Skowhegan 2023 Awards Dinner Honoring Lonnie Holley, Suzanne Deal Booth, and Visual AIDS – October 24th
SKOWHEGAN SCHOOL OF PAINTING & SCULPTURE TO HONOR
LONNIE HOLLEY, SUZANNE DEAL BOOTH, AND VISUAL AIDS AT AWARDS DINNER ON OCT 24
After-Party to feature Special Performance by keiyaA and DJ Set by musclecars
NEW YORK, NY (September 26, 2023) — Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, one of the country’s foremost educational experiences for artists, will hold its 53rd annual Awards Dinner at Guastavino’s on Tuesday, October 24, 2023. Skowhegan will honor Lonnie Holley (F ’22) with the Medal for Visual Arts & Music, presented by Michael Stipe. Suzanne Deal Booth will receive the Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney Award for Outstanding Patronage of the Arts, presented by artist Mel Chin (A ’95) & LACMA Senior Curator and Department Head of Modern Art, Stephanie Barron. Visual AIDS will receive the Governors’ Award for Outstanding Service to Artists, presented by Gregg Bordowitz (F ’23) & Catherine Gund and accepted by Nayland Blake (F ’02, ‘17). Join Dinner Chairs Matt Arnett & Virginia Prescott, Emily Bode Aujla, Linda Goode Bryant (F’22), Fairfax Dorn & Marc Glimcher, Chitra Ganesh (A ’01, F’13, ‘19), Stephanie Hunt & Stephen Trevor, as well as Board Chair, Eleanor Acquavella, President, Paula Volent, and Governor Co-Chairs Marlene McCarty (F ’11), Suzanne McClelland (F ’99, ‘22) & Alix Pearlstein (F ‘0). The After-Party Chairs Noreen Khalid Ahmad, Laura Burton & Owen Duffy, Ally Caple (A ’19), and Malcolm Peacock (A ’17). Event proceeds support Skowhegan’s program, including the scholarships that are provided to 95% of all attending artists. Details on purchasing tables, tickets, and After-Party tickets are available online.
HONOREES
Suzanne Deal Booth is an arts advocate, vintner, and specialist in the preservation of cultural heritage. She earned a BA (cum laude) in Art History from Rice University, and an MA in Art History, and a certificate in conservation from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. During her studies, Deal Booth was mentored by the humanist and art collector Dominique de Menil, founder of the The Menil Collection in Houston. These early experiences working with de Menil continue to influence her to this day, as seen through Deal Booth’s own philanthropy and arts patronage. In 1998, Deal Booth founded Friends of Heritage Preservation, which has undertaken over 80 projects to protect cultural heritage around the globe. In addition to her preservation work, Deal Booth serves on the boards of the following cultural organizations: The Contemporary Austin, The Menil Collection, LACMA, Blanton Museum of Art, Atelier Calder, and Centre Pompidou.
Lonnie Holley (born 1950; Birmingham, Alabama has devoted his life to improvisational creativity since 1979. His art and music, born out of struggle and hardship but perhaps more importantly out of furious curiosity and biological necessity, has manifested itself in drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, performance, music, and filmmaking. His work is in collections of major museums throughout the world, including The Museums of Fine Arts, San Francisco; The Metropolitan Museum of Art; The Philadelphia Museum of Art; The Smithsonian American Art Museum; The National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; on permanent display in the United Nations; and in the White House Rose Garden. Holley has released five critically acclaimed albums––Just Before Music, 2012; Keeping a Record of It, 2013; MITH, 2018; National Freedom, 2020; Broken Mirror: A Selfie Reflection (with Matthew E. White), 2021; and most recently Oh Me Oh My, produced by Jacknife Lee, which includes collaborations with Bon Iver, Michael Stipe (REM), Moor Mother, Sharon Van Etten, and Rokia Koné. His directorial debut, the short narrative film I Snuck Off the Slave Ship, premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and in 2022, Holley was named a USA Artist Fellow. His visual art is represented by Blum & Poe Gallery (Los Angeles) and Edel Assanti Gallery (London).
Visual AIDS utilizes art to fight AIDS by provoking dialogue, supporting artists living with HIV, and preserving a legacy because AIDS isn’t over. Working at the intersection of visual art, HIV and AIDS, and activism since 1988, Visual AIDS produces over 130 programs, screenings, and public events annually; has generated 30 publications since 2000; has commissioned 57 short films since 2014 through Day With(out) Art—held annually on World AIDS Day since 1989; has given $670,000 in direct grants to artists with HIV since 1996; and has stewarded the legacies of over 970 artists living with HIV and estates via the Visual AIDS Archive since 1994. Visual AIDS spearheaded art-centered AIDS activism with early initiatives such as Day With(out) Art–an international day of action and remembrance by cultural organizations–and the creation of The Red Ribbon, which has become a worldwide symbol in the fight against AIDS. Visual AIDS united the arts community around the AIDS crisis and continues to define contemporary art and curatorial practice about and around contemporary HIV and AIDS issues.
PERFORMERS
keiyaA is a singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist based in NYC. Raised in Chicago’s South Side, keiyaA synthesizes her jazz training, R&B sensibilities, and hip-hop upbringing to create new soul sounds inundated with her powerful, sultry voice and dense lyricism. Her debut album Forever, Ya Girl released on March 27, 2020 to widespread acclaim, and has left her poised as one of the most exciting emerging voices in music.
Native to New York, musclecars is a DJ / Producer duo consisting of Brandon Weems and Craig Handfield. As musicians, they equally share an admiration for the art form. Their desire to blend genres and express their appreciation for music is focused around their community- the end goal is to bring people together. This mission has led them to play some of the biggest clubs in the world, from their residency at Nowadays in New York, to bookings at Panorama Bar in Berlin. They’ve been recognized in publications such as Rolling Stone, Billboard, Mixmag, Vinyl Factory, and most recently their Breaking Through feature on Resident Advisor. Through a regular stream of high quality mixes and multiple outstanding releases, they’re constantly turning heads in underground circles.
WHAT: Skowhegan 2023 Awards Dinner
WHEN: Tuesday, October 24, 2023
6:30 p.m. Cocktails | 7:30 p.m. Dinner | 9:30 p.m. After-Party
WHERE: Guastavino’ s 409 E 59th St, New York, NY 10022
TICKETS: Attendance at the dinner is ticketed and by pre-registration only.
Tables: $15,000–$50,000 | Tickets: $1,500–$5,000 | Alumni/Faculty
Tickets: $350 | After-Party Only Tickets: $75
Purchase Here: skowheganart.org/2023-awards-
About Skowhegan
Skowhegan is one of the country’s foremost educational experiences for artists. Located on a 350-acre campus in Maine, the nine-week summer program provides 65 emerging artists and 11 faculty artists with a collaborative and rigorous environment that is shaped by risk-taking, mentorship, and peer-to-peer exchange. Skowhegan does not consider financial ability or circumstances in its admissions process and, instead, focuses on an individual’s commitment to artmaking and inquiry. Founded in 1946 by artists, for artists, the program provides an atmosphere in which participants are encouraged to work in contrast to market or academic expectations. www.
Media Contacts
Cerrie Bamford, Skowhegan
[email protected]
Max Kruger-Dull, Blue Medium
[email protected]
Tel +1 212.675.1800
Reg Zehner, Skowhegan
[email protected]
The press kit for the 2023 Awards Dinner can be found here.
A – Alumni | F – Faculty
Portrait Credits (L-R): Dagny Piaseck, David Raccuglia and Nayland Blake