FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Socrates Sculpture Park Announces The 2023 Socrates Annual Artist Fellows
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Joyce Chan | Communications Manager | jc@socratessculpturepark.org
Socrates Sculpture Park Announces The 2023 Socrates Annual Artist Fellows
The Mark di Suvero-founded institution for contemporary public art awards six artists for the annual Fellowship Program
Long Island City, NY, June 21, 2023 – Socrates Sculpture Park is pleased to announce the recipients of The 2023 Socrates Annual Fellowship. The competitive program reflects the Park’s commitment to artistic experimentation and nurturing artists’ careers. This important training ground for early career artists allows the selected Fellows to gain experience creating large-scale public art, utilizing Socrates’ outdoor studio in Long Island City, Queens. Recipients were selected through an open-call application process. The thematic prompt for this year was “Transformation.”
The recipients of The 2023 Socrates Annual Fellowship are Ashley Harris and Ndivhuho Rasengani, Bat-Ami Rivlin, Kate Rusek, Maryam Turkey, and Stefania Urist. Selected from a pool of 250 applicants, this year’s cohort reflects the diversity of NYC working artists with varied artistic approaches, media and subject matter.
“We are thrilled to welcome this dynamic group of artists to the Park this summer. This year’s cohort is considering ideas related to material ontology, sustainability, and world-building, while also offering timely reflections on the Park’s current state of structural and environmental transformation.” said Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas, Curator and Director of Exhibitions of Socrates Sculpture Park. “We’re also excited for visitors and our local community to witness the ongoing fabrication process in our unique, open-air studio throughout the summer months.”
The 2023 Socrates Annual curatorial jury included Kaitlin Garcia-Maestas, Curator & Director of Exhibitions at Socrates Sculpture Park with two curatorial advisors, Misa Jeffereis, Associate Curator, Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, and Sara O’Keeffe, Senior Curator, Art OMI. ‘The Socrates Annual’ fellowship was formalized in 2000 and have included artists such as Sable Elyse Smith (2016), David Brooks (2009), Leilah Babirye (2018), Orly Genger (2004), Sanford Biggers (2001), and Torkwase Dyson (2015).
Artist Fellows are each awarded a production stipend, access to the Park’s outdoor artist studio, as well as the technical and administrative support needed to realize ambitious public art projects. The fellowship culminates in the fall with ‘The Socrates Annual’ exhibition, opening on September 30th.
Support
Major support for The Socrates Annual Fellowship & Exhibition comes from The Devra Freelander Artist Fund, Jerome Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support is provided by the Charina Foundation, the Sidney E. Frank Foundation, Agnes Gund, Lambent Foundation, with in-kind support provided by Spacetime C.C.
Additional funding is provided in part, by public funds from the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the New York City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts.
About Socrates Sculpture Park
For over 35 years, Socrates Sculpture Park has been a model of public art production, community activism, and socially inspired place-making. Over 1,000 artists have created and exhibited new works on its five waterfront acres and outdoor studio facilities. Socrates is free and open to the public 365 days a year from 9am to sunset. It is located at 32-01 Vernon Boulevard (at Broadway) in Long Island City, New York. Socrates Sculpture Park is a not-for-profit organization licensed by NYC Parks to manage and program Socrates Sculpture Park, a New York City public park.
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