The Studio Museum in Harlem and WNYC are thrilled to announce the second annual collaboration between the station’s performance venue—The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space—and the Museum’s Artist-in-Residence program. Exploring the dynamic intersection of the visual arts and public radio, this partnership amplifies the distinct voices of our resident artists, connects them to alumni of the program and broadcasts discussions of their work to a broader public. WNYC 93.9 FM and 820 AM are New York’s flagship public radio stations, and deliver a diverse suite of award-winning local and international programming to audiences worldwide.
Eaah year, this partnership kicks off with an artist talk at The Greene Space featuring the current artists in residence in conversation with the alumni of the program who have inspired them most. Moderated by a host from WNYC radio, the live conversation unearths shared connections to Harlem as a site of inspiration and experimentation, and provides unique insight into the Museum’s nearly fifty-year history through the personal accounts of those who comprise its lifeblood. For the inaugural radio program last year, 2014–15 artists in residence Sadie Barnette, Lauren Halsey and Eric Mack were joined by alumni Xenobia Bailey (1998–99), Sanford Biggers (1999–2000) and Leslie Hewitt (2007–08) to discuss the role of the residency, the Museum and the city in their evolution as artists.
This summer, 2015–16 artists in residence Jordan Casteel, EJ Hill and Jibade-Khalil Huffman will celebrate the launch of their Museum exhibition Tenses by concurrently activating The Greene Space through a satellite installation and related public programming. Held on July 26, the program will feature the artists in conversation with program alumni Kevin Beasley, Kerry James Marshall and Dave McKenzie. It will also debut new day-in-the-life videos, shot on location in the Museum studios. Produced by WNYC, the videos further illustrate the creativity and passion driving each artists’ work, and provide a very crucial space for them to discuss their practices in their own voices. “I’m most excited about being able to interface with an entirely different audience and mode of communication,” says EJ Hill of the initiative. “I’ve grown used to having conversations in and around the visual art context so I’m eager to see what types of happy accidents or challenges arise when working through channels that don’t necessarily rely on the visual.”
Through this yearly collaboration, the Museum deepens its commitment to supporting emerging artists and diversifying the platforms through which the public is invited to engage with their work and process. Moreover, the collaboration invites the public to gain greater insight into the seminal program that, in part, gives the Studio Museum its name. Jordan Casteel sums up the excitement around what is to come when she says, “I see the collaboration with WNYC as a wonderful opportunity to share our experiences as artists in residence at The Studio Museum in Harlem with a broader New York audience. We are taken out of our studio ‘nests’ and given space and resources to continue to push our practices into a new arena. I am looking forward to seeing how our stories expand, change and/or grow through new conversations and relationships.” Stay tuned for more details at studiomuseum.org as this year’s programming continues to evolve.
Published in Studio Magazine, Summer 2016 Issue