Gallatin Arts Festival 2016

April 11-15, 2016

Poster for the 2016 Gallatin Arts Festival

Download the 2016 Gallatin Arts Festival catalog here.

Producers’ statement

“Welcome to the Gallatin Arts Festival 2016! In crafting this year’s lineup, we’ve been particularly inspired by work that seeks to turn thought into action, seizing upon the potential of art to galvanize change. GAF 2016 explores performance as a means of reflecting on and coping with external and internal states. Using interdisciplinary approaches and through various modes of expression, this year’s performing artists explore complex global and personal issues. Some performances explore similar concepts—conflict, cultural criticism, and identity politics—with different media and messages. Other performances place incongruous elements in conversation to provoke thought, practice craft, and experiment outside of the comfort zones of the artist and the audience alike.

By engaging with GAF 2016, you are experiencing a taste of Gallatin’s diverse artistic culture— ranging from performance art to dance—and featuring undergraduate and graduate student work. As performing arts producers, we feel the festival is an important part of expanding the intra-Gallatin conversation about elevating and supporting artistic communities and endeavors within the university. We invite you to join us!”

– Eliza Lambert (’16), Kelsey Leonard (MA ’17), Ivy Olesen (’17), and Natalie Smith (’18), Producers

Curators’ Statement

“From large-scale paintings to photo collage to 3D experiential rendering, this year’s participating artists for GAF bring great diversity in both the themes and mediums explored. Though every festival is unique in its selection of works, it is our hope that there is something for every preference here while also challenging the viewer to experience something unfamiliar. Whether exploring how they see themselves or how they are seen, students offer viewers a broad variety of ideas through a number of mediums. Some works examine social phenomena through very specific case studies, while others mix the themes by examining, for example, religion and femininity, identity through the body, or social hierarchies through family relationships, to name only a few. Every moment in the human experience—including those from childhood, from experiences abroad, and those that happened as recently as last summer— inform this year’s work. These experiences aren’t shared only in the content but by what it is made of as well. Some artists work in mediums they have just encountered, while others display craftsmanship developed over years of practice. While some artists explore conceptual themes in their work, others focus solely on materiality and process. A great joy of viewing conceptual art is to see different approaches to express similar thoughts, questions, and ideas. We hope the work included this year creates curiosity and leads to conversation. We encourage you to listen, see, and reflect as you walk through the gallery spaces and various floors at Gallatin. Even with the broad range of works in this year’s festival, we hope you can feel a level of intimacy felt with each artist’s works. We invite you to find new meanings, recognize familiar memories, and, to feel a sense of inquiry as you encounter and engage with each artwork.”

– Courtney Kezlarian (’17), Racha El Khalil (’16), and Brenda Hung (MA ’17), Curators

ARTISTS:

Hannah Baek, Julia Bassiri, John Belknap, Isabel Bethencourt, Alee Bloom, David Bologna, Raechel Bosch, Nathan Braun, Kelsey Burns, Abdiel Jacobsen, Kai Cameron, Kerry Candeloro, Samantha Cavestani, Felix Ho Yuen Chan, Molly Chapman, David Derwin, Mia Dichiaro, Joosje Duk, Racha El Khalil, Sarah Flamm, Angelina DeSocio, Aaron Gartenberg, Chloe Gbai, Noah Grosshandler, Em Wantson, Alex Hansen, Rachel Hilson, Mary Hornak, Jaqueline Hsia, Jamila Humphrie, Emily Schorr Lesnick, Quanda Johnson, Ashley Kang, Shira Feldman, Camila Kann, Zoe Kennedy, Perry Khalil, Deborah Kim, Tammy Kremer, Alice Lambert, Jacqueline Ledesma, Kelsey Leonard, Allison Blakenley, Abe Libman, Dinah Liger, Grace Linderholm, Tiffany Liu, Manion Kuhn, Smritaa E. Massey, Daniels Mekss, Jane Morgan, Ivy Olesen, Liz Ornitz, Delaney Otjes, Angel Parker, Dillon Petito, Eirdís Ragnarsdóttir, Andy Richardson, Sarah Richman, Cat Rickman, Joey Rinaldi, Victoria Robichaud, Michael Sadowitz, Jessica Salomon, Henry Sheeran, Gwen Hornig, Chloe Grey Smith, Luke Smithers, Rowan Spencer, Madeleine Stanley, Mollie Charlotte Suss, Sofia Szamosi, Trio Z, Elisabeth Turner, Izel Villarba, Sophie Walker, Alicia Waller, Jesse Wheaton

STUDENT LEADERSHIP TEAM, FACULTY, AND STAFF:

Courtney Kezlarian, Racha El Khalil, Brenda Hung, Eliza Lambert, Kelsey Leonard, Ivy Olesen, Natalie Smith, Flavia Grilli, Carly Valentine, Pete Winne, Kristin Horton, Keith Miller, Jesse Dittmar, Sonya Kozlova

Photography:

Alan Chin


About the Gallatin Arts Festival:

MISSION

The Gallatin Arts Festival is a week-long, community-wide celebration of the unique artistry and interdisciplinary scholarship of students at NYU’s Gallatin School. The festival features student work in the visual and performing arts and serves as a galvanizing force and springboard for action and discussion through the creation and presentation of artistic work.

HISTORY

The Gallatin Arts Festival originated in 1992 as a collaborative effort between Professor Laurin Raiken and graduate student Barry Spanier. Under Professor Raiken’s guidance, Spanier developed the festival as part of his master’s thesis. Since then GAF has expanded into the largest public event sponsored by the Gallatin School. GAF provides hands-on opportunities for students to gain knowledge of the process required to produce a multidisciplinary arts festival. Under guidance from members of the arts faculty and student affairs, the Student Leadership Team serves as the primary support for the festival. GAF is a learning experience emphasizing the development of ideas and collaborative innovation.