Making and Being: Group Agreements

BFAMFAPhD presents Making and Being, a series of conversations that ask: What ways of making and being do we want to experience in art classes? The series places artists and educators in intimate conversation about forms of critique, cooperatives, artist-run spaces, healing, and the death of projects. These conversations about Art & Pedagogy are co-presented by BFAMFAPhD & Pioneer Works, hosted by Hauser & Wirth, covered by media partners Eyebeam and Bad at Sports. The sixth installment of this series will focus on how group agreements are necessary in gatherings that occur at residencies, galleries, and cultural institutions today. The conversation will include Sarah Workneh, Laurel Ptak, and Danielle Jackson.   Sarah Workneh has been Co-Director at Skowhegan for nine years leading the educational program and related programs in NY throughout the year, and oversees facilities on campus. Previously, Sarah worked at Ox-Bow School of Art as Associate Director. She has served as a speaker in a wide variety of conferences and schools. She has played an active role in the programmatic planning and vision of peer organizations, most recently with the African American Museum of Philadelphia. She is a member of the Somerset Cultural Planning Commission's Advisory Council (ME); serves on the board of the Colby College Museum of Art. Laurel Ptak is a curator of contemporary art based in New York City. She is currently Executive Director & Curator of Art in General. She has previously held diverse roles at non-profit art institutions in the US and internationally, including the Guggenheim Museum (New York), MoMA PS. 1 Contemporary Art Center (New York), Museo Tamayo (Mexico City), Tensta Konsthall (Stockholm) and Triangle (New York). Ptak has organized countless exhibitions, public programs, residencies and publications together with artists, collectives, thinkers and curators. Her projects have garnered numerous awards, fellowships, and press for their engagement with timely issues, tireless originality, and commitment to rigorous artistic dialogue. Danielle Jackson is a critic, researcher, and arts administrator. She is currently a visiting scholar at NYU’s Center for Experimental Humanities. As the co-founder and former co-director of the Bronx Documentary Center, a photography gallery and educational space, she helped conceive, develop and implement the organization’s mission and programs. Her writing and reporting has appeared in artnet and Artsy. She has taught at the Museum of Modern Art, International Center of Photography, Parsons, and Stanford in New York, where she currently leads classes on photography and urban studies.   About the co-presenters and media partners: BFAMFAPhD is a collective that employs visual and performing art, policy reports, and teaching tools to advocate for cultural equity in the United States. Pioneer Works Press publishes a range of publications that foster experimental ways of thinking, and seeks to advance the dissemination of the arts through publication and recorded sound. Drawn from programs at Pioneer Works in Red Hook, Brooklyn, all editions can be found at pioneerworks.org. Contemporary art talk without the ego, Bad at Sports is the Midwest's largest independent contemporary art podcast and blog. Eyebeam is a platform for artists to engage society’s relationship with technology.   Access info: The event is free and open to the public. RSVP is required. The entrance to Hauser & Wirth Publishers Bookshop is at the ground floor and accessible by wheelchair. The bathroom is all-gender. This event is low light, meaning there is ample lighting but fluorescent overhead lighting is not in use. A variety of seating options are available including: folding plastic chairs and wooden chairs, some with cushions. This event begins at 6 PM and ends at 8 PM but attendees are welcome to come late, leave early, and intermittently come and go as they please. Water, tea, coffee, beer and wine will be available for purchase. The event will be audio recorded. We ask that if you do have questions or comments after the event for the presenters that you speak into the microphone. If you are unable to attend, audio recordings of the events will be posted on Bad at Sports Podcast after the event. Parking in the vicinity is free after 6 PM. The closest MTA subway station is 23rd and 8th Ave off the C and E. This station is not wheelchair accessible. The closest wheelchair accessible stations are 1/2/3/A/C/E 34th Street-Penn Station and the 14 St A/C/E station with an elevator at northwest corner of 14th Street and Eighth Avenue.