This year marks both the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of the United States, and the 30th year of Initiatives in Art and Culture’s (IAC) American Art Conference. This year’s event, titled Boundless Horizons, takes place May 13 through 15 in New York City, and features major contemporary artists, museum leaders, curatorial luminaries and scholarly insights.
Stephanie Sparling Williams, Andrew W. Mellon curator of American art, Brooklyn Museum, with IAC founder and director Lisa Koenigsberg.
A premier gathering of collectors, curators, dealers, museum professionals, academics, artists and all others interested in American art, IAC’s American Art Conference is well known for pushing the boundaries of accepted thinking, spotlighting pioneering perspectives, and bringing to light lesser-known periods and artists.
In Boundless Horizons, through compelling and wide-ranging talks, panels and conversations, IAC explores how American art has been constantly invigorated by artists pushing against boundaries and transcending limits in form, media and content.
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827), The Artist in His Museum, 1882. Oil on canvas, 103¾ x 797/8 in. Gift of Mrs. Sarah Harrison (The Joseph Harrison, Jr. Collection), Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
A panel exploring the depiction of the American landscape will look at evolving approaches to that tradition. Participants include Erika Doss, professor of art history at the University of Texas, Dallas; Andrew J. Walker, former director of the Amon Carter Museum; and contemporary artists Tony Abeyta and Don Stinson.
Boundless Horizons will also delve into critical issues facing the art world today, including the importance of preservation and heeding the signs of a “culture in peril.” How can we reconcile the need for artistic, architectural and cultural preservation with the priorities of those who wish to remake national institutions and visual culture?
Tony Abeyta (Navajo (Diné)), Alamo Canyon, 2022. Oil on canvas, 60 x 80 in, Susan and John Horseman Collection.
In “Fulfilling Purpose in the Face of Heightened Challenges,” panelists Randall Griffey, the Luce Foundation; Asma Naeem, Baltimore Museum of Art; Jami C. Powell, Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth; and independent scholar Robert Cozzolino, discuss contemporary challenges to making and showing art in America in the face of growing economic, political and logistical challenges. How do American artists survive and express themselves authentically? How might their solutions relate to those of American artists in previous eras when similar constraints existed? How do institutions persist in carrying out their missions in the face of such challenges?
Kathleen Foster, senior curator at the Philadelphia Art Museum, considers the benefits of institutional collaboration in her discussion of the exhibition A Nation of Artists; while Anne Helmreich, director of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, addresses how this critical resource for American art history has strategically expanded its resources, reach and activities through synergistic partnerships and diligent attention to opportunity.
Seymour Fogel (1911-1984), Detail from The Security of the People, 1941. TheWilbur J. Cohen Building, Washington, D.C., General Services Administration Fine Arts Collection, commissioned through the Section of Fine Arts, 1934-1943. Photo: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
Offering a wealth of inspiring conversation, content and connection to all who are interested in the history, aesthetic, cultural significance and contemporary relevance of American art, Boundless Horizons also coincides with New York’s American Art Week.
Attendees are invited to a private preview and reception for Heritage Auctions’ American Art sale; and to the Gala Opening of the American Art Fair. Participants will also attend an exclusive viewing of The Founders of American Abstract Artists, a 90th Anniversary Celebration at D. Wigmore Fine Art. The exhibition features works from 1935 to 1945 by members of the group formed in 1936, to create exhibition opportunities for artists committed to abstraction when American Scenic and narrative imagery dominated American art.
Visit www.artinitiatives.com to register. —
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