The arts leader and curator is the third of three members of ArtPrize's $100,000 Juried Grand Prize to chat with ArtPrize's Kevin Buist. Here's more.
Manon Slome, co-founder and chief curator of No Longer Empty, an organization that reaches new audiences for contemporary art through site-specific exhibitions in non-traditional spaces, is one of three jurors who will award the ArtPrize 2013 Juried Grand Prize worth $100,000. (Photo courtesy of ArtPrize)
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – "Gentrification" is a big word where cities and art are concerned.
Manon Slome, ArtPrize 2013’s Juried Grand Prize, along with Anne Pasternak and Mel Chin, has plenty to say about what role artists play in the renewal of cities in the third of three interviews with the panel conducted by Kevin Buist, ArtPrize’s director of exhibitions.
But the co-founder and chief curator of No Longer Empty, an organization that reaches new audiences for contemporary art through site-specific exhibitions in non-traditional spaces, would rather talk about what cities can do to sustain artists.
"So many people ask artists to do something for nothing – ‘Oh, it’s good exposure for them.' Even galleries will often expect artists to cover the expenses for putting up a show," Slome said. "Would they call a plumber in and say fixing a bathroom is good publicity? Of course they wouldn’t. But it’s felt that artists can always be taken advantage of in that way."
Related: See ArtPrize's Interview with Manon Slome, ArtPrize 2013 Grand Prize Juror
Since 2009, No Longer Empty has staged 14 exhibitions in a variety of spaces around New York City, including historic 10 Downing Street; the Clock Tower in Long Island City, Queens; the iconic former home of Bank of Manhattan; and the Andrew Freedman Home, which was built to be a haven for the rich, elderly who had lost their fortunes.
In August, ArtPrize kicked off a three-part series of interviews with each of the jurors who will decide the ArtPrize 2013 Juried Grand Prize this year.
Related: ArtPrize names jurors who will award the $100,000 2013 Juried Grand Prize
The series began on Aug. 14 with Pasternak, president and artistic director of Creative Time in New York City, the public arts organization that commissioned the installation of “Tribute in Light” in New York City six months after 9/11.
Related: ArtPrize launches interview series with its $100,000 Juried Grand Prize jurors
The series continued with a conversation with Chin, who, has organized such projects as Operation Paydirt in 2007, a multidisciplinary, multi-city campaign to shed light on the problem of lead contamination in poor neighborhoods. He has reclaimed abandoned houses in Detroit and cultivated plants that absorb contaminants from soil.
Related: Can art save cities? ArtPrize juror Mel Chin weighs in
Anne Pasternak, Mel Chin and Manon Slome will determine the winner of the $100,000 Juried Grand Prize, sponsored by Kendall College of Art and Design of Ferris State University.
The inaugural Juried Grand Prize was awarded for the first time last year at ArtPrize 2012 to Design 99 for its installation, “Displacement (13208 Kilinger Street).”
Not only are Pasternak, Chin and Slome deciding the ArtPrize 2013 Juried Grand Prize, the three will participate in a panel discussion, “Can Art Save Cities?” as part of ArtPrize’s Speaker Series during the fifth annual exhibition and $560,000 competition opening Sept. 18, 2013.
Related: ArtPrize 2013 Speaker Series welcomes creative forces in aftermath of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina
The free discussion at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at Ladies Literary Club, 61 Sheldon Blvd. SE, will explore the evolving relationship between contemporary art and urban revitalization.
Increasingly, the arts are seen as the key to infusing cultural and economic vitality in neglected downtown areas. But these efforts are not without their pitfalls and complexities.
"There's a lively discussion happening at the national level about what role arts programming should play in the revitalization of cities,” Buist said earlier in August.
“Some think the arts are a savior, while others are more skeptical. In many ways, ArtPrize has always existed right in the middle of this debate.”
Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk covers arts and entertainment for MLive/Grand Rapids Press. Email him at jkaczmarczyk@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Google+.