Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture announces 2014 Awards Dinner Honorees
New York, NY, (March 25, 2014)—The Skowhegan Awards Dinner will be held Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at Gotham Hall (1356 Broadway) in New York City. Cocktails will begin at 6:30 PM; Dinner and Awards Ceremony will follow at 8:00 PM. Dinner Co-Chairs David Beitzel (A ’82) & Darren Walker, Andrea Crane, Eleanor Acquavella Dejoux, Alan Wanzenberg, and Fred Wilson (F '95), along with the Trustees and Governors of Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, announce the following 2014 honorees:
Theaster Gates will receive the Skowhegan Medal for Sculpture in the Expanded Field for his fearless blurring of art, social practice, and urban planning. In his celebrated work Dorchester Projects (2009– 11), Gates restored dilapidated buildings on the South Side of Chicago, turning them into cultural institutions while preserving neighborhood artifacts. Artist Carrie Mae Weems (F '00) will present the medal to Gates.
Kate D. Levin, former Commissioner of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (2002–13), will receive a special Exceptional Civic Leadership award for her inspired support of the arts community. Under her leadership, the number of nonprofit cultural organizations receiving funding—and the average award amounts—increased by more than 30 percent; the Department’s portfolio of cultural capital projects tripled; creative sector participation in economic development, tourism, human service and education initiatives expanded significantly; and the City hosted over 500 temporary public art installations. Artist and Skowhegan Governor Fred Wilson (F '95) will present the award to Levin.
Lucy Lippard (F '79) will receive the Governors’ Award for Outstanding Service to Artists for her incisive and inclusive scholarship. A co-founder of numerous artists' organizations—among them PAD/D (Political Art Documentation and Distribution), REPOhistory, Artists Call Against U.S. Intervention in Central America, Printed Matter, and the feminist journal Heresies—Lippard has been committed to a hybrid practice of curating, organizing, and writing. Artist and former Skowhegan Governor Joyce Kozloff (F '98) will present the award to Lippard.
Louise & Leonard Riggio will receive the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Award for Outstanding Patronage of the Arts for their visionary philanthropy. In additional to their magnanimous support of community organizations and educational institutions, the Riggios provided leadership and funding for the construction of Dia:Beacon Riggio Galleries, making it the largest contemporary art museum in the world. Artist Richard Serra (F '85) will present the award to Mr. & Mrs. Riggio.
At the event, Janine Antoni (F '98) and Stephen Petronio will present the Lazarus Cradle with Trevor, performed by Antoni and danced by Nick Sciscione with commissioned music by Son Lux.
Among the notable attendees are: Skowhegan Board Chair Ann Gund; collectors and philanthropists Agnes Gund, Jan Aronson, Darren Walker, Chiara Edmands, Mildred Brinn, Gregory K. Palm, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Fiona & Eric Rudin, Mihail Lari, Robert Looker, John & Amy Griffin, Thomas & Marina Purcell, Judson P. & BB Reis, Suzanne Slesin (Titus Foundation), Spike & Mary Lou Beitzel, Eleanor W. Revson; architect Alan Wanzenberg; Directors Mark Bessire (Portland Museum of Art), Sharon Corwin (Colby College Museum of Art), and Holly Block (The Bronx Museum of the Arts); gallerists and art world professionals Angela Westwater (Sperone Westwater), Matthew Marks (Matthew Marks Gallery), Barbara Bertozzi Castelli (Castelli Gallery), Allison Rubler, Victoria Love Salnikoff (Love Fine Art), William & Donna Jo Acquavella (Acquavella Galleries), Nick Lawrence (Freight + Volume), and Jack Shainman (Jack Shainman Gallery); curator Gabriel Pérez-Barreiro (Colección Patricia Phelps de Cisneros); and advertising executive John Coleman.
Artists in attendance will include Anthony Aziz, Donald Baechler, Mark DiSuvero, David Driskell, Anoka Faruqee, Andrea Geyer, Robert Gober, Joyce Kozloff, Glenn Ligon, Libbie Masterson, Donald Moffett, Sean Ryan, Ursula von Rydingsvard, Shinique Smith, and Hong Zhang.
Attendance at the Awards Dinner is by pre-registration only. Tickets begin at $750; tables begin at $10,000. To purchase in advance, visit skowheganart.org or call +1.212.529.0505.
Awards Dinner proceeds sustain Skowhegan’s nine-week summer program for emerging artists, held on its 350-acre campus in central Maine. Over 90% of participating artists receive scholarship support. Skowhegan was founded in 1946 and has since brought together emerging and established artists for an intense and transformative period of artistic risk-taking, mentorship and peer-to-peer exchange. Skowhegan is a highly competitive program that maintains a need-blind application process, which ensures that artists are accepted based on demonstrated commitment, ability, and potential, not financial circumstance.
