Aljira Emerge 10 by Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art

Newark, New Jersey

Aljira Emerge 10 Exhibition July 25â&#x20AC;&#x201C;September 26, 2009 Curated by Sara Reisman

Newark, New Jersey

Published on the occasion of the E10: Aljira Emerge 10 Exhibition Copyright ÂŠ 2010

591 Broad Street Newark, New Jersey 07102 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the permission of the publisher. ISBN 0-9774354-5-8 This catalog is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Aljiraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations and programs are made possible, in part, by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; The Kenneth Aidekman Family Foundation; Bank of America; JPMorgan Chase Foundation; The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; Johnson & Johnson; National Endowment for the Arts; New Jersey Cultural Trust; The Prudential Foundation; PSEG Foundation; The Starry Night Fund of Tides Foundation; The Turrell Fund; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; and individual contributors to our Annual Fund.

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Available on request

Catalog design: BW Design Cover: Brendan Fernandez, Hold on Me, 2009, video, black and white, sound, 1 minute

contents

Foreword

Twenty-two Ways to Change the World

Participating Artists

Biographies

Checklist

E10 Lecture Series

Aljira Board of Trustees and Staff

iii

Foreword

The Aljira Emerge 10 program, exhibition

optimism. As a small, non-profit organization

and catalog mark a significant milestone for

celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, Aljira

our organization within our larger operating

applauds the over 250 artists that make up the

environment. For a decade Aljira Emerge has

Emerge community.

provided access to a rich blend of strategic professional development training practices to the diverse community of artists in the New Jersey/New York metropolitan region. Throughout its evolution, Emerge has attempted to keep pace with the growing needs of those entering and already in the contemporary

I want to thank Guest Curator Sara Reisman, director of Percent for Art, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, who brought her discerning curatorial perspective to E10. Our congratulations to the participating artists on their successful completion of the program.

art field. These include financial planning;

Finally, many thanks to our fundersâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the New

exhibition opportunities; grants and residencies;

Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department

goal setting; marketing and communications;

of State, a Partner Agency of the National

and more. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary

Endowment for the Arts; The Kenneth

of Emerge we are especially proud of the role

Aidekman Family Foundation; Bank of America;

this program has played in the lives of many

JPMorgan Chase Foundation; The Geraldine

artists who are prominent today.

R. Dodge Foundation; Johnson & Johnson;

The excellent reputation of the Emerge program is built on the perseverance and commitment of the 22 artists that make up each new Emerge class annually; it is they who deserve recognition for the investment of their time and energy to their enterprise. Specifically, this year the nation was forced to confront an uncertain economy and Emerge artists stepped forward to

National Endowment for the Arts; New Jersey Cultural Trust; The Prudential Foundation; PSEG Foundation; The Starry Night Fund of Tides Foundation; The Turrell Fund; The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts; and individual contributors to our Annual Fundâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;for recognizing the importance of such programs as Aljira Emerge.

invest in a percentage of the total program cost. Artists have faced and continue to face the

Victor L. Davson

challenges of the current financial crisis with

Executive Director

Twenty-two Ways to Change the World

Allison Porchnik: I’m in the midst of doing my thesis. Alvy Singer: On what? Allison: Political commitment in 20th-century literature. Alvy: You, you, you’re like New York, Jewish, left-wing, liberal, intellectual, Central Park West, Brandeis University, the socialist summer camps and the, the father with the Ben Shahn drawings, right, and the really, y’know, strike-oriented kind of, red diaper, stop me before I make a complete imbecile of myself. Allison: No, that was wonderful. I love being reduced to a cultural stereotype. Alvy: Right, I’m a bigot, I know, but for the left. — Woody Allen, Director, Annie Hall, 1977.

Upon meeting Allison Porchnik (played by

in my youth, but what made me different

Carol Kane), neurotic writer and comedian Alvy

then barely registers now. That my deviations

Singer (Woody Allen) launches into a tirade of

from standard Minnesota stock—German,

cultural signifiers describing a stereotype that

Scandinavian, Lutheran—would have negative

growing up was familiar to me but did not exist

associations now seems remote and comical

as a single archetype. Since first watching the

given the vast range of “differences” that make

film when I was around 12 years old, I felt an

up our contemporary world view.

affinity for this cultural stereotype. Socialist summer camp, Jewish, left-wing, intellectual: these were all descriptives I was both proud and self-conscious to claim, and I was willing to overlook those that did not apply—New York, Central Park West, Brandeis. My mother eventually bought a Ben Shahn print for the house she moved into after getting divorced. Specifics aside, it was a revelation that Allison existed somewhere beyond my Midwestern beginnings, where being Jewish was deemed different. The idea of difference loomed large

E10: Aljira Emerge 10 Exhibition is a group show with no apparent organizing principle outside of this group of artists having been selected for Aljira’s Emerge program. I offered the reference to my earliest fantasy of cultural identity in the hope that it might give way to an equitable discussion about cultural identity and identity politics, which are embraced by some of the artists and irrelevant to others in the exhibition. In suggesting there is a way to engage in an objective dialogue discussion about identity is to acknowledge that my own

origins are not neutral, so in this case I will step

sculptural installation, Even You Mama? Frankly

out of the neutral curatorial voice.

it was Realized that they were Nasty not just

While Emerge is a professional development program designed to “enable emerging and mid-career artists to organize, plan, sustain and elevate their careers,” the10th group of artists to come through this program could not be more diverse in their approaches to making art, which include sculpture and installation; graphic design; collage; assemblage; video; painting; found objects; kitsch; photography; animation; and the list goes on. In spite of these varied practices, the E10 artists are linked by a globally conscious dialogue about what it means to make art today, by what means and on whose terms.

“Lesbians” (2009), is comprised of a group of figures that appears to have been generated through a new ethnographic formula that might include science fiction: African masked figures in white vinyl Victorian dresses. These alien figures are not entirely unfamiliar, but the combination challenges existing cultural combinations. My first read was that they combined African and Japanese cultural references, but much more is converging here. In our studio visit, Williams spoke of the layers of consciousness that co-exist in the moment of our conversation, in which she takes into account being a woman and a person of color whose gendered and racialized

Taking stock of the artworks in the exhibition,

history both complicates and enriches the

Emerge 10 sorts itself into several overlapping

present. The tensions between more than

groups. One of the most common threads

one state of consciousness are also at play

confronts hybrid cultural experiences, referring

in Kymia Nawabi’s Finger Nailin’ Hay In

to the construction of new cultural and linguistic

(2008). Fingers and mouths rain across a

formations that are the result of migrations in

tangle of bodies, suggesting a violence or, at

the context of globalization. One of Nyeema

the very least, struggle towards transformation

Morgan’s contributions to the exhibition,

and self-acceptance. Nawabi’s sculptural

Elemental Configurations (2009), is a collage

pieces—fashioned out of acrylic and Sculpey

based on the periodic table of elements. The

clay—humorously depict the angst of sexuality

elements have been replaced with characters

and intimacy. Sweep that shit under the rug

from science fiction film and television who

dickhead (2009) is appropriately titled, as it is

have been played by actors of color. The

a sculpture of a penis peeking out from under

application of science fiction and race to the

a rug.

table of elements suggests a radically different future in which primary scientific systems will be revised, enhanced and expanded towards greater diversity. Noelle Lorraine Williams’

On the brink of womanhood are three girls in Diego Medina’s portrait, Peach, Pistachio and Mint (2009), taken at a Quinceañera as part of a photography business venture dedicated to

documenting the more recent waves of Mexican

the collapse—or rupture—of Marxist ideology,

immigration to New York. The photographs

which is so often nostalgically referenced by art

from this project are the less formal shots taken

world intellectuals. Rooted more deeply in the

along the sidelines of culturally significant

present moment, without nostalgia, is Michael

events, in which the portrait subjects are

Paul Britto’s Red Flight #1 (2009), a video

presenting themselves as they are as opposed

of one of Britto’s high school students whom

to what they are becoming: Mexican-

he asked to perform the motions of fighting.

Americans, adults, citizens. Printed on a scale

Doubled and mirrored, Red Flight #1 becomes

that faces the viewer head on, the photograph

a Rorschach video in which the subject fights

implies a hybrid condition by capturing

herself. Britto first documented the girl in fight

both the moment of recent migration—the

mode to show her how she looked fighting, in

past—and that the subjects may still be in

an attempt to raise her awareness of her own

the process of migrating—the present. Less

violent power. Flipping the power dynamic of

direct is Medina’s Reflective Slave (2008), an

Medina’s Reflective Slave, Britto’s Red Flight

assemblage of wooden furniture legs, a mirror

activates this fighting figure into a symmetric

and a hinged frame, that positioned from the

and poetic form, turning anger and aggression

floor is anthropomorphized as a passive figure

into a dance.

that is poised upward, reflecting the viewer. Roxana Perez-Mendez also deals in literal reflective surfaces Mi y Mi Gente (2008) is a Pepper’s ghost illusion, a diorama of the U.S.Mexico border suggested by a sandy desert landscape hosting a truck that has pulled over. These details are assembled on the scale of a train set contextualized by the backdrop of a video of continuously jumping figures releasing themselves from the back of the truck. Medina’s and Perez-Mendez’s works speak to issues raised by the process of cultural and economic transformation, as does Jose Ruiz’s Carlos Marcos (2009), in two parts: a broken piñata bust of Karl Marx fabricated in Miami and a photograph of the bust before it was broken. Strewn below the piñata are Payday candy bars and money, positioned to symbolize

A second work by Jose—entitled Abstract Funding (2009)—was designed to raise fiscal consciousness, however subtly. The work consists of laser cut vinyl adhered to Aljira’s front window, where Ruiz has abstracted the logos of the institution’s funders into a tropical shape, complete with a plume. The size of each image loosely refers to the percentage of dollars that each funder contributes to Aljira’s annual budget. Contrived to fit into Aljira’s design aesthetic, the work can be read within the institution’s marketing and fundraising plan or it can be understood as institutional critique, censorious of constant reworking of the branding of non-profit cultural organizations, which is comprised in part by the brand identities of their own funders. Another read

of Ruiz’s piece is that it functions as an analysis

Diagrammed to its parts—peak, hoist, fly, halyard

of the economic identity of Aljira, a side of

and staff—the artist has included his name

cultural production that is often unspoken in

along what would be the flagpole. In this ultimate

the art world. Who pays for this program and

symbol of patriotism and political affiliation, Waks

how much? How is credit parsed out among

acknowledges a sentiment that many liberals

the makers and the financiers?

can only awkwardly embrace: “Proud to be an

Beyond the window adorned with Ruiz’s abstracted logos is Priscila De Carvalho’s No One’s Land (2009), an assemblage of cardboard boxes, painted and arranged as an urban landscape that, depending on where you look first, begins as a grey, black and white painting of an urban landscape installed at eyelevel on the wall. The painting extends downward and outward into a sculpture, with a cascade of cardboard boxes arranged as steps that are painted into an architectural configuration and lone figures collaged onto different levels of the structure, complete with electrical poles and wiring that mimic the power system running along Newark’s Broad Street just outside the

American.” The problem with this analysis is that Waks’ painting is more closely connected to Pop Art’s cut and paste of mass media symbols and imagery. Grade “A” Fiasco (2004) is a painting of butter measurements (½ cup and 2 cups) under Arabic script that reads Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest). Like Anatomy of a Flag, the message of Grade “A” Fiasco is ambiguous. Does the Arabic religious refrain have anything to do with butter measurements? On the right side of the chart is the edge of a sign for a highway, destination unknown. Perhaps this pastiche of seemingly unrelated symbols and an unmarked map is an apt expression of what it means to be American now.

gallery. The piece captures both the possibilities

Also acknowledging the systems we move

of globalization and the fragmented and isolated

within and hopefully beyond is Nyeema Morgan’s

experience of moving within the grid.

Gamescape (2007). A pop-up assemblage of

A symbol of political power is rendered by Joe Waks in his painting Anatomy of a Flag (2009), which owes a great deal to Jasper Johns’ Flag paintings of the 1950s and ’60s. Diagramming the flag’s construction, Waks’ work layers in a few brand references including the General Electric logo and Streit’s Matzos with a stamp confirming they are “Kosher for Passover.” These symbols of innovation and Jewish food products hardly suffice for a complete picture of Americana.

board game elements, Morgan describes the piece as an expression of her interest in the boundaries and edges of systems that define us. Gamescape is then a metaphor for architecture and rules that prescribe how we progress through our lives. Charting her own movement between art and life, Sandra Eula Lee’s Closing Time (2009) is a flattened urban landscape in which a map is encoded on an industrial carpet delineating the artist’s daily departure from

her old midtown office. De Carvalho and Lee

abstract transformations visible in pieces

both capture the contradictions of urban life,

by Gisela Insuaste, Jung Eun Park, and

contrasts between congestion and order of

Miranda Small, whose artworks bear no similar

the city’s grid, but Lee’s Closing Time speaks

sensibility, though they articulate change and

directly to the separation between making her

movement in daily life. Undoubtedly the most

living and making her art.

organic work in the entire exhibition is Small’s

Working with the notion of puja, Toby Barnes’ recent painting series deliberates on the idea of carving out a sacred space, or puja, in daily life, an intention that is very much at odds with globalized technologies and communication as well as with the life of a career driven or emerging artist. In Buddhism, puja is an expression of devotion and honor. In Hinduism, it is a religious ritual of offering and can refer to a personal shrine. Barnes’ two paintings presented in the exhibition, Puja 1 and Puja 4 (both 2009), present super flat figures that are at once decorated deities and technotransformers, stripped of expected figurative details. We are left with a robotic heap of reverence, with prayer hands and faces that are elusively displaced by formal twists and extra knobs. By omitting personal details, Barnes’ figures accumulate a universal quality while retaining the notion of personal sacred space.

Abbey’s Formula (2007). With a diameter of eight feet, this installation pays homage to a group of unfertilized eggs that are made of papier-mâché and rest on a bed of soil. The earthiness of the work speaks volumes about the most basic formulation of identity—life itself—giving the show a physical center and meditative offering. Park’s The Menagerie (2009) is a group of hanging sculptures that reside between flora, fauna and marine life. Most closely resembling sea flowers, the sculptures’ components are hand-scored sheets of plastic, paper and foil that Park has given a scale-like reptilian texture. Hanging at various lengths from the ceiling, the plant creatures are sensitive to movement in the gallery and have a lifelike presence, reminiscent of the fantastic sea monkeys sold in the back of comic books in the 1960s and ‘70s. Purely rooted in a material transformation is Insuaste’s site-specific sculpture entitled

Referred to as “emerging artists” by virtue

Ubicandome: It is what it is (2009). It began

of being part of Emerge 10, the exhibition

as panels, monochromatic paintings that the

captures the participants ongoing processes

artist broke down into components: strips and

of transformation as artists, moving from one

chunks of wood in blues and greens that lift up

creative or career stage to the next. More

from the ground into a peak reaching nearly

interesting than the shift towards a more

13 feet, punctuated by red and purple at a few

professionalized art practice are the more

points. Insuaste’s title gives the work freedom

to be “what it is,” while speaking of the process

brocade canvas, with a result that Tagle

of locating oneself, in this case, herself. The

describes as breaking the pattern. Ultimately,

physical process of constructing the piece was

Tagle and Morel share in their abstraction

an act of the artist locating herself at Aljira,

a resistance to cultural patterns

the ultimate site-specific gesture and three-

and classification.

dimensional painting.

Jaye Rhee and Brendan Fernandes both

Playing at a softer volume alongside Insuaste’s

address issues surrounding authenticity.

crescendo of a sculpture are Lisette Morel’s

Named after the 1962 song You’ve Really Got

three paintings, which are samples of a long-

a Hold on Me by Smokey Robinson and the

term practice involving mark making on paper,

Miracles, Fernandes’ video Hold on Me (2009)

canvas and, at times, directly onto the wall.

is narrated with the first verse of the song sung

Returning to El, Still Reaching and Over the

a cappella by Fernandes himself. Framing the

Wind (all 2009) capture the rhythms of time

moment in which a spotted leopard holds in his

and space as Morel’s nocturnal productions

mouth the neck of an antelope as his prey, the

translate and sample both the music she

movement in the video is subtle. The antelope’s

listens to as she works—reggae and jazz are

eyes open and close and tear in anticipation

two apparent patterns—and the meditative

of what is to come. This relates to Fernandes’

quality of her approach to painting. Without

definition of authenticity as “suggesting a claim

any visual connection to Morel’s artwork aside

to stability,” yet a more general definition of

from abstraction, Germán Tagle’s paintings

authenticity has to do with being true to self.

Castle and Reflex (both 2009) are also from a

Fernandes’ artwork has long considered the

long-term series that incorporates tapestries

implications of identifying with a number of

and textured fabrics of varying detail. In our

cultures at once, as he himself is Goan-Kenyan-

discussion about the potential for reading his

Canadian (and now a New Yorker). How these

work as culturally specific, Tagle acknowledged

layers of cultural transformation are reconciled

that coming from Chile he experienced

leads to a form of authenticity. In some of

diversity positively, describing the cultural

his more recent work, he has highlighted

climate as very open. Within his work, there

cultures of animals to consider identity

are several recurring features: brocade and

without politics, focusing instead on the

patterned fabric; the frequent appearance of an

poignancy of subjugation in natural settings.

abstracted colonel-like figure in a three-corner hat; and the layering and pouring of paint. The richness of the painted surface often disrupts the liberty print or raised design of a stretched

Also concerned with the frailty of the human condition, Jenny Salomon’s recent drawings Untitled (Lion/Woman) (2009) and Untitled

(Elephant/Woman) (2008) use “animals as

is the Party?, Day at the Opera and When

physical manifestations of peoples’ souls,”

is Brunch? (all 2009). These are produced

collapsing humans and animals into literal

through encaustic painting on wood embedded

hybrid beings. The works conjure nostalgic

with both natural and technological materials:

associations with feminist empowerment,

leaves; beads; oil; Indian pigment; Ecuadorian

psychedelic rock posters from the 1960s

volcanic ash; electronic components from

and Peter Max’s early paintings. Without

circuit boards; and silver, gold and copper

color, the detailed drawings find beauty in

wiring. Chong combines these materials to

the grotesque details of an elephant’s trunk

create ethereal locations into which figures

and flowing ears, and the intense power of

from vintage children’s books are transposed.

a lion becomes a foil for the woman gazing

She describes her own cultural position as that

through the the lion’s mane.

of an outsider, having been raised by Chinese

Rhee’s artwork deals both in nostalgia and authenticity through an exploration of exported cultural symbols that are often misrecognized in the process of being imported to a new location. In her series Swan, Polar Bear, Niagara (2007–2008), Rhee captures the surreal experience of being nearly submerged in Korean bathhouses, where paintings on tiled

parents in Ecuador. One way of reading these works is that the figures within her paintings are strangers in a strange land, but Chong’s approach brings out the beauty of assembling unconventional materials and imagery. Her use of circuit boards and electronic bits provides a postscript suggesting that it is technology that enables these cultural displacements.

walls above the baths become establishing

Transporting spirituality and nostalgia onto

shots for a fantasy of being at the North Pole,

handprinted tiles, Fariba Alam’s series Ahwal

Niagara Falls or wherever Swan Lake may be.

uses family photographs from the 1970s as

Shot as both videos and photographs, Rhee

imagery for printing on tiles. Awhal is the term

captures the landscape painterly quality of the

for the spiritual states experienced in Sufism,

intimate spaces within the bathhouses, as well

and the repetition of images in these works

as the comedy of becoming one with these

expresses Alam’s interest in the rhythms

fetishized landscapes that most Koreans—and

associated with spiritual states as well as the

most people, really—have never encountered

tensions between present and past. On view

in real life. Circular landscapes of a similar color

at Aljira, Alongside her Utterances in N-Space

palate to Rhee’s videos of bathhouses provide

(2009) features tiles printed with an image

the context for Cecile Chong’s four works

of birds in a tree interspersed with a few

in the exhibition, Night at the Opera, Where

photographic portraits of a young woman.

The tiles are arranged in a diamond shape that

us to speak on behalf of another or for the

tapers to one side, suggesting the motion of

other? Art is a space where the signifiers

flight. The birds that figure into the tile patterns

of identity can be pushed and reworked

are symbolic of the flight to enlightenment

towards the construction of real and imagined

as described in The Conference of the

experiences. My memory of becoming

Birds (1177), a Persian book of poems

conscious that my identity was in contrast to

by Farid ud-Din Attar:

any other—this has become imagined and

Come you lost Atoms to your Centre draw,

embellished over time. I no longer feel an

And be the Eternal Mirror that you saw:

affinity for Woody Allen, but I still appreciate

Rays that have wander’d into Darkness wide

his construction of Allison Porchnik. Luckily,

Return and back into your Sun subside

art provides a context wherein the rigid terms

Within a more contemporary mythological framework, Sheree Hovsepian’s Mystic Truth (2009) questions the role of the artist, which can sometimes become diminished when compared with hard skills associated with medicine or law. Hovespian’s Mystic Truth is made up of two suspended framed photographic prints; on one side is a print of a disco ball and on the other is a crumpled neon light, reminiscent of Bruce Nauman’s neon works. Specifically referencing Nauman’s neon vortex The true artist helps the world by revealing mystic truths (1967), Hovespian simultaneously raises and answers her own

of culture, class and other hierarchies can be resisted, important because the terms of identification are so often imposed by external forces in an attempt to make sense and use of the aesthetic and cultural differences that currently shape the landscape of contemporary art and culture. The Emerge 10 artists effectively make a case for a term Medina has used to describe his artwork: the aesthetics of diversity. Still resisting a common theme and classification, the E10 artists taught me about the importance of being authentic, whatever you are, in order to affect change, whatever that may be.

question: Can art change the world? From cultural differences, to hybrid ethnographic forms and the spiritual potentials of

Sara Reisman Guess Curator

art, the loose thematic concerns addressed

Ms. Reisman is the director of Percent for Art,

in Emerge 10 do cut across and away from

a program of the New York City Department of

the connective tissue of political and cultural

Cultural Affairs.

identity. We all have one, but does that qualify

Participating Artists

Fariba Alam

Nyeema Morgan

Toby Barnes

Kymia Nawabi

Michael Paul Britto

Jung Eun Park

Cecile Chong

Roxana Perez-Mendez

Priscila De Carvalho

Jaye Rhee

Brendan Fernandes

Jose Ruiz

Sheree Hovsepian

Jenny Salomon

Gisela Insuaste

Miranda Small

Sandra Eula Lee

Germรกn Tagle

Diego Medina

Joe Waks

Lisette Morel

Noelle Lorraine Williams

All dimensions on the following pages are in inches unless otherwise noted. All works are courtessy the artist.

Fariba Alam Ascent Diagram 1, 2009 Digital c-print 20 x 60

Toby Barnes Puja 1, 2009 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas 64 x 42

Michael Paul Britto Black Mammy, 2009 Resin, acrylic yarn, plastic, cotton, aluminum and tin Dimensions variable

Cecile Chong When is Brunch?, 2009 Encaustic and mixed media on wood 30 diameter

opposite page:

Priscila De Carvalho No Oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Land, 2009 Photograph collage, pencil, acrylic and foam board on wall Dimensions variable

Brendan Fernandes Hold on Me, 2009 Video, black and white, sound 1 minute

Sheree Hovsepian Mystic Truth, 2009 Inkjet print, wood and glitter Dimensions variable opposite page:

Gisela Insuaste Ubicandome: It is what it is, 2009 Latex acrylic on birch Dimensions variable

Sandra Eula Lee The Road Less Traveled, 2007 Boat compasses, shoes and house paint Dimensions variable opposite page:

Diego Medina Reflective Slave, 2008 Wood and mirror Dimensions variable

opposite page:

Lisette Morel Still Reaching, 2009 Oil on canvas 20 x 16 Nyeema Morgan Gamescape, 2007 Mixed media 18 x 13 x 13

Kymia Nawabi Watch where you are going, 2009 Acrylic and Sculpey Dimensions variable

Jung Eun Park The Menagerie, 2008â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2009 Plastic sheet, wire, monofilament paper, watercolor, color pencil and glue Dimensions variable

Roxana Perez-Mendez Mi y Mi Gente, 2008 Model truck, digital video player and mixed media Dimensions variable

Jaye Rhee Niagara, 2008 Video, color, silent 1:30 minutes

opposite page:

Jose Ruiz Abstract Funding, 2009 Vinyl on window Dimensions variable

Jenny Salomon Untitled (Lion/Woman), 2009 Pigment pen on paper 21 x 18

Miranda Small Abbey’s Formula, 2007 Papier-mâché, fabric and organic potting soil 8 diameter

Germรกn Tagle Castle, 2009 Acrylic on tapestry 72 x 60

Joe Waks Grade “A” Fiasco, 2004 Oil and mixed media on canvas 42 x 42

Noelle Lorraine Williams Even You Mama? Frankly it was Realized that they were Nasty not just â&#x20AC;&#x153;Lesbians,â&#x20AC;? 2009 Vinyl, African masks, beads and mixed media Dimensions variable

BIOGRAPHIES

Fariba Alam

Exhibitions

Born in Cambridge, MA Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Prananine, solo exhibition, Time and Space Gallery, Bangalore, India, 2008

Education MA, New York University, NY BA, Columbia University, New York, NY Exhibitions Sever Art Limited, solo exhibition, Delhi, India, 2010 Perspectives: Women, Art and Islam, Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, Brooklyn, NY; Museum for African Art, Long Island City, NY, 2009 INDIA XIANZA: Contemporary Indian Art, Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China, 2009 Erasing Borders: Passport to Contemporary Indian Art of the Diaspora, Queens Museum of Art, NY, 2008 Honors Fulbright Fellow, Fulbright Program, U.S. Information Agency, 1998

Toby Barnes Born in Miami, FL Lives in Amherst, MA Education MFA, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor BFA, Cooper Union, New York, NY

U Can’t Touch Dis: The New Asian Art, ZONE: Chelsea Center for the Arts, New York, NY, 2007

Franklin Furnace Fund Grant, Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc., 2009 The Space Program, Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation, 2008 Artist Residency Program, Smack Mellon, 2007

Emergency Room, P.S.1 MOMA, Long Island City, NY, 2007

Cecile Chong

Queens International, Queens Museum of Art, NY, 2004

Born in Guayaquil, Ecuador Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Honors

Education

Rackham Merit Fellowship, University of Michigan, 1997

Michael Paul Britto Born in Brooklyn, NY Lives in New York, NY Education BA, City College of New York, NY Exhibitions Uncomfortable Truths: The Shadow of Slave Trading on Contemporary Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, South Kensington, London, England, 2007 The (S) Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, 2005 Frequency, Studio Museum in Harlem, New York, NY, 2005 Black Alphabet: Contexts of Contemporary African American Art, Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw, Poland, 2006 Honors Workspace Program, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, 2009

MFA, Parsons The New School for Design, New York, NY MA, Hunter College, New York, NY BA, Queens College, NY Exhibitions Subverted Genres, Sue Scott Gallery, New York, NY, 2009 We Are Each Other, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY, 2009 reIMAGination, solo exhibition, Brooklyn Central Library, NY, 2009 The (S) Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, 2007 Honors Studio Program, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, 2009– 2011 Vermont Studio Center, 2008 MFA Grant, Joan Mitchell Foundation, 2008 Lynn Gumpert Award, ISE Cultural Foundation, 2007

Priscila De Carvalho

Education

Exhibitions

Honors

Born in Curitiba, Parana, Brazil Lives in Long Island City, NY

Independent Study Program, Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

It Figures, Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2009

Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Individual Emerging Artist Award, 2008

Education City College of San Francisco, CA Painting Program, University of California, Berkeley, CA The Art Students League of New York, NY Exhibitions (In)vicible Cities, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, Queens, NY, 2010 Passageways, solo exhibition, Jersey City Museum, NJ, 2009 Making It: Selections from the 2008 NYFA Mentoring Program for Immigrant Artists, Deutsche Bank Gallery, New York, NY, 2009 Loaded, M.Y. Art Prospects, New York, NY, 2007 Honors Residency and Fellowship, Sculpture Space, 2010 Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, Pollock-Krasner Foundation, 2008 Workspace Program, Artist-inResidence, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, 2009 Immigrant Artist Outreach Initiative Program, New York Foundation for the Arts, 2008

Brendan Fernandes Born in Nairobi, Kenya Lives in Brooklyn, NY

MFA, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada,

Portraits of Young Jewish Women, solo exhibition, Spertus Museum, Chicago, 2009

Exhibitions

The Death of Pluto, solo exhibition, Northeastern Illinois University, IL, 2007

TBA, solo exhibition, Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 2010

Pan Sonic, Northeastern Illinois University, IL, 2006

Haraka Haraka, solo exhibition, Montreal Arts Interculturels, Quebec, Canada, 2010

Honors

The Third Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China, 2008

Chicago Community Arts Assistance Grant, 2005

BFA, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Beyond/In Western New York Biennial, Albright Knox and the University of Buffalo Anderson Art Galleries, Buffalo, NY, 2007 Honors Artist in Residence, Gyeonggi Creation Center, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, 2009 New Work Residency, Harvestworks, 2009 AIM, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, Bronx, NY, 2009 Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Work Space Residency, 2007

Sheree Hovsepian Born in Isfahan, Iran Lives in New York, NY Education MFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL BFA, The University of Toledo, OH

Aljira Emerge 10, Aljira, a Center for Contempoerary Art, 2008

Travel Grant, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2002 Graduate Grant, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, 2000

Gisela Insuaste Born in New York, NY Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Artist in Residence, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, 2008 Illinois Arts Council Governor’s International Exchange Grant, 2007 Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant nominee, 2007 MacDowell Colony Residency, 2006

Sandra Eula Lee Born in Livingston, NJ Lives in New York, NY Education MFA, Hunter College, CUNY, New York, NY BFA, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY Exhibitions Influx Influxus, Dada Post, Berlin, Germany, 2009

Education

Project Standing By, organized by Alt Space Loop, Dukwon Gallery, Seoul, Korea, 2009

MFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL

Everything Else, Franklin Parrasch Gallery, New York, NY, 2008

BA, Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

Neo-Neo Dada, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY, 2008

Exhibitions

Honors

Hanging Out at No Rio, ABC No Rio, New York, NY, 2009

American Artists and Museum Professionals in Asia Fellowship, Asian Cultural Council, 2009

olas y montañitas: walking, talking, seeing, being, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, IL, 2008

The National Art Studio Program in Goyang, National Museum of Contemporary Art, 2009

Here, There, Everywhere, Chicago Cultural Center Exhibit Hall, IL, 2008

Manhattan Community Art Fund Grant, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, 2002 Studio Fellowship, Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, 2001

Diego Medina Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Economic Support, Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes CONACULTA, Fomento a Proyectos y Coinversiones Culturales, 2003–2006 Economic Support, Cultural Contact Foundation, The USMexico Foundation for Culture and Rockefeller Foundation, 2003–2004

Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education

Lisette Morel

BA, Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Occidente, Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico

Born in New York, NY Lives in Nutley, NJ

Exhibitions Construction of Cultures, solo exhibition, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, New York, NY,2008 Don’t let money rule over art, solo exhibition, Queens Museum of Art, Queens, NY, 2006 The (S) Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan, 2005 Mexico Illuminated/Iluminado, Freedman Gallery, Albright College, Reading, PA, 2003 Honors Artist Studio Residency, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, 2007–2008 Artist Studio Residency, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, 2006–2007

Education MFA, Tyler School of Art, Temple University, Elkins Park, PA BA, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Newark, NJ Exhibitions Repeating Islands: 6 New Jersey Latino Artists, Summit, 2008 The (S) Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, 2007 Jersey (new) Transcultural, Jersey City Museum, NJ, 2004

Exhibitions

Born in Philadelphia, PA Lives in Brooklyn, NY

The Queens International 08, Queens Museum of Art, NY, 2009

Education

Free Danger Presents, Free Danger Den, Brooklyn, NY, 2008

MFA, California College of the Arts, San Francisco, CA BFA, Cooper Union, New York, NY Exhibitions Live + Direct, Ping Pong Gallery, San Francisco, CA, 2009 Artists Go Lightly, Temporary Autonomous Museum, San Francisco, CA, 2007 Supermarket 2007, Koh-I-Nor, Stockholm, Sweden, 2007 Honors Wheeler Foundation Grant, 2009 Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, 2009 Daedalus Award nominee, California College of the Arts, 2007 Scholarship, The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, 1996

Synthetic Zero, Synthetic Zero Art Space, Bronx, NY, 2008 a real real worrier warrior, Lump Gallery, Raleigh, NC, 06 Honors Grant, New York Foundation for the Arts, 2009 Grant/Swing Space Residency, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, 2009 Aljira Emerge 10, Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art, 2008 Grant/Swing Space Residency, The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, 2008

Jung Eun Park Born in Seoul, Korea Lives in New York, NY, and Seoul, Korea Education

Joan Mitchell Recipients Exhibition, Cue Art Foundation, Chelsea, NY, 2003

Kymia Nawabi

On The Verge, The African American Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA, 2000

Education

Born in San Diego, CA Lives in Brooklyn, NY

Honors

MFA, University of Florida, Gainesville

Artist Grant, The Vermont Studio Center, 2002

BFA, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC

MFA Grant Award, Joan Mitchell Foundation, 2000

Nyeema Morgan

MFA, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY MFA, Kyungwon University, South Korea BFA, Kyungwon University, South Korea

Exhibitions

Honors

Paper Menagerie-Jung Eun Park, solo exhibition, Sunroom Project, Wave Hill, Bronx, NY, (solo) 2008

Sculpture Space, Residency/Award, 2010

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture, 2009

Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant, finalist, 2006

KAFA Award, Changdong International Artist Studio Program, 2008

Jenny Salomon

Artist in the Marketplace, The Bronx Museum of the Arts, 2005

Education

Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture participant, 2003

Jaye Rhee

Jose Ruiz

BA, Brown University, Providence, RI

Born in Seoul, South Korea Lives in New York, NY

Born in Lima, Peru Lives in Queens, NY

Exhibitions

Education

One Size Fits All, On Stellar Rays, New York, NY, 2009

MFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL

MFA, San Francisco Art Institute, CA

Poisoned Apple, Frederieke Taylor Gallery, New York, NY, 2009

BFA, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL

BA, University of Maryland, College Park

Last Supper, 3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY, 2008

Exhibitions

Now you see It, now you don’t, solo exhibition, KCCLA, Los Angeles, CA, 2009

Invisible Empire, Van Abbe Museum of Contemporary Art, Eindhoven, Netherlands, 2009

h*ART*ajukuXchange, Design Fiesta, Tokyo, Japan, 2008

Queens International 4, Queens Museum of Art, NY, 2009

The Progression of Influence, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, Miami, FL, 2009

The Banquet–A Feast for the Senses, Pacific Asia Museum, Pasadena, CA, 2007 CalAsia, Gallery C, Hermosa Beach, CA, 2006

Pew Fellowship in the Arts, Sculpture Installation, finalist, 2006

Honors Lecturer/Visiting Artist, College of Visual and Performing Arts, Syracuse University, 2008

Roxana Perez-Mendez Born in Puerto Rico Lives in Philadelphia, PA, and Chapel Hill, NC Education MFA, Tyler School of Art, Philadelphia, PA BFA, Ohio State University, Columbus Exhibitions Todo Tiene Su Final, Vox Populi Gallery, Philadelphia, PA, 2009 Sin Fin, Allcott Gallery, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 2009 Entre Espacio, Arlington Arts Center, VA, 2009 Salvavida (performance in collaboration with Gabriel Martinez), No Soul For Sale, X-Initiative, Chelsea, NY, 2009

Another Masterpiece, Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art, Seoul, Korea, 2009

Incheon Biennial, Incheon, South Korea, 2009

Course, Sepia Gallery/Alkazi Collection, New York, NY, 2008

intransit, Moti Hasson Gallery, New York, NY, 2008

Le Vierge, le vivace et le bel aujourd’hui, solo exhibition, Galerie Gana Beaubourg, Paris, France, 2007

Honors

When all the lovers in the world are on the phone at once, solo exhibition, Gallery Factory, Seoul, Korea, 2007

Workspace Residency, Jamaica Center for Arts and Learning, 2007

Grants and Commissions Program, Cisneros Fontanals Art Foundation, 2009

Merit Fellowship, San Francisco Art Institute, 2000–2004

Born in Greenwich, CT Lives in Brooklyn, NY BFA, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

Honors Vermont Studio Center Residency, 2010 One Size Fits All Project, creator, 2009 Human-Rights-Through-Art Program, creator, 2009 Helmsey Trust Grant for Arts Education, 2009 Community~Word Program, 2008 School of Visual Arts Residency, 2004

Miranda Small

Exhibitions

Honors

Lives in New York, NY

Paraiso Artificial, Galeria Moro, Santiago, Chile, 2009

New Jersey Print and Paper Fellow, Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, 2008

Education MFA, The City College of New York, NY BFA, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY Exhibitions Meth Heads in the Blue, Bronx Blue Bedroom Project, NY, 2009 Gifts From The Studio, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, Larchmont, NY, 2008–2009

Artificial Paradise, Union Gallery, New York, NY, 2009 The (S) Files, El Museo del Barrio, New York, NY, 2007 Art Agora, Instituto Cervantes, New York, NY, 2007

Joe Waks Born in Paterson, NJ Lives in Bayonne, NJ

Local Growing Conditions, Westchester Arts Council, White Plains, NY, 2009

Education

2008 MFA Exhibition, ComptonGoethals Gallery, City College of New York, NY, 2008

JD, Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, PA

Germán Tagle Born in Santiago, Chile Lives in Brooklyn, NY Education Centro de Extensión IUNA, holding clay and resin, Buenos Aires, Argentina UNIACC, diplomado en artes visuales, Santiago, Chile Universidad Finis Térrae, art, Santiago, Chile Universidad Finis Térrae, architecture, Santiago, Chile

BA, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC

Exhibitions BCIE Annual Exhibition, Brodsky Center for Innovative Editions, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ, 2009 New Prints Autumn 2008, International Print Center of New York, NY, 2008 Kwality: Recent Works by Joe Waks, solo exhibition, 58 Gallery, Jersey City, NJ, 2008 Metro 25, City Without Walls, Newark, NJ, 2007

Noelle Lorraine Williams Born in Jersey City, NJ Lives in Newark, NJ Education BA, Eugene Lang College of The New School for Social Research, New York, NY Exhibitions Borderlines, Rush Arts Gallery, New York, NY, 2009 The Feminine Mystique, Jersey City Museum, NJ, 2007 American Diaspora: Transformations in an Age of Uncertainty, Victory Hall Gallery, Jersey City, NJ, 2006 Fresh: A Kaleidoscope of Sound, City Without Walls/Museum of African American Music Newark, NJ, 2005 Honors Wheeler Foundation Grant, 2009 Best in Show Prize, Art in the City, Newark Arts Council, 2007 Best in Show Prize, Juried Chakaia Booker, Newark Arts Council, 2005 Eugene Lang Senior Research Grant, The New School for Social Research, 1999

Checklist All measurements are in inches unless otherwise noted. All works are courtesy the artist.

Fariba Alam

Cecile Chong

Sheree Hovsepian

Alongside Her Utterances in N-Space, 2009 Mixed media 36 x 36

When is Brunch?, 2009 Encaustic and mixed media on wood 30 diameter

Mystic Truth, 2009 Inkjet print, wood and glitter Dimensions variable

Ascent Diagram 1, 2009 Digital c-print 20 x 60

Night at the Opera, 2009 Encaustic and mixed media on wood 26 diameter

Gisela Insuaste

Toby Barnes

Where is the Party?, 2009 Encaustic and mixed media on wood 30 diameter

Puja 4, 2009 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas 56 x 39 Puja 1, 2009 Acrylic and spray paint on canvas 64 x 42

Michael Paul Britto Black Mammy, 2009 Red Translucent Mammy, 2009 All resin, acrylic yarn, plastic, cotton, aluminum and tin Dimensions variable Red Fight #1, 2009 Video, color, silent 1 minute Care Giver #1, 2008 Turn My Back On You, 2008 Get Your Cousins!, 2008 Paparazzi...Say Cheese!, 2008 All archival inkjet print 13 x 19

Day at the Opera, 2009 Encaustic and mixed media on wood 26 diameter

Priscila De Carvalho No One’s Land, 2009 Photograph collage, pencil, acrylic and foam board on wall Dimensions variable

Brendan Fernandes Hold on Me, 2009 Video, black and white, sound 1 minute

Ubicandome: It is what it is, 2009 Latex acrylic on birch Dimensions variable

Sandra Eula Lee Open Air Motel (blue sky), 2009 Paper and photo collage 10 x 11 Open Air Motel (ghosts), 2009 Paper and photo collage 9 ½ x 10 ¼ Closing Time, 2009 Clock, office carpet and asphalt 46 x 73 The Road Less Traveled, 2007 Boat compasses, shoes and house paint Dimensions variable

Diego Medina Peach, Pistachio, and Mint, 2009 Inkjet print 55 x 42 Reflective Slave, 2008 Wood and mirror Dimensions variable

Lisette Morel

Jung Eun Park

Jose Ruiz

Joe Waks

Returning to El, 2009 Oil on canvas 11 x 14

The Menagerie, 2008–2009 Plastic sheet, wire, monofilament paper, watercolor, color pencil and glue Dimensions variable

Carlos Marcos, 2009 Piñata, currency, candy and photograph Dimensions variable

Anatomy of a Flag, 2009 Oil and mixed media on canvas 66 x 66

Still Reaching, 2009 Oil on canvas 20 x 16 Over the Wind, 2009 Oil on canvas 11 x 14

Nyeema Morgan Elemental Configurations, 2009 Inkjet print collage on poster 18 x 24 Gamescape, 2007 Mixed media 18 x 13 x 13

Roxana Perez-Mendez San Antonio, 2009 Ceramic statue 24 x 12 BRUTAL, 2009 Plywood, LCD lights, microprocessor and mixed media Dimensions variable Mi y Mi Gente, 2008 Model truck, digital video player and mixed media Dimensions variable

Kymia Nawabi Sweep that shit under the rug dickhead, 2009 Acrylic, Sculpey and thread Dimensions variable Watch where you are going, 2009 Acrylic and Sculpey Dimensions variable Finger Nailin’ Hay In, 2008 Mixed media 78 x 120

Jaye Rhee Niagara, 2008 Video, color, silent 1:30 minutes Swan, 2007 Video, color, silent 4:45 minutes Polar Bear, 2007 Video, color, silent 2:30 minutes

Abstract Funding, 2009 Vinyl on window Dimensions variable

Grade “A” Fiasco, 2004 Oil and mixed media on canvas 42 x 42

Noelle Lorraine Williams Jenny Salomon Untitled (Lion/Woman), 2009 Pigment pen on paper 21 x 18 Untitled (Elephant/Woman), 2008 Pigment pen on handmade paper 24 ½ x 32 ½

Even You Mama? Frankly it was Realized that they were Nasty not just “Lesbians,” 2009 Vinyl, African masks, beads and mixed media Dimensions variable

Miranda Small Abbey’s Formula, 2007 Papier-mâché, fabric and organic potting soil 8 diameter

Germán Tagle Castle, 2009 Acrylic on tapestry 72 x 60 Reflex, 2009 Acrylic on canvas 16 x 16

E10 Lecture series April 5, 2009 Technical Talk Introduction to Aljira; Emerge Program objectives; Strategic Planning Workshop expectations Colleen Keegan, Strategic Planning Workshop Manager and Strategic Planning Consultant, Keegan Fowler Companies, Creative Capital Foundation Mary A. Valverde, Aljira Emerge Coordinator Edwin Ramoran, Director of Exhibitions and Programs, Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art Victor Davson, Executive Director,Aljira, a Center for Contemporary Art

April 19, 2009 Professional Development Workshop Introduction to Strategic Planning

Communications Colleen Keegan, Strategic Planning Workshop Manager and Strategic Planning Consultant, Keegan Fowler Companies, Creative Capital Foundation Goal Setting Tracie Morris, Interdisciplinary Poet Marketing & Communications Dread Scott, Artist Writing an Artist Statement Mathew Geller, Artist

May 3, 2009 Technical Talk Off-site Visit to BRIC Rotunda Gallery 33 Clinton St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 With: Sara Reisman, E10 Guest Curator and Director of Percent for Art, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, Independent Curator and Writer

May 17, 2009 Technical Talk Off-site Visit to Studio Museum in Harlem 144 West 125th St., New York, NY, 10027

With: Sarah Lewis, Curator, Writer and Art Historian Critic, Yale School of Art

May 31, 2009 Technical Talk Off-site Visit to Amy Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Stewart Gallery 53 Stanton St., NY, NY 10002 With: Amy Smith-Stewart, Gallery Owner and Curator

Off-site Visit to Mireille Mosler, Ltd. Gallery 35 East 67th St., NY, NY 10065 With: Candice Madey, Gallery Director, Gallerist and Curator

June 14, 2009 Professional Development Workshop Strategic Planning: Methods and Applications

One-on-one Sessions Colleen Keegan, Strategic Planning Consultant, Keegan Fowler Companies, Creative Capital Foundation

E10 Lecture Series Acknowledgements Aljira gratefully acknowledges the following presenters, who

Time Management Tracie Morris, Interdisciplinary Poet

provided richly informative professional development and

Negotiation Lillian Warren, Artist

Mathew Geller, Artist

Financial Planning Andrew Simonet, Performer, Choreographer and Founding Director of Headlong Dance Theater

strategic planning experiences for the Aljira Emerge 10 artists:

Colleen Keegan, Strategic Planning Consultant, Keegan Fowler Companies, Creative Capital Foundation, New York, NY Sarah Lewis, Studio Museum in Harlem, Curator, Writer and Art Historian Critic, Yale School of Art Candice Madey, Mireille Mosler, Ltd. Gallery, Gallery Director,

June 28, 2009 Professional Development Workshop Strategic Planning: Outreach and Applications

Gallerist and Curator

One-on-one Sessions

Sara Reisman, Director of Percent for Art, New York City

Colleen Keegan, Strategic Planning Workshop

Department of Cultural Affairs, Independent Curator and Writer

Manager and Strategic Planning Consultant, Keegan Fowler Companies, Creative Capital

Tracie Morris, Interdisciplinary Poet

Dread Scott, Artist

Foundation

Andrew Simonet, Performer, Choreographer, and Founding

Integrity and Ambition Tracie Morris, Interdisciplinary Poet

Director of Headlong Dance Theater

Public Art Mathew Geller, Artist

and Curator

Grants and Residencies Ela Troyano, Artist

Amy Smith-Stewart, Amy Smithâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;Stewart Gallery, Gallery Owner

Ela Troyano, Artist Lillian Warren, Artist

Aljira Board of Trustees

Aljira Staff

Patricia A. Bell

Victor L. Davson

Lisa Block Richard Cammarieri Victor L. Davson Cory Douglas Finance Chair Michael James Vice Chair Richard Jarocki

Executive Director Nathea Lee Deputy Director Edwin Ramoran Director of Exhibitions and Programs Mary Valverde Emerge Coordinator Christine Walia Manager of Exhibitions and Programs

Board Chair Michael Palumbo, Esq. Secretary Charles Russell

fosters excellence in the visual arts through exhibitions and educational programs that serve as catalysts for inclusiveness and diversity, promote cross-cultural dialog and enable us to better understand the time in which we live. Public understanding and support of the visual arts are strengthened through collaboration and community-based educational programming. Aljira seeks out the work of emerging and under-represented artists and brings the work of more established artists to our community. Through the visual arts Aljira bridges racial, cultural and ethnic divides and enriches the lives of individuals.

591 Broad Street Newark, NJ 07102-4403 ph 973 622-1600 fx 973 622-6526 www.aljira.org