Regional & National Recognition:
Founding Curator of The Hudson Eye
Named Chief Curator
The Andy Warhol Museum
Official Press Release, May 16th, 2023
Source Author: The Andy Warhol Museum
-Cited by JBAF Advancement for our Stakeholders
Regional & National Recognition:
Founding Curator of The Hudson Eye
Named Curatorial Endowed Chair
Janet L. Nolan Director Of Curatorial Affairs
Jule Collins Smith Museum Of Fine Art
Source Author: Auburn University
-Cited by JBAF Advancement for our Stakeholders
Following a nationwide search, Aaron Levi Garvey was selected, through a major $2,000,000 planned gift to Auburn University, to assume the artistic helm of the Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Arts at Auburn University – which has created its first endowed position, the Janet L. Nolan Director of Curatorial Affairs. Garvey will also simultaneously maintain his role as Chief Curator of The Hudson Eye. With an expanded national platform Garvey will steward nearly 20 exhibitions and programs annually at the museum, having already programmed artists of The Hudson Eye amongst his first artistic selections.
In addition to his work with The Jule, The Hudson Eye, and Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation, Garvey is currently serving artists via three separate exhibitions on view in three museums at this time: The Baker Museum, Alabama Contemporary, and The Jule Collins Smith Museum.
Simultaneously, in his role as Chief Curator, Garvey worked with The Hudson Eye's staff and Jonah Bokaer as the internal lead to steward a first grant award of $87,000 from the federal Shuttered Venue Operators Grant, and a supplemental grant award of $53,000 also from the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant for the second federal cycle, totaling over $140,000 in pandemic relief funds into the arts sector of New York State during COVID-19. This financial stewardship occurred while curating artist-centered programs, which remained safely open during the pandemic, revolving around notions of creating community while broadening its definition.
Leveraging this stable economic base during the pandemic recovery, Garvey announces working to implement two arenas of program growth in 2022:
1) Doubling the curatorial offerings of free community events in Hudson, NY including multiple programs during OutHudson Pride Weekend June 3th-June 5th; participation in the invited Waterfront Wednesdays takeover on July 6th; and spotlighting OutHudson’s Executive Director Osun Zotique to co-organize the annual “Hot Topics” local speaker series for The Hudson Eye. These cultural actions will add 15 free local programs to his program offerings in Hudson, NY during 2022.
2) Honing his curatorial practice to advance two museum engagements this summer of 2022: the Arter Museum Istanbul “Unstable Structures” program on June 11th, and The Clark Art Institute “Fallen Angel” program on July 23rd. Both engagements will include philanthropic tours and opportunities for further support of our nonprofit organization based in Columbia County, while serving artists, collectors, and audiences with free public programming.
Garvey shares with his community, “I am honored to be entrusted with this position, the legacy of Ms. Nolan, and to continue my work creating measurable community impact through exhibitions, programs, and research, while bringing that dedication to both an R1 university museum, The Hudson Eye, and Jonah Bokaer Arts Foundation within both of my two home regions. These roles and institutions epitomize the crux of my curatorial practice: thinking globally and working locally. I couldn't ask for a more perfect balance, and am reinvigorated to grow in these positions."
Our organization looks forward to working with you to enjoy, celebrate, reflect, leverage, and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic against the backdrop of this wonderful news.
With Care,
Yours