Grand Arts was a nonprofit contemporary art space in downtown Kansas City, Missouri , whose mission was to help national and international artists realize projects considered too risky, provocative or complex to otherwise attract support.[ 1] [ 2]
Facilities included a 4,000-square-foot fabrication studio, exhibition spaces, offices, and an on-site apartment available for visiting artists.[ 3]
History
Margaret Silva and Sean Kelley co-founded Grand Arts in 1995 to give artists "a place for radical experimentation, without the constraints of too little time and even less money".[ 4]
Stacy Switzer served as artistic director from 2004 until the gallery's close.[ 5]
In total, Grand Arts produced 90 exhibitions with more than 120 artists. Projects often took years to produce, from concept to realization, and the organization's full-time staff tended to each phase of the process: research, design, fabrication, programming, publicity and beyond. Grand Arts' practice of long-term collaborative project development is in part what distinguished it from other granting organizations, according to Switzer: "That's what was special about the Grand Arts process. It wasn't that an artist would propose something and we would fabricate it according to the artist's specs. Often, there was a long conversation about how to push, pull, and tease the idea, pull out the most provocative threads and find other people in other fields who could help us enhance it in other ways".[ 6]
Following exhibition, projects produced at Grand Arts belonged solely to the artist.[ 1]
Isaac Julien 's 1999 Long Road to Mazatlan was co-produced by Grand Arts and ArtPace in 1999 and exhibited as one of two Julien works at Tate Britain in 2001, when the artist was short-listed for the Turner Prize.[ 7] Patricia Cronin 's Memorial to a Marriage , a three-ton marble mortuary statue produced by Grand Arts in 2002 and installed thereafter at Woodlawn Cemetery , has been shown in more than 35 exhibitions, including the Brooklyn Museum , Palmer Museum of Art , Neuberger Museum of Art , Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, and the FLAG Art Foundation; and is in several museum collections, including Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery , in Washington, DC; Pérez Art Museum Miami ; and Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum , in Glasgow, where it is on permanent view.Sanford Biggers ' Blossom , produced by Grand Arts in 2007,[ 8] [ 9] Laurel Nakadate 's Stay the Same Never Change , produced by Grand Arts in 2008,[ 10] [ 11] William Pope.L 's Trinket , produced by Grand Arts in 2008, was re-staged at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles in 2015 and featured in a performance by Kendrick Lamar at the 2015 BET Awards .[ 12] Los Angeles Times : "Nearly seven years on, the sculpture still resonates."[ 13] Cody Critcheloe/SSION's feature film BOY Smart Museum of Art , in Chicago; Hole Gallery, in New York; and Vyktor Wynd Fine Art, in London.[ 14]
The Propeller Group 's 2015 A Universe of Collisions — Grand Arts' last-ever show[ 15] Venice Biennale that year.[ 16] Upon Grand Arts' closing, Silva donated the building, a former auto shop located at 1819 Grand Boulevard, to the Kansas City Art Institute .[ 5]
Exhibition timeline
Artist(s)
Exhibition title
Year
Essayist
Glenn Goldberg
(untitled)
1995
Tad Wiley
Hirokazu Fukawa
Like and Ethereal Transfer 1995
Barbara Bloemink
Brad Braverman
RawShock 1995
Ann Wylie
Alice Aycock New Works 1995
Monroe Denton
Ryuhei Rex Yuasa
(untitled)
1995
Kazuhiro Yamamoto
Lester Goldman
(untitled)
1996
Roberta Lord
Jane Lackey
In Code 1996
Laurie Palmer
Kimberly Austin, Brad Braverman, Rossana Jeran and Jim Pennington, John O’Reilly, and Seth Rubin
Body Double 1996
Monroe Denton
Jeff Aeling
The Layman’s Guide to the Passage of the Millennium for the Preservation of Hysteria 1996
Peter von Ziegesar
Mel Kendrick (untitled)
1996
Klaus Kertess
China Marks (untitled)
1997
H. L. Hix
Chris Larson
(untitled)
1997
Ronald Jones
Nick Cave (untitled)
1997
Karen Searle
Phil Argent, Linda Besemer, Ingrid Calame , Sally Elesby , Sharon Ellis, Jack Hallberg, Michael Pierzynski, Monique Prieto , Adam Ross, Pauline Stella Sanchez , Jennifer Steinkamp , and Yek
Spot Making Sense 1997
curator David Pagel
Seton Smith
(untitled)
1997
David Pagel
Kimberly Austin
(untitled)
1997
Roberta Lord
GALA Committee
In the Name of the Place 1998
Joshua Dector
Beth B.
Monuments 1998
Roberta Lord
Michael Rees (untitled)
1998
Dominique Nohas
Tim Rollins and K.O.S. in collaboration with Kansas City youth
1998
Michael Toombs
Kirsten Mosher
(untitled)
1998
Alexander Gray
Stuart Netsky
(untitled)
1999
Bill Arning
James Drake
(untitled)
1999
Bruce W. Ferguson
Zesty Meyers, Evan Snyderman, and Jeff Zimmerman
B-Team 1999
Stephanie Cash
Ricci Albenda , Polly Apfelbaum , Erica Baum , Lucky DeBellevue, Steven Evans, Tony Feher , Rachel Feinstein , Eric Hanson, Rachel Harrison , Jonathan Horowitz , Chuck Nanney, Rob Pruitt , and Anthony VitiNew York: Neither/Nor 1999
curator Bill Arning
Walter Zimmerman
(untitled)
1999
Roberta Lord
Jesse Kaminsky, Demetre Keros, Jennie Pakradooni, Kristine Veith, and Michael Yglesias
En Masse 1999
Andrew Wells
Jim Leedy
War 2000
H. L. Hix
Isaac Julien Long Road to Mazatlan 2000
Okwui Enwezor
Larry Buechel
Eye to Eye 2000
Roberta Lord
Kimberly Austin, Alice Aycock , Brad Braverman, GALA Committee, Glenn Goldberg, Lester Goldman, Dennis Oppenheim , Roxy Paine , Tim Rollins and K.O.S. , Heather Schatz and Eric Chan
Fast: Five Years at Grand Arts 2000
Roberta Lord
Dennis Oppenheim (untitled)
2000
Mary Beth Karoll
Tara Donovan , Jyung Mee Park, and Achim MohnéDe Tempore 2000
Angela Anderson Adams
Jesse Rosser
(untitled)
2001
Ingrid Schaffner
Troy Richards
(untitled)
2001
Roberta Lord
Jamex and Einar de la Torre
Anacronistas 2001
Leah Ollman
Roxy Paine (untitled)
2001
Tan Lin
ChanSchatz (untitled)
2001
Bennett Simpson
John Newman
(untitled)
2001
Raphael Rubinstein
Marek Cecula
The Porcelain Carpet Project 2002
Roberta Lord
Oliver Boberg , James Casebere , Catherine Chalmers , Gregory Crewdson , Anthony Goicolea , Yoshio Itagaki, Craig Kalpakjian , Izima Kaoru, David Levinthal , Florian Maier-Aichen , Didier Massard, Tracey Moffatt , Vik Muniz , Hiroshi Sugimoto , and Edwin Zwakman Constructed Realities 2002
curator Barbara J. Bloemink
John Powers
Operations of the Marvelous 2002
Philip Glahn
Patricia Cronin Memorial to a Marriage 2002
David Frankel
Richard Van Buren
Spirit Mold 2002
Klaus Kertess
Sam Easterson Animal, Vegetable, Video: Where the Buffalo Roam 2003
Lisa Fischman
Ian Dawson
(untitled)
2003
David Humphrey
Teresita Fernández Immersion 2003
Rochelle Steiner
Catherine Chalmers American Cockroach 2003
Tan Lin
Allan McCollum The Kansas and Missouri Topographical Model Project 2003
Rhea Anastas
Mara Adamitz Scrupe
Back to Nature: Collecting the Preserved Garden 2004
Mary Jane Jacob
George Woodman Camera Obscura Photographs 2004
Nancy Princenthal
Sanford Biggers , E.C. Brown, Christoph Büchel , C-Level, Critical Art Ensemble , Miranda July , Eddo Stern , Sarah Sze , Paul Vanouse, and Faith Wilding Join Us: Calls to Ecstasy from the Edge of Oblivion 2004
Stacy Switzer
Rosemarie Fiore
Good-Time Mix Machine: Scrambler Drawings 2004
David Hunt
Michael Converse, Egawa + Zbryk, Rachel Hayes, Seth Johnson, and Jay Norton
Charlotte Street Awards Exhibition
2004
Stacy Switzer
Alexis Rockman Manifest Destiny 2005
Linda Weintraub
Archive (Anne Walsh and Chris Kubick), Bordermates, Brian Conley, Ammar Eloueini , The Evolution Control Committee , Fritz Haeg , Cameron Jamie, Yoshua Okon, Lucky Pierre , François Perrin, thedinnerparty.net, and Kerry Tribe
Mash-Up!: Eight Weeks of Mixing It Up and Throwing It Down (event series)2005
curated by Nato Thompson
Alfredo Jaar Muxìma 2005
Patricia C. Phillips
Aaron Gach/ Center for Tactical Magic
Tactical Ice Cream Unit 2005
Stacy Switzer
Nadine Robinson
Conclusion of the System of Things 2005
Christine Y. Kim
Aidas Bareikis The Guard of Sorry Spirit 2006
Maria Elena Buszek
Neal Rock
Faith Culture Collection 2006
Christopher Miles
Arts Subterranea , Filip Noterdaeme , Bill Shannon , and Margaret Wertheim Urban Test Sites (event series)2006
Michael Jones McKean Riverboat Lovesongs for the Ghost Whale Regatta 2006
Alison de Lima Greene
CarianaCarianne, Mathilde ter Heijne , Laurel Nakadate , Mariah Robertson , and Siebren Versteeg
Haunted States 2006
Stacy Switzer
Sissel Tolaas The FEAR of Smell/The Smell of FEAR 2007
Elizabeth Thomas
Fritz Haeg , Filip Noterdaeme , Micaela O'Herlihy , Chase Pierson, Spurse, Tavares Strachan , Travis Watson, Katherine Wright, Lynus Young, and Adam ZaretskyFrom the Fat of the Land: Alchemies, Ecologies, Attractions 2007
Linda Weintraub
Sanford Biggers Blossom 2007
Cay Sophie Rabinowitz
Cody Critcheloe, Jessica Kincaid, Emily Sall, and James Trotter
Charlotte Street Awards Exhibition
2007
Julie Rodrigues Widholm
Laurel Nakadate Stay The Same Never Change 2008
Neil LaBute
Mary Kay and Rebecca Morales
(untitled)
2008
Sue Spaid
Annie Lapin Parallel Deliria 2008
Lane Relyea
William Pope.L Animal Nationalism 2008
Gregory Volk
Spurse
Deep Time Rapid Time 2009
Stacy Switzer and Spurse
Jeremy Deller , presented by Creative Time and the New MuseumIt Is What It Is: Conversations about Iraq Apr. 1, 2009
Pablo Helguera The Juvenal Players 2009
Naief Yehya
Cody Critcheloe/SSION
BOY 2009
Stacy Switzer
Yael Bartana , Sharon Hayes, Matthew Lutz-Kinoy, My Barbarian , Jeanine Oleson , Ulrike Ottinger , Adrian Piper , Dean Spade and Craig Willse, A. L. Steiner , and Ian WhiteEcstatic Resistance 2009
curator Emily Roysdon
Tavares Strachan Orthostatic Tolerance: Launching into an Infinite Distance 2010
Franklin Sirmans
Ryan Mosley
Painting Séance 2010
Elizabeth Thomas
Ari Fish, Sonié Ruffin, and Caleb Taylor
Charlotte Street Awards Exhibition
2010
Lacey Wozny
Lori Brack, Julia Cole, Sylvie Fortin, May Tveit, Rob Walker , and Lacey Wozny
Dialogue by Design: Experimental Platforms for Intimate Conversations (event series)2010
John Salvest
New Cornucopia and The Big IOU 2011
Stacy Switzer
Mariah Robertson Let’s Change 2012
Eva Respini
Sissel Tolaas SmellScape KCK/KCMO (2007-2012) 2012
Annie Fischer
Anthony Baab
A Strenuous Nonbeing 2013
Stephen Lichty
Ellie Ga
Square, Octagon, Circle 2013
Lauren O’Neill-Butler
Mike Erickson, Erika Lynne Hanson, and Paul Anthony Smith
Charlotte Street Awards Exhibition
2013
Danny Orendorff
Stanya Kahn Don’t Go Back to Sleep 2014
Ed Halter
Glenn Kaino Tank 2015
Kate Hackman
The Propeller Group A Universe of Collisions 2015
Rob Walker
Problems and Provocations: Grand Arts 1995-2015 In 2016, Grand Arts published Problems and Provocations: Grand Arts 1995-2015 , co-edited by Stacy Switzer and Annie Fischer, with a foreword by Margaret Silva and an introduction by Switzer.
The book chronicles 30 of Grand Arts' projects — works by figures including Alice Aycock , Alfredo Jaar , Isaac Julien , William Pope.L , Sanford Biggers , Laurel Nakadate , Stanya Kahn , and Tavares Strachan — with archival materials and project documentation presented alongside newly written anecdotes and reflections by artists and other collaborators.
Essays by Pablo Helguera , Iain Kerr, Emily Roysdon , Gean Moreno and Rob Walker consider the models, practices and ethics of art institutions. A critical study conducted by the research studio RHEI identifies and describes Grand Arts’ unorthodox organizational model.
Successor organization
In 2016, former Grand Arts associates Stacy Switzer, Lacey Wozny, Eric Dobbins and Annie Fischer relocated to Los Angeles to develop a new organization named Fathomers , similar in mission to Grand Arts but with a focus on long-term thinking and transdisciplinary practice.[ 17] Glenn Kaino . The organization's first project is a seven-year collaboration with artist Michael Jones McKean .[ 18]
References
^ a b "Hello, Goodbye" . GrandArts.com . Retrieved 14 November 2016 .^ Lloyd, Ann Wilson (17 October 1999). "Time Off to Dive Into Reality Rather Than Retreat From It" . The New York Times . Retrieved 14 November 2016 . ^ Herriman, Kat (27 August 2016). "Kansas City's Grand Arts Releases a Book on 20 Years of Art, Science, and Tech" . The Creators Project . Retrieved 14 November 2016 . ^ Walz, Cara (6 July 2000). "Five Years and Counting" . The Pitch . Retrieved 15 November 2016 . ^ a b Spencer, Laura (2 September 2015). "After A 20-Year Run Of Extraordinary Freedom For Artists, Grand Arts Closes" . KCUR . Retrieved 16 November 2016 . ^ Janovy, C.J. (27 December 2016). "In 2016, The Brains Behind Grand Arts Sent Kansas City A Remembrance From Los Angeles" . KCUR 89.3. Retrieved 15 January 2017 . ^ "Turner Prize 2001 - Exhibition at Tate Britain | Tate" . Tate . Retrieved 15 January 2017 .^ "Blossom" . Sanford Biggers . 12 February 2007. Retrieved 15 January 2017 .^ "Brooklyn Museum: Sanford Biggers: Sweet Funk—An Introspective" . www.brooklynmuseum.org . Retrieved 15 January 2017 .^ "Grand Arts presents a new film by Laurel Nakadate: Stay the Same Never Change" (PDF) . Casiotone for the Painfully Alone . Retrieved 15 January 2017 .^ Wojczuk, Montana (2 June 2009). "In Sight: Stay the Same Never Change Mumblecore Cinema and the Essay Film" . bombmagazine.org . BOMB Magazine. Retrieved 15 January 2017 . ^ Weisblum, Vida (29 June 2015). "William Pope.L Flag Makes an Appearance at Kendrick Lamar's BET Awards Performance [Updated] | ARTnews" . www.artnews.com . ArtNews. Retrieved 15 January 2017 . ^ Knight, Christopher (24 March 2015). "William Pope.L sets the U.S. flag waving at the MOCA/Geffen" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 15 January 2017 . ^ "Boy Genius: Ssion's Art of the Music Video" . Interview Magazine . 7 April 2010. Retrieved 15 January 2017 .^ "The Propeller Group's 'A Universe of Collisions,' the Final Show at Grand Arts, Opens August 7" . Hyperallergic . 27 July 2015.^ Rose, Frank (21 April 2016). "The Propeller Group Brings a Phantasmagorical Vietnam to James Cohan" . The New York Times . Retrieved 16 November 2016 . ^ Indrisek, Scott (8 November 2016). "Fathomers Reinvigorates the Grand Arts Mission in L.A." Artinfo . Retrieved 14 November 2016 . ^ Cohen, Alina (31 October 2016). "Problems, Provocations, Roller Coasters, and Guns" . Los Angeles Review of Books . Retrieved 14 November 2016 .
Further reading
Switzer, Stacy and Annie Fischer, ed. "Problems and Provocations: Grand Arts 1995-2015" (Kansas City: Grand Arts, 2016) ISBN 978-0692625538
External links
