolee Schneemann, whose prolific output of work may be among the most significant of the feminist art canon.”  

The event recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA, and the vision and commitment of enlightened patrons of the arts. Past NYFA Hall of Fame Inductees include Ida Applebroog, James Casebere, Christopher d’Amboise, Anna Deavere Smith, Zhou Long, Christian Marclay, Terry McMillan, Mira Nair, Lynn Nottage, Eric Overmyer, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Perron, Dwight Rhoden, Faith Ringgold, and Andres Serrano.

Beatty and Schneemann are past recipients of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, which are individual unrestricted grants made to artists who are living and working in New York State. These fellowships are not project grants, but are intended to fund an artist's vision regardless of the level of their artistic development.

“For over 30 years, the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program has provided more than $30 million in unrestricted cash grants to artists of all disciplines,” said Michael L. Royce, Executive Director, NYFA. “In addition to the financial support, the Fellowship often serves as a validation of the artists’ voice or vision. We’re thrilled to have the opportunity to bring these artists back to NYFA and honor their significant cultural contributions,” he added.

NYFA is proud to present this year’s honorees and celebrate their impact in the cultural community:

Paul Beatty is the author of the novels Tuff (Anchor 1998), Slumberland (Bloomsbury USA 2008), and The White Boy Shuffle (Picador 1996), and the poetry collections Big Bank Take Little Bank (Nuyorican Poets Café Press 1991) and Joker, Joker, Deuce (Penguin 1994). He was the editor of Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor (Bloomsbury USA 2006). In 2016, he became the first American to win the Man Booker Prize for his novel The Sellout (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2015). In 2017, he was the winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award. He lives in New York City.

Phil Gilbert, Patron of the Arts, is a recognized leader in the technology industry who has led the IBM design program since 2012, spearheading a broader transformation of how the company’s teams understand and solve complex problems. The program is based on two principles: adding formally-trained designers into IBM at an unprecedented scale, and reskilling its global workforce in design thinking and agile practices. Previously, Gilbert led the Business Process Management segment for IBM, where he drove the simplification of its portfolio and the ease-of-use of its products. He joined IBM in 2010 via the acquisition of Lombardi Software, where he was President. Gilbert has been awarded multiple patents across his career and is a thought-leader on topics of portfolio and software design, design governance, strategy, and culture. He has most recently been called upon to advocate before the U.S. Congress for a new “Digital Americans with Disabilities Act.” He lives in Austin, Texas.

Carolee Schneemann is one of the most influential artists of the second part of the 20th century. Her pioneering investigations into subjectivity, the social construction of the female body, and the cultural biases of art history have had significant influence on subsequent generations of artists. Recent honors include receiving the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the Venice Biennale in 2017, and being celebrated with a career retrospective at MoMA PS1 (on through March 11). Schneemann’s painting, photography, performance, and installation work has been exhibited at venues including the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles; The Whitney Museum of American Art; and Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Her work has been screened as part of film and video retrospectives at the Museum of Modern Art; National Film Theatre, London; and San Francisco Cinematheque. She has taught at many institutions including New York University, California Institute of the Arts, Bard College, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Smith College. Schneemann has also published widely, authoring books including More than Meat Joy: Complete Performance Works and Selected Writings (McPherson & Co 1979); Correspondence Course: An Epistolary History of Carolee Schneemann and Her Circle, edited by Kristine Stiles (Duke University Press Books 2010); and the soon-to-be published Carolee Schneemann: Uncollected Texts (Primary Information 2018).

Ticket prices start at $650 and Tables at $6,500. For more information and to purchase tickets to the 2018 Hall of Fame Benefit, please visit nyfa.org or contact Barbara Toy at btoy@nyfa.org or 212.366.6900 x 207.

Legends Limousine, a family-owned car service based in Park Slope, Brooklyn, is NYFA’s transportation partner for the 2018 NYFA Hall of Fame Benefit.

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Images L to R: Paul Beatty (Fellow in Poetry ‘93), Photo Credit: Hannah Assouline; Phil Gilbert - Patron of the Arts, Photo Courtesy: IBM; and Carolee Schneemann (Fellow in Performance/Multidisciplinary ‘87) in Salzburg, 2015, Photo Credit: Andy Archer