The Barnes Foundation and Mural Arts Philadelphia Announce Let's Connect
Participatory Project Engaging Philadelphia’s Artists and Community
Philadelphia, PA—The Barnes Foundation has teamed with Mural Arts Philadelphia to present Let’s Connect, a participatory project engaging the city’s art community. Let’s Connect invites artists living or working in Philadelphia County to create a new work inspired by a painting or object in the Barnes collection, to be included in a group exhibition this spring. All participating artists will then have a chance to be selected for a three-month residency at the Mural Arts Studio at the Barnes, an ongoing collaboration between the Barnes and Mural Arts. In creating their new works, artists are challenged to consider Dr. Albert C. Barnes’s unique methodology of display—ignoring typical categories of art arrangement such as historical periods and cultural origins, and instead mixing works from different time periods, cultures, and media based on the formal qualities they share.
During the open call to artists, taking place March 19–April 30, 2018, artists will receive unlimited free admission to the Barnes once they register on the Let’s Connect website (visit here for Artist Registration). Artists are then invited to submit their collection-inspired work for a public display at the Barnes, on view May 21–June 4, 2018. During the display, the public may register in advance for one free admission to the Barnes (visit here for Public Registration) to nominate artists for an on-site residency at the Mural Arts Studio at the Barnes. A team of curators will also weigh in, and four artists will ultimately be selected and invited to participate in the artist residency program.
“Let’s Connect is a great way to engage Philadelphia’s many creative communities in a dialogue inspired by the Barnes collection,” says Shelley Bernstein, deputy director for audience engagement and chief experience officer. “With so many objects to be inspired by at the Barnes—and with a partner as tapped into our city’s artistic communities as Mural Arts Philadelphia—we are excited to invite Philadelphia to participate in Let’s Connect.”
“At Mural Arts, we employ over 200 artists each year, and we are always looking for ways to nourish and support the expansive community of visual artists in Philadelphia. This includes building pathways for engagement with artists whose work may be new to us, beyond the walls of their studios, and introducing the larger public to their ideas,” said Jane Golden, founder and executive director of Mural Arts Philadelphia. “We are honored and thrilled to continue our partnership with the Barnes in a way that will challenge people to think creatively about the Barnes’ historic collection and that will provide an exciting opportunity to four talented local artists.”
Further details on Let’s Connect, including timeline, are included below:
ARTIST OPEN CALL:
March 19–April 30, 2018
During the Let’s Connect open call phase, artists living or working in Philadelphia County will be given free access to the Barnes once registered and asked to select a work of art in the collection to use as a departure point for creating their own work for submission. The newly created work may respond to the selected piece in a number of ways—by addressing its historical origins, by proposing a new visual relationship in the tradition of Dr. Barnes, or by critiquing the Barnes method altogether. More information.
During the open call period, the Barnes will host information sessions to provide artists details about the project as well as background on the Barnes method and the collection. Artists are encouraged to attend at least one session, but participation is not required. The meetups are scheduled to take place at the Barnes during the following times:
Friday, March 23, 2018, at 3 pm
Saturday, April 7, 2018, at 3 pm
Saturday, April 21, 2018, at 1 pm
EXHIBITION:
May 21–June 4, 2018
All works submitted by Philadelphia artists who have registered online will be displayed at the Barnes from May 21–June 4, 2018, during the Barnes’s usual hours of 11 am–5 pm, Wednesday–Monday. The public’s selections will be weighted equally with the curators’ selections. More information.
ARTIST RESIDENCIES:
July 1, 2018–June 30, 2019
The four selected artists will be invited to participate in three-month residencies at the Mural Arts Studio at the Barnes. This small building, located just off 20th Street, is uniquely situated at the edge of the Barnes’s Parkway campus and has become an ideal place for art activations that function as a critical bridge to nearby communities. The selected artists will be provided an expense allowance of $1,000 per month, given come-and-go access to the Barnes, and they will host open studio hours to connect with the community. Residencies will begin July 1, 2018, and run for an entire year, through June 30, 2019.
PROJECT ORGANIZATION
The project is organized by Shelley Bernstein, deputy director for audience engagement and chief experience officer at the Barnes Foundation. Lindsey Rosenberg is the Let’s Connect project manager for Mural Arts Philadelphia.
ABOUT MURAL ARTS PHILADELPHIA
Mural Arts Philadelphia is the nation’s largest public art program, dedicated to the belief that art ignites change. For over 30 years, Mural Arts has united artists and communities through a collaborative and equitable process, creating nearly 4,000 artworks that have transformed public spaces and individual lives. Mural Arts aims to empower people, stimulate dialogue, and build bridges to understanding with projects that attract artists from Philadelphia and around the world, and programs that focus on youth education, restorative justice, mental health and wellness, and public art and its preservation. Popular mural tours offer a firsthand glimpse into the inspiring stories behind Mural Arts’ iconic and unparalleled collection, which has earned Philadelphia worldwide recognition as the “City of Murals.” For more information, call 215.685.0750 or visit muralarts.org. Follow on social media: @muralarts on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, MuralArtsPhiladelphia on Facebook, and phillymuralarts on YouTube.
ABOUT THE BARNES FOUNDATION
The Barnes Foundation is a non-profit cultural and educational institution that shares its unparalleled art collection with the public, organizes special exhibitions, and presents programming that fosters new ways of thinking about human creativity. The Barnes collection is displayed in ensembles that integrate art and objects from across cultures and time periods, overturning traditional hierarchies and revealing universal elements of human expression. Home to one of the world’s finest collections of impressionist, post-impressionist, and early modern paintings—including the largest groups of paintings by Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Paul Cézanne in existence—the Barnes brings together renowned masterworks by such artists as Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Amedeo Modigliani, and Vincent van Gogh, alongside ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and non-Western art as well as metalwork, furniture, and decorative art.
The Barnes Foundation was established by Dr. Albert C. Barnes in 1922 to “promote the advancement of education and the appreciation of the fine arts and horticulture.” Since moving to the heart of Philadelphia in 2012, the Barnes has expanded its commitment to teaching visual literacy in groundbreaking ways, investing in original scholarship relating to its collection and enhancing accessibility throughout every facet of its program.
The Barnes Foundation is open Wednesday–Monday, and tickets can be purchased on-site, online, or by calling 215.278.7200. Ticket prices and current hours are listed on our website.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Deirdre Maher, Director of Communications
215.278.7160, press@barnesfoundation.org
Online press office: barnesfoundation.org/press
Mural Arts: Cari Feiler Bender, Relief Communications, LLC
610.416.1216, cari@reliefcomm.com
Nicole Steinberg, Director of Communications and Brand Management
215.685.0754, nicole.steinberg@muralarts.org