SculptureCenter

SculptureCenter is a not-for-profit, contemporary art museum located in Long Island City, Queens, New York. It was founded in 1928 as "The Clay Club" by Dorothea Denslow.[1]

SculptureCenter's New Building. Photo: Michael Moran.

History

Founded in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, in 1928 as the Clay Club, it was located across the street from the Brooklyn Children's Museum.[2] Its founder, sculptor Dorothea Denslow, invited local children and later other artists to share her studio.[3]

SculptureCenter soon moved to 8 West Fourth Street in the West Village in 1932 and then, in 1948, to a carriage house at 167 East 69th Street on the Upper East Side, where it operated a school with artists’ studios.[4] The offerings included clay and wax modeling, stone and wood carving, welding, figure studies and portraits. There were are also after-school classes for children.[5]

In 2001, SculptureCenter's board closed both the school and the studios, sold the carriage house for $4.75 million and invested the proceeds in reinventing the organization in Queens as a European-style kunsthalle.[6][7] The board also commissioned architects Maya Lin and David Hotson to transform a derelict brick building into an exhibition space of 6,000-square-foot (560 m2) with forty-foot-high ceilings and reinforced-concrete floors.[8]

In 2014, SculptureCenter underwent a 14-month, $4.5 million expansion and renovation led by architect Andrew Berman,[9] including a 2,000-square-foot (190 m2) addition, aimed at improving visitor experience and increasing exhibition space to 6,700 sq ft (620 m2), plus a 1,500 sq ft (140 m2) enclosed courtyard for outdoor exhibitions and events.[10]

Program

SculptureCenter has presented works by over 750 artists through its annual exhibition program, including Turner Prize winner Charlotte Prodger and nominee Anthea Hamilton, Sanford Biggers, Nairy Baghramian, Tom Burr, Liz Glynn, Rochelle Goldberg, Camille Henrot, Leslie Hewitt, Rashid Johnson, Ugo Rondinone, Katrín Sigurdardóttir, Alexandre Singh, Monika Sosnowska, Gedi Sibony, Mika Tajima, and Hugo Boss Prize winners Anicka Yi and Simone Leigh.[11]

As a non-collecting museum, its annual program includes approximately three exhibition cycles of 1–2 commissioning programs by mid-career artists, 10–15 projects and commissions by emerging artists, and 3–6 solo and group exhibitions. SculptureCenter offers free public programs and events including artist talks, performances, film screenings, and publications.[12]

Management

Attendance

In 2013, SculptureCentre attracted around 13,000 visitors.[13]

Directors
  • 1999–2019: Mary Ceruti[14]
  • 2019–2020: Christian Rattemeyer[15]

References
  1. Papanikolas, Theresa and Stephen Salel, Stephen, Abstract Expressionism, Looking East from the Far West, Honolulu Museum of Art, 2017, ISBN 9780937426920, p. 19
  2. Christopher S. Wren (March 19, 2001), Furor Over an Artists' Haven; Sculpture Center Plans to Move, Shedding Students and Studios New York Times.
  3. Christopher S. Wren (March 19, 2001), Furor Over an Artists' Haven; Sculpture Center Plans to Move, Shedding Students and Studios New York Times.
  4. Randy Kennedy (October 1, 2014), SculptureCenter Steps Out Into the Light New York Times.
  5. Christopher S. Wren (March 19, 2001), Furor Over an Artists' Haven; Sculpture Center Plans to Move, Shedding Students and Studios New York Times.
  6. Christopher S. Wren (March 19, 2001), Furor Over an Artists' Haven; Sculpture Center Plans to Move, Shedding Students and Studios New York Times.
  7. Randy Kennedy (October 1, 2014), SculptureCenter Steps Out Into the Light New York Times.
  8. Lola Ogunnaike (December 12, 2002), A Hub for Modern Sculpture Settles Into Queens New York Times
  9. Gabrielle Debinski (June 28, 2019), SculptureCenter Names New Director New York Times
  10. "SCULPTURECENTER NEARS COMPLETION OF RENOVATION AND EXPANSION" (PDF). August 11, 2013. Retrieved 2014-10-02.
  11. "SculptureCenter - Galleries - Independent Art Fair". www.independenthq.com. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
  12. "Our Mission – About - SculptureCenter". www.sculpture-center.org. Retrieved 2019-07-12.
  13. Randy Kennedy (October 1, 2014), SculptureCenter Steps Out Into the Light New York Times.
  14. Victoria Stapley-Brown (November 13, 2018), SculptureCenter’s Mary Ceruti named as new executive director of the Walker Art Center The Art Newspaper.
  15. Gabrielle Debinski (June 28, 2019), SculptureCenter Names New Director New York Times


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