Celebrate local art that spans the five boroughs!
Photo: Luke Da Duke via Flickr CC
Curate NYC has returned and is generating more participation than ever. Curate NYC is a month-long, citywide festival that celebrates local artists and the rich cultural identity of New York City. It’s a chance for established or emerging local artists to have their defining work exhibited locally, for curators from all over the world to view it, and for it to be displayed online for a global audience. Launched in 2010 by Full Spectrum Experience, Curate NYC has grown enormously in popularity and community involvement in just a few short years.
This year, there were an astounding 1,902 artist entries that span myriad mediums. Submissions include drawings, digital works, film/video, installations, mixed media, paintings, photography, prints, sculpture, and more. All of the submissions will be ranked by official Curate NYC judges and shared in galleries and online through the end of November. The top 150 entries will be recreated as museum-quality postcards and exhibited at Rush Arts in Chelsea, giving those artists great local exposure.
Regardless of which artists make it into the coveted top 150 spots, Curate NYC is an excellent display of the diversity, talent, and imaginative vision that exists within the NYC arts world. The arts festival is a chance to celebrate each borough’s local artists, and to illustrate how together, they contribute greatly to the dynamic arts culture that New York City is renowned for.
In 2010, Curate NYC didn’t have the kind of expansive online space it now has to showcase local entries. Right now, you can browse the Curate NYC website to view all of the artistic submissions. You can also peruse the “guest curator selections,” which are essentially mini exhibitions of the submitted works curated by art experts from around the world. Amanda Hunt, a guest curator from Los Angeles, selected an array of mixed media submissions, photography, and sculpture installations as some of her favorite pieces. Local curator Sherry Dobbin of the Times Square Alliance selected mixed media installations, abstract works, and compelling, haunting photography as part of her picks for the best local artworks.
The notable presence of curators, local galleries, and artists highlights the multiplicity of this large-scale arts festival, and also illustrates the ways in which art is enduringly subjective. The fact that multiple facets of New York’s art culture are represented is one of the most impressive things about Curate NYC. Go online today to see the impressive, expansive display of works from New York artists!