For this event organized by Rethinking Residencies, artist Andrea Fraser will read from her text “As If” We Came Together to Care, which reflects on the psychological dimensions of hospitality in art institutions. Following this, Heather Hart and Nicholas Weist will present short responses. This event stems from Rethinking Residencies’ inquiries into hospitality as critical to art practice.

Art residencies always produce complex host-guest relations. The position of institution as host and the artist as guest are assumed roles that can also shift in relation to social, political, economic and ethical conditions. Considerations of hospitality are central for residencies as well as for presenting institutions. Space, time, exchange and resources define situations of hospitality, which are intrinsically linked to every level of cultural production.

“As If” We Came Together to Care is organized by Rethinking Residencies, a working group of thirteen New York-based residency programs. Initiated in March 2014, its members share knowledge and resources, while cultivating critical thinking and discourse about residencies. Collaborating organizations represent a wide range of models, scales, and approaches and include: Eyebeam, Fire Island Artist Residency, Flux Factory, International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP), Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC), Pioneer Works, Queens Museum, Recess, The Shandaken Project, EFA Project Space’s SHIFT Residency, Spaceworks, Triangle Arts Association and Wave Hill.

“As If” We Came Together to Care by Andrea Fraser first appeared in Cultures of the Curatorial (2016), published by Sternberg Press.

Participant Biographies:

Andrea Fraser is an artist whose work investigates the social, financial, and affective economies of cultural institutions, fields, and groups. She is Professor, Interdisciplinary Studio Area Head, and Chair of the UCLA Department of Art. Retrospectives of her work have been presented by the Museum Ludwig, Cologne, 2013; the Museum der Moderne, Salzburg, 2015; the Museum of Contemporary Art Barcelona and MUAC UNAM, Mexico City, both 2016. Her most recent book, 2016 in Museums, Money, and Politics (2018)—co-published by the CCA Wattis Institute, Westreich/Wagner Publications, and MIT Press—documents the political contributions of the board members of over 125 major US art organizations in the 2016 election cycle and its aftermath, examining the intersection of cultural philanthropy and political finance in the age of plutocracy. Fraser serves on the boards of WAGE, the ICA LA, and Grex, the West Coast Affiliate of the AK Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems.

Heather Hart, based in New York, is an interdisciplinary artist exploring the power in thresholds, questioning dominant narratives and creating alternatives to them. She was awarded grants from the Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, NYFA, Harpo Foundation and Creative Capital. Hart’s work has been exhibited at Storm King Art Center, The Kohler Arts Center, Eastern Illinois University, ICA Philadelphia, Seattle Art Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Studio Museum in Harlem, Socrates Sculpture Park, University of Toronto and a collaborative show at The Drawing Center. She studied at Cornish College of the Arts and Princeton University and received her MFA from Rutgers University.

Nicholas Weist is the founding director of Shandaken Projects, which has offered free artist services and public programs since 2012. A veteran arts administrator, he has also held senior positions at Creative Time and powerHouse Books, and has organized exhibitions internationally. He has written about art and visual culture for Frieze, Art in America, Whitewall, Interview, Document Journal, and several other publications. His work has been reflected on in The New York Times, The New York Observer, The Brooklyn Rail, T magazine, Bomb, Art News, and many more.

This program is supported, in part, by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council and New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.