NEWS
Gallery News – As of today, Bridgette Mayer Gallery transforms from a public to a private space. The new space is on the 3rd floor of the same building (the first floor gallery space will be leased out) and visits to the private gallery are by appointment.
This hardly means a scaling back of activities for Mayer or her gallery artists. Mayer, who is committed to working with her stable of 18 artists, has penned a forthcoming memoir, The Art Cure, and the list of the many projects she’s working on with her artists is formidable. The evolution of Mayer’s business has been coming for the last year or so, reflecting trends away from white box spaces (witness, for example, Gallery Joe’s transformation earlier this year); and Mayer’s own shift — physically with a move to Los Angeles, where she spends half her week — and towards art advising and artist projects.
The commercial gallery scene in Philadelphia has always been vulnerable and subject to market whims and weak collector base, but maybe the 21st Century model where gallerists forgo spaces, become nomadic and work as curatorial managers on behalf of artists will prove healthy for both the artists and the gallerists. I hope so. Artblog has watched Bridgette Mayer and her gallery grow and adapt and continually refresh over the years. Bridgette, I wish you the best! Read more in the press release below.
Bridgette Mayer Gallery is pleased to announce that after sixteen years of business on Washington Square in Philadelphia as a public art gallery, it will be converting the business into a private gallery and project space on July 5, 2016. The gallery will remain in the building that owner, Bridgette Mayer, occupies at 709 Walnut Street and move its operations to the upper level penthouse floor, where it will occupy 1,200 square feet of space and be open by appointment.
The gallery will keep its core group of eighteen Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and
internationally-based artists and focus its programming on museum projects, studio projects and specially curated projects designed in conjunction with Bridgette Mayer Art Advisors in both Philadelphia and Los Angeles.A selection of the projects underway are: a travelling museum exhibition of recent paintings by artist Neil Anderson in 2017 and an accompanying 100-page book with essays by John Yau, Sid Sachs, Roger Rothman and poetry by Charles Borkhuis; a forthcoming science museum exhibition with new work by Rebecca Rutstein in Los Angeles and other venues to be announced; “The Death of Impressionism,” a curated exhibition at the Michener Art Museum featuring the work of Arden Bendler Browning opening in November 2016; and “Philadelphia Painters,” a curated exhibition at Kutztown University’s Marlin and Regina Miller Gallery featuring the work of Charles Burwell and Arden Bendler Browning. Notable current events include a recent residency by Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship winner Eileen Neff at the Bernheim Arboretum & Research Forest in Kentucky and sabbatical projects by Guggenheim Fellowship winner Sharon Harper, as well as overseas work and a public art piece in Orlando, FL by Scottish artist Dana Hargrove.
The gallery has also been working on a major public art project with the city of Philadelphia and Arden Bendler Browning that will be unveiled this August, a curated citywide art project benefitting the Arts & Business council for 2016-2017, a consulting project with a London, Philadelphia and Washington, DC-based corporation with commissioned artworks at each location, mural arts projects to be announced late summer, several additional corporate projects, and an RDA project to be announced this fall.
In addition, Bridgette Mayer has a forthcoming book, “The Art Cure: A Memoir of Abuse & Fortune,” to be released mid-July. She will be lecturing around the country and doing workshops for artists about growing their careers to the next level whether they are emerging or established. Mayer will be working with Temple’s Fox School of Business on a special program around finance, marketing, and motivational topics for artists and creative types in 2016-2017. Mayer also has plans to announce a charitable foundation to benefit artists and young women that will also be headquartered in her building at 709 Walnut Street in Philadelphia.
Art dealer, advisor, and soon-to-be author, Bridgette Mayer, was recently featured in Fresh Paint Magazine and will be profiled in upcoming articles in the July issues of Philly Voice and Philadelphia Style Magazine (online). Philly Style will also feature her in their winter print issue. “I am very excited for the year ahead and the evolution of my business into the next realm of what it has become. With projects happening in Philadelphia, the West Coast and overseas and I am growing each of my artists’ careers on a national and global level. I have always sought to push the boundaries of what is possible beyond the white walls of my gallery and beyond the city of Philadelphia and have reached a tipping point with achieving this.
“I am excited for my book coming out this July to share my story of hope, motivation, and art with the city of Philadelphia, artists, and young women. I am equally excited about my board involvement with several wonderful organizations in Philadelphia that I will continue to support along with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Institute of Contemporary Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. In creating a foundation that will serve artists and women, I am thrilled to be a supporting force in this sector of what is possible in service of others who need the assistance. I invite the public, my friends, and my clients to come grow with me globally in 2016-2017.”
Websites: www.bridgettemayergallery.com, www.bridgettemayerartadvisors.com
Forthcoming: www.bridgettemayer.com & www.theartcurefoundation.com
GOOD READS
Via NY Times – New Emerging Artist Award from Ellsworth Kelly Foundation to Foundation for Contemporary Art benefits Cauleen Smith 2018 exhibit at ICA.
…“Ellsworth was very interested in giving things to underrecognized artists,” said the artist Glenn Ligon, speaking of Ellsworth Kelly.
Mr. Ligon serves on the board of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, which has received a $1 million gift from the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation to endow a new annual award.
The gift is the largest single cash contribution ever received by the Contemporary Arts foundation, which was established by Jasper Johns and John Cage in 1963.
The donation includes a $40,000 grant to support a solo exhibition by an emerging, midcareer or little-known contemporary visual artist at a regional art museum, or university or college art gallery in the United States.
The first Ellsworth Kelly Award is going to the Institute of Contemporary Art at the University of Pennsylvania for a solo exhibition of film, video and sculpture by the Chicago-based filmmaker and artist Cauleen Smith in the fall of 2018, curated by Anthony Elms.
“Cauleen is at this funny moment where she’s done a huge amount of work in Chicago,” Mr. Ligon said, “but she’s not doing the kind of show that lends itself to big gallery support.” Read full article here.
Always great to read about the wonderful Austrian dynamo, VALIE EXPORT!
Have you been to Invisible City? Sid Sachs’ history of Philadelphia art in the 1960s and 1970s is chock full of information and interviews. Wonderful project!
OPPORTUNITIES
VIA Flora Ward — Two-year teach/work opportunity for artists, at Princeton
Opportunities: 2017-19 Princeton Arts Fellowship (US$80,000 a year stipend)
2017-19 Princeton Arts Fellowship
September 19, 2016, 11:59 p.m. EST
Apply herePrinceton Arts Fellowships, funded in part by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, will be awarded to artists whose achievements have been recognized as demonstrating extraordinary promise in any area of artistic practice and teaching. Applicants should be early career poets, novelists, choreographers, playwrights, designers, performers, directors, filmmakers, composers, and performance artists–this list is not meant to be exhaustive–who would find it beneficial to spend two years teaching and working in an artistically vibrant university community. Read more here.
Via ICA’s Amy Sadao — Curator for Art+Aids exhibit
Visual AIDS invites curators to submit a proposal for our annual one-month exhibition, to take place in Summer/Fall 2017. Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting HIV+ artists, and preserving a legacy, because AIDS is not over.
Call for Proposals Deadline: August 1, 2016
Visual AIDS is looking for proposals that use art to examine the relationship between HIV and contemporary culture, contemplate the deep cultural history of AIDS, art and activism, or highlight the work of artists living with HIV. Previous exhibitions have challenged notions such as love as activism, believing in the unknown, measuring the undetectable, using text as image to contemplate mixed messages, and the intersection of nightlife and HIV/AIDS activism. Proposals should focus on contemporary issues with an eye towards both ideas of the past and possible futures. Curators are strongly encouraged to consider the work of artists in Visual AIDS’ online Artist+ Registry. Read more here.
Via Judith Schaechter — Mutter Museum seeks Exhibition Designer
Exhibits Designer – Mütter Museum
Please email an application as requested in the job description to exhibitsdesigner@collegeofphysicians.org. Review of applications begins immediately and continues until the position is filled. No phone calls. Click here for link to application guidelines.
Via e-flux — Whitney Museum seeks Assistant Curator
A newly created position is available for an assistant curator at the Whitney Museum with particular expertise in mid-20th century American art. The incumbent will report directly to the Nancy and Steve Crown Family Chief Curator and work closely with him on the organization of various large-scale monographic and thematic exhibitions from concept to installation. This is an exciting opportunity for a talented candidate with the appropriate art historical background and excellent writing skills. More at e-flux
Responsibilities:
–Extensive scholarly research, including archival work and meetings with artists
–Development of checklists and floor plans
–Negotiation of loans
–Writing didactic texts, with the possibility for contributions to catalogues
–Management of all administrative aspects of exhibitions, including the writing and organization of correspondence; preparing reports and presentations; working with budgets; and other relevant duties
–Act as liaison for the Chief Curator in addition to working independently with other curatorial staff and departments in the museum, including Conservation, Exhibitions, Education, Publications, and Advancement, as well as external contacts such as artists, donors, galleries, and other institutionsJob requirements include: MA in art history; PhD preferred; expertise in mid-20th century American art; at least five years of museum, teaching, or related experience with demonstrated scholarship and organizational skills; experience with TMS, Microsoft Office, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Please send resume, cover letter and salary requirements to: hr@whitney.org and state “Assistant Curator” in the subject line.
Via Hyperallergic — Baltimore seeks artists for its 2017 City of Lights Festival
Are you a visual artist working in the medium of light? Light City Baltimore, the first large-scale, international light festival in the US, invites artists to apply to have an illuminated artwork featured in the second year of Baltimore’s landmark festival, taking place Friday, March 31 through Saturday, April 8, 2017. Light City is produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion & The Arts. Read article at Hyperallergic.
In its inaugural year, Light City welcomed more than 400,000 people to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor over seven nights. The free festival that contributed $33.8 million to Baltimore’s economy amazed visitors with 28 large-scale light art installations, 50 concerts, and 100 performances.
As the excitement and ingenuity around Light City continue to grow, the festival seeks 20–30 innovative works of art to be featured in the 2017 BGE Light Art Walk. Central to Light City along Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, installations on the BGE Light Art Walk include but are not limited to large-scale light displays and sculptures, projections and interactive technologies. Projects are selected by a jury through the call for entry and fully funded between $5,000 and $75,000. Each artwork should be open and operational during all festival hours (7pm–11pm on weeknights and 7pm–midnight on the weekends) for each of the nine nights Light City is open to the public.
Application deadline: Monday, August 1, 2016
To submit a proposal, visit lightcity.org/call-for-entry/.
