FORUM: Theaster Gates, Vera List Center Biennial Prize Winner

Theaster Gates at the Dorchester Project, Chicago 2012. Photo via theartnewspaper.com. 

Theaster Gates: A Way of Working

Forum, Lecture, and Gallery Presentation at the New School

Forum

Wednesday, September 18th, 10am–2:30pm

Thursday, September 19th, 10am–12pm

The New School, Theresa Lang Community and Student Center

55 West 13th Street, 2nd Floor, New York

Artist lecture and Prize presentation

Wednesday, September 18th, 7pm

The New School, Tishman Auditorium

66 West 12th Street, New York

Gallery Presentation

Wednesday, September 18th–October 5th, 2013

Opening: September 18th, 5–6:30pm

The Arnold and Sheila Aronson Galleries

Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, Parsons The New School for Design

66 Fifth Avenue, New York

Hours: Daily noon–6pm, Thursdays noon–8pm

In tribute to Theaster Gates, recipient of the inaugural Vera List Center Prize for Art and Politics, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics presents a conference, artist lecture and a gallery installation collectively entitled Theaster Gates: A Way of Working.

These programs are the culmination of The New School's 18-month engagement with the artist and his work, and takes place alongside numerous courses across the university. Theaster Gates: A Way of Working offers a view into how the artist develops synergies within his far-reaching work, and examines the complex ways of creating and maintaining an expanded studio practice rooted in institutional engagement, object making, and the production of space. Gates is globally renowned for his genre-defying explorations of community, history, race, and politics.

The two-day public forum (September 18–19) explores Gates' prize-winning Dorchester Projects and issues arising from the work such as migration, belief and ecologies of organizing. Voices from fields such as art, urban policy, economics, jazz, political science, and religious studies from The New School and beyond illuminate the multifaceted and ongoing project, and ultimately call for new notions of social justice brought about by aesthetic practices. Speakers include Jane Bennett (Johns Hopkins) and Shannon Jackson (UC Berkeley) as well as The New School faculty members Katayoun Chamany, Andrea Geyer, Richard Harper, Lydia Matthews, Jasmine Rault, Radhika Subramaniam, and others.

Dedicated to the artist's prize-winning work Dorchester Projects, the conference is anchored by a lecture by Theaster Gates and the presentation of the award, designed by Yoko Ono, on September 18 at 7pm. It is preceded by the opening celebration of the gallery installation at the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center (SJDC) at Parsons The New School for Design from 5–6:30pm.

The gallery presentation of Theaster Gates: A Way of Working, organized to accompany the forum and spark ongoing conversation, includes excerpts of works and project series from Gates' studio. Rather than explore the chronological development of Gates' work, the presentation focuses on the uniquely non-linear nature of his methods of working, thinking, and creating. Project elements include a rickshaw inspired by recent visits to Haiti and Mexico; drawings and studies; videos; and a large-scale organizational chart mapping elements of the artist's way of working.

Launched to celebrate the VLC's 20th anniversary, the Vera List Center Prize for Art and Politics honors an artist or group of artists who engage political themes and take personal risks to advance social justice in profound and visionary ways. International in scope, the biennial prize is awarded for a particular project's long-term impact, boldness, and artistic excellence. Following an extensive research and evaluation process that enlisted the advice of a jury and a nominator's council of leading artists, art historians, and curators worldwide, Theaster Gates was named inaugural recipient of the prize for his Dorchester Projects. More than a single moment of recognition, the prize represents a long-term commitment to the question of how the arts advance social justice, how we speak of, evaluate, and teach such work.

Admission to all events is free. 

For more details, visit the Vera List Center website.

Theaster Gates: Dorchester Projects from Smart Museum of Art on Vimeo.

ALLIANCE CONFERENCE 2012: The Saint Louis Art Museum / July 12-15

Broad range of art experts and connoisseurs brought together for the 12th National Alliance of African and African American Art Support Groups 

The Saint Louis Art Museum will play host to “Navigating the Mainstream: Learning from the Past, Looking to the Future,” the 2012 convention of the National Alliance of African and African American Art Support Groups, on July 12-15.  

Over three days, more than 25 prominent artists and scholars will discuss the rich history and development of African and African American arts. Conference panels and presentations will also address the best practices regarding the collection and preservation of these works as well as their presentation and interpretation, especially in mainstream museums. 

In one such panel, distinguished scholar Dr. David Driskell, professor emeritus of the University of Maryland, will discuss his role in assisting many organizations and individuals in assembling art collections, most notably the Camille and Bill Cosby Collection and the Driskell collection. In 1995, Dr. Driskell supervised the White House’s first purchase of a work of art by an African American artist. 

In addition to engaging in critical discussion and reflection, conference participants will explore surrounding arts organizations such as Theaster Gates’s Rebuild Foundation, located and active in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Rebuild Foundation brings together artists, architects, developers, educators, and community activists throughout the Midwest to affect creative community change. 

The conference will also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Saint Louis Art Museum’s Romare Bearden Graduate Minority Museum Fellowship. The fellowship was named for African American artist Romare Bearden, who supported young and emergent artists throughout his life, with the goal of preparing minority graduate students for careers in arts and cultural institutions.   

The National Alliance Conference coincides with the summer exhibition of renowned print artist Kara Walker’s Harper’s Pictorial History of the Civil War (Annotated) by KaraWalker. Featured in Gallery 321 until August 26, 2012, Walker’s prints explore historical and contemporary views of the Civil War through parataxis.  This exhibition was co-curated by the 2011-2012 Romare Bearden Graduate Minority Fellow.  

For more information on the conference, including schedules, guest speakers and registration, visit slam.org/bearden2012. Follow the conference on Twitter at @Bearden2012. 

The Saint Louis Art Museum is one of the nation’s leading comprehensive art museums with collections that include works of art of exceptional quality from virtually every culture and time period. Areas of notable depth include Oceanic art, pre-Columbian art, ancient Chinese bronzes and European and American art of the late 19th and 20th centuries, with particular strength in 20th-century German art. The Museum offers a full range of exhibitions and educational programming generated independently and in collaboration with local, national and international partners.  Admission to the Saint Louis Art Museum is free to all every day. For more information about the Saint Louis Art Museum, call 314.721.0072 or visit  slam.org.