New Folk: Dorsky Museum announces call for Hudson Valley Artists 2020

The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art invites artists working in all media to submit proposals for its annual exhibition of contemporary art made by artists in the Hudson Valley.

New Folk: Hudson Valley Artists 2020,” the 14th annual Hudson Valley Artists exhibition, will be curated by Anna Conlan, curator and exhibitions manager at the Dorsky Museum.

The deadline for artist submissions is Sunday, March 22, 2020, at midnight. We welcome artwork in any medium and encourage submissions that challenge traditional hierarchies of craft and fine art.

Submissions must be made online via the following website:

https://dorskymuseum.submittable.com/submit/153922/new-folk-hudson-valley-artists-2020

“New Folk” will be on view from June 13 – Nov. 8, 2020, in the Dorsky Museum’s Alice and Horace Chandler Gallery and North Gallery.

About the Exhibition
Folk is where old cultural traditions meet contemporary conditions. Folk art affords insight into our communal cultural heritage as well as the unique expression of individual makers.

“New Folk” invites artists and artisans to submit work that captures the spirit of contemporary folk practice in the Hudson Valley today, or proposes a new vision of what folk art can be – utilitarian, highly skilled, self-taught, locally sourced, inventive, unschooled, crafty, idiosyncratic, decorative, outsider, and resourceful.

“New Folk” is also a catch-all term to describe the Hudson Valley’s long history of attracting visitors and settlers from near and far: the weekenders, the agricultural migrants, the tourists and the many other kinds of folk who are drawn to our region.

This exhibition seeks artists who have experienced this transition or who engage with the ongoing dialogue between old and new communities; local legacies of colonialism; the impact of gentrification; the power of belonging; the lure of nostalgia; the inherited traditions and techniques people carry with them; and the creative, sometimes contentious, shifts in our cultural landscape.

Submission Guidelines
The Hudson Valley Artists exhibition is open to all artists and artisans with a permanent mailing address and active art practice in the counties of Albany, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rennsselaer, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster and Westchester who have not had a one-person major museum exhibition and who are not currently represented by a large commercial art gallery. The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art staff, board members and their immediate families are not eligible. Students are not eligible. There is no application fee.

Artists are invited to submit a maximum of six images or files of work created in 2017 or later. In addition to traditional fine art and craft mediums, audio, video, film and performance works are eligible for this exhibition. Brief proposals for new works to be created for this exhibition, including installation, social practice, or performance works, may also be submitted.

Submit online using this link before the March 22 deadline.

Exhibited works will be eligible for acquisition into the museum’s permanent collection, thanks to the Hudson Valley Artists Annual Purchase Award supported by the Alice and Horace Chandler Art Acquisition Fund. Artists whose work has been purchased in the past include Laura Cannamela, Richard Edelman, Charles Geiger, Holly Hughes, Patrick Kelley, Deb Lucke, Nestor Madalengoita, Stephen Niccolls, Libby Paloma, Elisa Pritzker, Adie Russell, Jean-Marc Superville Sovak, among others.

About the Dorsky Museum
Through its collections, exhibitions and public programs, the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art supports and enriches the academic programs at the College and serves as a center for Hudson Valley arts and culture. With more than 9,000 square feet of exhibition space distributed over six galleries, The Dorsky Museum is one of the largest museums in the SUNY system. Since its official dedication in 2001, The Dorsky has presented more than 100 exhibitions, including commissions, collection-based projects, and in-depth studies of contemporary artists including Robert Morris, Alice Neel, Judy Pfaff, Carolee Schneemann and Ushio Shinohara.

Museum Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays, Tuesdays, holidays and intersessions.
For more information about The Dorsky Museum and its programs, visit http://www.newpaltz.edu/museum or call (845) 257-3844.