A Cross Continental Season

September has arrived, so it’s time to bid a bittersweet farewell to the sunny days of our Northeastern summer while eagerly looking forward to fall, the busiest season in the cultural calendar. Autumn finds our clients making waves across continents, from Indigo Arts Alliance’s symposium in Africa to standard-setting publishing from Australia’s National Gallery. Back in our New York City home, we begin our work with the Madison Square Park Conservancy and host a media preview and private tour of the newly opened Wolf Kahn Foundation for the artist’s centennial.

To anchor this season of renewals and milestones, we’re dedicating this month’s blue Muse feature to another New York institution with a monumental year on the horizon—a centennial no less. We sat down with Ellen McCulloch-Lovell of the Wolf Kahn Foundation to get an early look at their newly opened archives and discuss the groundwork being laid for the artist’s upcoming 100th birthday [See interview below].

— John, Andy, Betsy, Corey, Katrina, Rolanda and Zara

BLUE MUSE : Ellen McCulloch-Lovell – President, Wolf Kahn Foundation

Ellen McCulloch-Lovell has served as president of the Wolf Kahn Foundation for five years. She built a career spanning arts, policy, and public service as Director of the Vermont Arts Council from 1970 to 1983 and later as chief of staff to U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy until 1994. She held executive roles in the Clinton administration and directed the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. From 2004-2015, she served as president of Marlboro College, where Wolf Kahn was both a neighbor and a member of the board.

What makes you want to come to work every day?

I am animated by the mission to extend Wolf Kahn’s artistic legacy and his legacy of generosity. I want audiences to see him with fresh perspective and be moved by how he saw the landscape. His work transforms our vision. His generosity towards other artists is expressed through our grants program. I also enjoy working with our board and staff: it’s a group effort. I learn something new every day, so this work satisfies my curiosity and need to keep growing.

How does the Wolf Kahn Foundation contribute to the art community?

By his artistic vision and influence on other artists: the colors, the landscape as abstraction, as well as his work ethic and generosity. We also support arts organizations that support artists; that infrastructure is so important to sustaining our cultural life, and is more important than ever due to the uncertainty in federal funding and attacks on freedom of expression.

What’s another passion of yours outside the art world?

In addition to my family, I am devoted to my writing. I am just finishing a second book of poems I hope to publish. Other passions: music! Chamber Music and any other classical music my husband and I can find. Also: cooking, walking, supporting my community through my church, and getting together with family members.

WHAT’S ON

Contact: Katrina Stewart

[THE AUSTRALIA PAVILION AT THE VENICE BIENNALE]

Publication of the companion, Fall 2026

This Fall, Creative Australia will publish the companion, a richly illustrated publication commemorating Khaled Sabsabi’s two exhibitions presented at the 61st International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia: conference of one’s self at the Australia Pavilion and khalil within the In Minor Keys curated section.

[THE CLEMENTE SOTO VELEZ CULTURAL AND EDUCATIONAL CENTER]

Dance, Memory, and the Sonic Commons, Fall 2026

The Clemente has partnered with Montez Press Radio, an artist-run downtown broadcast center and community hub, to present Dance, Memory and the Sonic Commons, a three-part radio series exploring Latinx nightlife, dance culture, and collective memory in New York City. Featuring writers, artists, DJs, and cultural practitioners, the series looks at salsa, cumbia sonidero, and contemporary nightlife.

[INDIGO ARTS ALLIANCE]

Art in the Wake III, October 17, 2026

Indigo Arts Alliance will travel to Cape Town, South Africa, to host Art in the Wake III: Resistance, Liberation, and Reclamation, the third symposium in a multi-year partnership with the National Museum of African American History and Culture Center for the Study of Global Slavery. The event will explore the possibilities of repair after slavery and colonialism and will be held at the Iziko South African National Gallery.

[MADISON SQUARE PARK CONSERVANCY]

Taste of Asia, October 8, 2026

This October, the Madison Square Park Conservancy will host its annual Taste of Asia benefit, a culinary celebration with more than forty of New York City’s top restaurants. Now in its fifth year, the event supports the Conservancy’s work to maintain and program Madison Square Park by celebrating the diversity of Asian cuisine.

[MAINE COLLEGE OF ART & DESIGN]

Dear Data, October 2 – December 13, 2026

The Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art & Design (ICA at MECA&D) will present Dear Data, a group exhibition that examines how we negotiate attention, agency, and memory in relation to technology. Featuring painting, photography, sculpture, film, and digital media, the exhibition will ask how we might demand a more equitable relationship as AI grows increasingly prevalent.

[NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA]

Publication of Full Throttle, December 5, 2026

The National Gallery of Australia will publish Full Throttle to accompany the major exhibition of the same name, on view from December 5, 2026, through April 11, 2027. Full Throttle considers the car as a symbol of Australia’s cultural past and future, bringing together artists across generations to explore themes of power, identity, and consumption.

[SHELLEY & DONALD RUBIN FOUNDATION]

Dark Age by Carlos Martiel, September 17, 2026 – January 30, 2027

This fall, The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation will present Dark Age, a solo exhibition by Carlos Martiel at The 8th Floor exploring the experiences of the Black male body through endurance performance. The exhibition will feature three new performances – Dark Age (September 19), Mano de Hierro (iron hand) (October 8), and Fear of Them (November 4) – alongside documentation and ephemera from key works and a new series of drawings.

[TRELLIS ART FUND]

Stepping-Stone Grantee Announcement, November 2026

This November, Trellis Art Fund will announce the recipients of the 2026 Stepping-Stone grant, awarded to encourage artists who demonstrate an active career and well-realized practice. Each year, Trellis Art Fund awards twenty-one grant recipients with $20,000 of unrestricted funds alongside professional development resources. In each cycle, Trellis Art Fund reserves a number of grants for artists who are caregivers to close friends or relatives.

[WOLF KAHN FOUNDATION]

Centennial media preview and private tour, October 27, 2026

On October 27, 2026, the Wolf Kahn Foundation will host a private tour of the newly-opened Wolf Kahn Foundation and Archives in New York City. Leadership at the Foundation will present an overview of the plans for Wolf Kahn’s upcoming centennial in 2027, with exhibitions spanning two continents.

Contact: Katrina Stewart