No Longer Empty (NLE) is excited to announce a partnership between NLE Curatorial Lab (NLE Lab) and York College Fine Arts Gallery on the inaugural Southeast Queens Biennial. NLE is honored to be working with York College, CUNY to develop this unique opportunity for Southeast Queens artists and emerging curators alike. The inaugural biennial exhibition will be curated by participants of the fall 2017 NLE Lab, a professional development program that extends NLE’s mission to curate site-responsive and community-centered exhibitions and programming in unique spaces. Scheduled to open in February 2018, the Southeast Queens Biennial will include works in all media, commissioned pieces and related programming in collaboration with community organizations.

For the 6th edition of NLE Lab, Rachel Gugelberger, Curator and Director of NLE Lab, is working in partnership with Dr. Margaret Rose Vendryes, Chair of the Performing and Fine Arts Department at York College and Gallery Director, and Nicholas Fraser, Professor of Graphic Arts and Gallery and Fine Arts Facilities Manager. Vendryes and Fraser are both artists working in Jamaica, Queens. Prof. Vendryes is a founding member of Southeast Queens Artist Alliance, and particularly aware of the valuable role the Fine Arts Gallery at York College plays as one of only two professional art exhibition venues in the area. “The artists who populate South East Queens deserve this level of serious and ongoing recognition of their contributions to the cultural fabric of New York City,” Vendryes said. “A biennial is an excellent way to keep our local visual artists engaged with The College and the community at large.”

The conceptual framework of the biennial is Southeast Queens, its diverse perspectives, voices and artistic and cultural ties to the local and global community. The artworks presented will be by artists who live or practice in southeast Queens as well as those who have strong connections to the area. This partnership builds on NLE’s ongoing engagement with artists and organizations in Jamaica, Queens. In the spring of 2016, NLE worked closely with artists in Jamaica as part of Jameco Exchange, a site-responsive exhibition and socially engaged education platform on 165th Street in downtown Jamaica. NLE Lab also partnered with York College last year on the development of a public program in conjunction with the Fine Arts Gallery’s fall exhibition program. York College was one of three cultural organizations that NLE Lab partnered with in Jamaica as part of research development toward the culminating NLE Lab exhibition Remix Rememory at the legendary Jamaica Colosseum Mall.

NLE Curatorial Lab (NLE Lab) is a professional development program for emerging curators and arts professionals interested in direct experience curating in an expanded field. With a focus on research, project-based learning and collaboration, NLE Lab is designed to deepen an understanding of the development of exhibitions and related programming within a specific context in a distinctly urban setting, culminating in a collectively curated exhibition. The program includes a curriculum of critical readings, guest speakers, site/historical research, studio/exhibition visits, and incorporates community engagement as a fundamental component in the formation of curatorial themes.

The call for applications to the fall 2017 NLE Lab is open. Deadline for applications is Friday, July 14, 11:59pm EST. For information and application guidelines, click here, or email lab@nolongerempty.org.

Information Sessions:
Wednesday, June 14, 6-8pm at No Longer Empty. RSVP by Monday, June 12
Saturday, June 24, 11am-1pm beginning at Jamaica Center for Arts & Learning (JCAL). RSVP by Wednesday, June 21

Access & Inclusion: To request additional information regarding accessibility or accommodations at the information sessions, please contact us at access@nolongerempty.org or (917) 426-2666.

The 2017 NLE Curatorial Lab is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel of North America.

About the Fine Arts Gallery at York College
Located in Jamaica, Queens, the York College Fine Arts Gallery is part of the Department of Performing and Fine Arts at York College, City University of New York (CUNY). Opened in 1989, the gallery presents 3-4 professional exhibitions a yesar, ranging from solo and thematic group exhibitions and student shows at the end of each semester. With an enrollment of more than 8,000 students, York serves as one of CUNY’s leading liberal arts colleges, granting bachelor’s degrees in over 40 fields and a growing number of professional programs granting Master’s degrees. The York College public art collection includes works by luminaries including Elizabeth Catlett, Frank Stella and Martin Puryear. york.cuny.edu

About No Longer Empty
No Longer Empty activates engagement with art and social issues through site-responsive and community-centered exhibitions integrated with educational and cultural programming. Sited in distinctive urban settings, our holistic approach creates participatory platforms for art and exchange that explore the layered histories and critical issues of each unique place. Since 2009, NLE has welcomed over 165,000 visitors, including 16,000 children to our transformed sites, from storefronts to landmarked buildings including a mansion in the Bronx, a historic bank in Queens, an iconic music store in the East Village, former officers’ houses on Governors Island, and a new affordable living complex in Sugar Hill, Harlem. www.nolongerempty.org Follow No Longer Empty on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram #nolongerempty #nlelab

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