News
Roberto Lugo Debuts New Works in Solo Exhibition at Grounds For Sculpture
On-Site Residency Leads to Lugo’s First Monumental Sculpture
Hamilton, NJ – April 18, 2022 – A solo exhibition highlighting Roberto Lugo will debut all new works by the artist, social activist, spoken word poet, and educator at Grounds For Sculpture this spring. Reimagining traditional European and Asian porcelain forms and techniques with a 21st-century street sensibility, these multicultural mash-ups were created on site during a residency at Grounds For Sculpture this winter. Opening May 22, 2022 and on view through January 8, 2023, Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter includes a 20-ft high vessel with an interactive viewing platform – representing the first time the artist has worked at this scale.
“Grounds For Sculpture amplifies the diverse voices and visions of those working in the field today,” said Gary Schneider, Executive Director of Grounds For Sculpture and co-curator of the exhibition, along with Faith McClellan, Director of Exhibitions and Collections. “As an artist, Roberto addresses equity and justice through visually compelling and exquisitely made ceramics; as a person, he shares our commitment to making art accessible to all.”
Born in Kensington, Philadelphia to Puerto Rican parents, Roberto Lugo began his explorations in art as a graffiti artist before discovering ceramics. In his current practice, he uses a variety of clay bodies, including porcelain, and illuminates its historically aristocratic surface with imagery that creates conversation around key themes in his work: equity, access, and social and racial justice. His surface treatment is a mixture of traditional design, graffiti, and portraiture focusing on representation of iconic people of color from contemporary culture and history, from Sojourner Truth, Dr. Cornel West, and The Notorious BIG, to Lugo’s family members and, very often, himself.
For Grounds For Sculpture’s exhibition, Lugo created his first monumental sculpture in milled foam. Titled Put Yourself in the Picture, the work was completed by the artist on site during his residency, fabricated at The Digital Atelier, and then painted by Lugo at The Seward Johnson Atelier. Visitors will be invited to walk in and through the vessel via the viewing platform, which will also be activated as a performative stage and DJ booth at set times during the run of the exhibition. A drop-in maker space in the gallery further extends the interactivity of the exhibition, providing the opportunity to experience the materiality of clay.
Additional new ceramic works in the exhibition include at least eight large-scale vessels and more intimately sized tea sets, with new subject matter addressing recent events such as Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s Supreme Court confirmation and the locality of Grounds For Sculpture, including its iconic peacocks. The mezzanine of the gallery includes a selection of work by other artists, curated by Lugo, and explores the theme of mentorship in the development of his practice.
“For my exhibition at Grounds For Sculpture, I reflected on what it means to be the ‘village potter’—both in terms of celebrating the people who have paved the way forward for me and striving to build that sense of community support for others,” said Roberto Lugo. “Art builds empathy as well as an understanding of other people that will lead us to see ourselves in one another and grow a family rather than a society.”
As part of Grounds For Sculpture’s in-depth exploration of ceramics this spring, a concurrent exhibition in partnership with The Color Network and Guest Curated by Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy features sixteen artists of color working in clay and using the medium to meditate on social, environmental, and individual perceptions of fragility. A series of artist-led programs will activate these themes and provide new avenues for audience participation and community engagement.
Sponsor Information
Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter and Fragile: Earth are supported by lead sponsor Bank of America, with major support from the Edna W. Andrade Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, The Gordon and Llura Gund Foundation, the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel & Tourism, and Marjorie Ogilvie and Miller Parker. Additional generous exhibition support by the Brooke Barrie Art Fund, Judith Burgis, Drs. Umesh and Sunanda Gaur, Holman, NRG, PSEG, and Barbara Eberlein and Jerry Wind. Support is provided in part by the Atlantic Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
Member Preview Day
Grounds For Sculpture will hold a special preview day for its Members on Saturday, May 21, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibitions Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter and Fragile: Earth, which will not open to the general public until the following day, will both be on view and programs include opportunities to meet the artists and curators. Member reservations are required.
Hours and Ticketing
Both Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter and Fragile: Earth will be on view to the public with general admission. Visitors should check the Grounds For Sculpture website for extended hours.
Advance timed ticket reservations are highly recommended to ensure entry. Reservations can be made online at groundsforsculpture.org. Capacity is limited and tickets often sell out on weekends and holidays. Member reservations are required on weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) and holidays. Tickets are available up to two weeks in advance and are released on a weekly basis.
About Roberto Lugo
Roberto Lugo holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Penn State. His work has been featured in exhibitions at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2019 Pew Fellowship, a Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize, and a US Artist Award. His work is found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The High Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Brooklyn Museum, Walters Art Museum, and more. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, PA.
About Grounds For Sculpture
Grounds For Sculpture is a 42-acre not-for-profit sculpture park, arboretum, and museum, founded by the late artist and philanthropist Seward Johnson. Featuring more than 300 contemporary sculptures by renowned and emerging artists in a beckoning landscape, Grounds For Sculpture combines art and nature to surprise, inspire, and engage all visitors in the artist’s act of invention. In addition to its permanent collection, Grounds For Sculpture offers rotating special exhibitions in its six indoor galleries, rich educational programs, and dynamic family events. Located in Hamilton, New Jersey, Grounds For Sculpture is easily accessible from both the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas and is now open year-round. For more information, visit groundsforsculpture.org.
Media Contacts
Jenny Levine / Julia Exelbert
Resnicow and Associates
212-671-5189 / 212-671-5155
jlevine@resnicow.com / jexelbert@resnicow.com
Press Office
Grounds For Sculpture
press@groundsforsculpture.org
In Partnership with The Color Network, Spring Exhibition at Grounds For Sculpture
Responds to the Duality of Clay, Expressing its Strength and Vulnerability
Group Exhibition Spotlights 16 Ceramic Artists of Color
Hamilton, NJ – March 17, 2022 – This spring, Grounds For Sculpture will present a group exhibition of works by artists of color who meditate on social, environmental, and individual perceptions of fragility through the medium of clay. The exhibition is presented in partnership with The Color Network, which seeks to advance people of color in the ceramic arts through community-building, events, exhibitions, mentorship, and other resources. On view May 22, 2022 – January 8, 2023, Fragile: Earth will predominantly feature artists that identify as female and nearly half of the artists in the exhibition will be debuting new works.
Fragile: Earth is concurrent with a solo exhibition of Roberto Lugo, a master ceramicist who is best known for his multicultural mash-ups depicting leading Black cultural figures in porcelain and has frequently collaborated with The Color Network. Together these exhibitions support Grounds For Sculpture’s institutional mission, which uses key components of curatorial work, collections, and exhibitions as a catalyst for transformation across the organization, addressing issues of inclusivity, access, and equity.
“As a platform for contemporary art and artists, Grounds For Sculpture amplifies the diverse voices and visions of those working in the field today. This spring, our focused look at the underrepresented medium of ceramics shines a light on artists of color firing a new future in clay,” said Gary Schneider, Executive Director of Grounds For Sculpture. “The new partnership with The Color Network expands our commitment to fostering an open community of artists and brings their compelling works to the forefront of the contemporary conversation on sculpture.”
Organized by guest curator Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, the 16 artists were selected through The Color Network, by curatorial invitation, and through an open call. United by their ceramics practice and inclusive of a myriad of social, cultural, economic, geographical, and ethnic backgrounds, the featured artists are Natalia Arbelaez, Ashwini Bhat, Ebitenyefa Baralaye, Syd Carpenter, Adam Chau, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Magdolene Dykstra, April Felipe, Raheleh Filsoofi, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Anabel Juárez, Anina Major, Jane Margarette, Mariana Ramos Ortiz, Virgil Ortiz, and Sarah Petty.
“When unfired, clay is soft, flexible, and forgiving; when fired, it is solid and strong but can easily shatter,” added exhibition curator Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy. “This exhibition explores vulnerability as strength, the faults of a strong façade, and the fragility of entities often taken for granted, such as nature and government, amid ongoing global health and social crises.”
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of artist-led programs, including community workshops in ceramics, storytelling, and self-reflection as well as art sessions, ESL/Spanish offerings, and professional development for artists presented by both Grounds For Sculpture and The Color Network. The partners will also co-host a fall auction, Fragile: Cup, which will offer one-of-a-kind ceramic mugs created by contemporary artists for sale to support the mission of The Color Network.
Sponsor Information
Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter and Fragile: Earth: Lead sponsor Bank of America, supported in part by the Brooke Barrie Art Fund, Edna W. Andrade Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation, Holman, the New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel & Tourism, and NRG and the following Exhibition Supporters: Judith Burgis, Drs. Umesh and Sunanda Gaur, and Barbara Eberlein and Jerry Wind. Support is provided in part by the Atlantic Foundation, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
Member Preview Day
Grounds For Sculpture will hold a special preview day for its Members on Saturday, May 21, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The exhibitions Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter and Fragile: Earth, which will not open to the general public until the following day, will both be on view and programs include opportunities to meet the artists and curators. Member reservations are required.
Hours and Ticketing
Both Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter and Fragile: Earth will be on view to the public with general admission. Visitors should check the Grounds For Sculpture website for extended hours.
Advance timed ticket reservations are highly recommended to ensure entry. Reservations can be made online at groundsforsculpture.org. Capacity is limited and tickets often sell out on weekends and holidays. Member reservations are required on weekends (Saturdays and Sundays) and holidays. Tickets are available up to two weeks in advance and are released on a weekly basis.
About The Color Network
The Color Network’s mission is to aid in the advancement of people of color in the ceramic arts. Their focus includes exhibitions, an online database, community events, and mentorship. Since 2018, The Color Network has created an international Mentorship program, curated exhibitions, held a residency at Watershed Ceramics, and provided opportunities through micro grants and an artists’ listserv. Its active Instagram page (@thecolornetwork) highlights both established and rising stars in the ceramics field, as well as resources for the community. The Color Network also holds panels, resource tables, community events, and exhibitions during the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts conference, as well as periodic affinity rooms and safe rooms for specific communities.
About Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy
Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy is a Los Angeles-based independent curator, writer, and arts administrator of contemporary art and craft. Her current research focuses on the subversive power of humor, cuteness, and leisure as tools of protest. Amplifying the voices of BIPOC artists is central to her practice. She recently served as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), NY where, in addition to her work contributing to over 20 exhibitions, she oversaw MAD’s Burke Prize, a prestigious contemporary craft award. Other recent projects include exhibitions Belonging: 2022 NCECA Annual (2022) at the Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento, CA; The Universe Within (2022) at Mindy Solomon Gallery, Miami, FL; Sleight of Hand (2020) at the Center for Craft, NC, where she was a 2020 curatorial fellow; and Clay is Just Thick Paint (2020) at Greenwich House Pottery, NY. She has also contributed to Cultured and American Craft magazines and multiple exhibition catalogs, and is the creator and co-host of the podcast Clay in Color. She holds an MA from the Bard Graduate Center, NY, in Decorative Arts, Design History, & Material Culture.
About Grounds For Sculpture
Grounds For Sculpture is a 42-acre not-for-profit sculpture park, arboretum, and museum, founded by the late artist and philanthropist Seward Johnson. Featuring nearly 300 contemporary sculptures by renowned and emerging artists in a beckoning landscape, Grounds For Sculpture combines art and nature to surprise, inspire, and engage all visitors in the artist’s act of invention. In addition to its permanent collection, Grounds For Sculpture offers rotating special exhibitions in its six indoor galleries, rich educational programs, and dynamic family events. Located in Hamilton, New Jersey, Grounds For Sculpture is easily accessible from both the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas and is now open year-round. For more information, visit groundsforsculpture.org.
Media Contacts
Catherine Coughlin / Jenny Levine
Resnicow and Associates
212-671-5162 / 212-671-5189
ccoughlin@resnicow.com / jlevine@resnicow.com
Press Office
Grounds For Sculpture
press@groundsforsculpture.org
Grounds For Sculpture Extends Immersive Light and Sound Exhibition Until April 3rd
Night Forms: dreamloop by Klip Collective is the First Installation of a Two-Year Commission Series To Activate the Sculpture Park during Evenings
Hamilton, NJ –January 24, 2022 – Grounds For Sculpture today announces extended dates for the first exhibition in a two-year partnership with Klip Collective to present a distinctive after-hours multisensory experience. The Night Forms series directly interacts with a selection of contemporary artworks and signature horticultural features across the park’s 42 acres, furthering the nonprofit’s commitment to creating unique experiences bringing art and nature together. Now on view through April 3, 2022, the first commission, Night Forms: dreamloop by Klip Collective, presents a dozen site-specific light and sound works. The innovative and immersive experience offers a rare opportunity to visit the park both at night and during the winter, transforming Grounds For Sculpture into a year-round destination.
“This first step into experimenting with the possibilities of a nightscape has exceeded our expectations,” said Gary Garrido Schneider, Executive Director of Grounds For Sculpture. “We are thrilled to extend our first collaboration with Klip Collective to ensure as many visitors as possible experience their unique response to our art that creates an entirely transformed atmosphere.”
As immersive art gains popularity across the country, Night Forms brings this progressive movement to a new environment. Illuminating the park with projection mapping and lighting synchronized to an artist- commissioned soundtrack, Night Forms expands the viewing plane from the earth to the sky and creates a shared experience that heightens the senses. With this installation, Klip Collective used the opportunity to not only enliven the winter landscape, from the maple allée to the weeping blue atlas cedars, but also to create a robust dialogue with artists of differing media by interacting with the sculptures in the park, including works by Bruce Beasley, Michele Oka Doner, and Michelle Post. Each feature, whether a work of art or nature, is transformed by the light and sound surrounding it.
Visitors are enveloped in the multisensory presentation as they move through the park. By creating a unique experience specific to Grounds For Sculpture, Night Forms: dreamloop by Klip Collective is a totally bespoke event that can only be seen and heard this year at the sculpture park. Timed tickets are required, and are now on sale at groundsforsculpture.org.
Ricardo Rivera, creative director and founder of Klip Collective, is a site-specific media artist and pioneer of projection mapping. Rivera has directed several ambient light and sound experiences, including Nightscape at Longwood Gardens and Electric Desert at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. As a Sundance Story Lab fellow and Creative Capital award recipient, Rivera applies his theater and film background in the transformation of spaces, layering architecture and filling landscapes with light and sound, resulting in immersive, sensory environments.
Grounds For Sculpture thanks lead sponsor Bank of America for their generous support of Night Forms, including underwriting free admission for nonprofit community partners. Alberto Garofalo, Bank of America New Jersey, President, said, “Bank of America is pleased to support the production of Night Forms and to offer members of the community the opportunity to attend without ticket price being a barrier.
Providing equitable access to this exhibition is important to both Grounds For Sculpture and Bank of America as both organizations work to make a positive impact on our community.”
Night Forms: dreamloop by Klip Collective is supported by lead sponsor Bank of America and the following Exhibition Supporters: Bloomberg Philanthropies; Capital Health System; Geoscape; NRG; the Atlantic Foundation; the Johnson Art and Education Foundation; the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
About Klip Collective
Led by multimedia artist and projection pioneer Ricardo Rivera, Klip Collective is a creative studio that uses a unique synthesis of projection mapping, lighting, and sound design to create captivating, immersive sensory experiences. Since its founding in 2003, the studio has collaborated with numerous cultural partners and institutions including Hirshhorn Museum in Washington D.C., the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Center for Contemporary Art in Moscow, Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontier, and Longwood Gardens to present site-specific, large-scale explorations of perception and imagination. Through the creation of an immersive visual and sonic landscape that draws inspiration from—and adds dimension to—a space, audiences are invited to interact and participate in a dynamically transformed atmosphere.
About Grounds For Sculpture
Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) is a 42-acre not-for-profit sculpture park, arboretum, and museum, founded by the late artist and philanthropist Seward Johnson. Featuring nearly 300 contemporary sculptures by renowned and emerging artists in a beckoning landscape, Grounds For Sculpture combines art and nature to surprise, inspire, and engage all visitors in the artist’s act of invention. In addition to its permanent collection, Grounds For Sculpture offers rotating special exhibitions in its six indoor galleries, rich educational programs, and dynamic family events. Located in Hamilton, New Jersey, Grounds For Sculpture is easily accessible from both the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas and is now open year-round. For more information, visit groundsforsculpture.org.
About Bank of America
At Bank of America, we’re guided by a common purpose to help make financial lives better, through the power of every connection. We’re delivering on this through responsible growth with a focus on our environmental, social and governance (ESG) leadership. ESG is embedded across our eight lines of business and reflects how we help fuel the global economy, build trust and credibility, and represent a company that people want to work for, invest in and do business with. It’s demonstrated in the inclusive and supportive workplace we create for our employees, the responsible products and services we offer our clients, and the impact we make around the world in helping local economies thrive. An important part of this work is forming strong partnerships with nonprofits and advocacy groups, such as community, consumer, and environmental organizations, to bring together our collective networks and expertise to achieve greater impact.
Media Contacts
Christina Ludgood / Catherine Coughlin
Resnicow and Associates
212-671-5178 / 212-671-5162
cludgood@resnicow.com / ccoughlin@resnicow.com
Press Office
Grounds For Sculpture
press@groundsforsculpture.org
Exploring the Power of Ceramics, Grounds For Sculpture Presents
Two Exhibitions Highlighting Artists of Color in Spring 2022
A Solo Exhibition of Ceramicist and Social Activist Roberto Lugo will be Paired with a Group Exhibition in Partnership with The Color Network
Hamilton, NJ – November 4, 2021; updated March 21, 2022 – Grounds For Sculpture announces two exhibitions on contemporary ceramics opening in May 2022. Debuting new work, a solo exhibition of American artist and social activist Roberto Lugo will display his signature combination of traditional and contemporary iconography and techniques. In partnership with The Color Network, Grounds For Sculpture will simultaneously present Fragile: Earth, a group exhibition of sixteen artists of color who meditate on social, environmental, and individual perceptions of fragility through the medium of clay. Together these exhibitions support Grounds For Sculpture’s institutional strategy, which uses key components of curatorial work, collections, and exhibitions as a catalyst for transformation across the organization, addressing issues of inclusivity, access, and equity.
“Grounds For Sculpture has always been a platform for contemporary practitioners of sculpture, and this spring, we will take a focused look at the underrepresented medium of ceramics and shine a spotlight on artists of color working in this field,” said Gary Schneider, Executive Director of Grounds For Sculpture. “These exhibitions reflect our commitment to present works by contemporary sculptors, understanding that sharing contemporary art reflects the greater world, challenges perceptions, and inspires new possibilities.”
ROBERTO LUGO: THE VILLAGE POTTER
May 22, 2022 – January 8, 2023
Master ceramicist Roberto Lugo creates multicultural mash-ups, reimagining traditional European and Asian porcelain forms and techniques with a 21st-century street sensibility. Lugo often captures portraits of leading figures in contemporary culture, from Sojourner Truth to The Notorious BIG, in this luxurious medium. The artist will be in residence at Grounds For Sculpture throughout the winter of 2022, creating a new series of works for the exhibition Robert Lugo: The Village Potter. In partnership with The Seward Johnson Atelier and the Digital Atelier, Lugo will create a monumental work that will provide opportunities for visitors to physically interact within the form—representing a first for the artist to see his visual language presented at that scale. In addition, Lugo will create a series of works which will be fired on site.
“There’s a distinct separation of classes that happened in the history of ceramics—at one point porcelain was considered more than expensive than gold,” said Roberto Lugo. “In my exhibition at Grounds For Sculpture, I want to communicate to people that ceramics are for everyone and that no medium should be reserved for any single group of people.”
Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter is co-curated by Faith McClellan, Grounds For Sculpture Director of Exhibitions and Collections, and Gary Garrido Schneider, Executive Director. An additional exhibition within the gallery, curated by Lugo, will explore the theme of mentorship in the development of his practice, by including works by both artists who have influenced his work and those he has mentored, such as Malcolm Mobutu Smith, Alfredo Carlson, and Tina Flood. The gallery will also feature a drop-in creative space offering visitors of any skill level an opportunity to work with clay.
Roberto Lugo: The Village Potter is supported in part by New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel & Tourism, and the Edna W. Andrade Fund of the Philadelphia Foundation.
FRAGILE: EARTH
May 22, 2022 – January 8, 2023
In partnership with The Color Network, Fragile: Earth features sixteen artists of color working in clay and using the medium to uncover deeper truths of society. When unfired, clay is soft, flexible, and forgiving; when fired, it is solid and strong but can easily shatter. This exhibition explores vulnerability as strength, the faults of a strong façade, and the fragility of entities often taken for granted, such as nature and government, amid ongoing global health and social crises.
Guest curated by Assistant Curator for the Museum of Arts and Design Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy, the exhibition will feature ceramic works by Natalia Arbelaez, Ashwini Bhat, Ebitenyefa Baralaye, Syd Carpenter, Adam Chau, Jennifer Ling Datchuk, Magdolene Dykstra, April Felipe, Raheleh Filsoofi, Salvador Jiménez Flores, Anabel Juárez, Anina Major, Jane Margarette, Mariana Ramos Ortiz, Virgil Ortiz, and Sarah Petty. Artists were selected from within The Color Network as well as an open call to ensure the broad artistic community is represented.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a series of artist-led programs, including intersections with trauma-informed art sessions, ESL/Spanish workshops, urban gardening, professional development for artists, and a fundraising event to support the mission of The Color Network.
About Roberto Lugo
Roberto Lugo is an American artist, ceramicist, social activist, spoken word poet, and educator. Born in Kensington, Philadelphia to Puerto Rican parents, Lugo began his career as a graffiti artist before discovering ceramics. In his current practice, he uses porcelain and illuminates its aristocratic surface with imagery of poverty, inequality, and social and racial injustice. Their hand-painted surfaces feature classic decorative patterns and motifs combined with elements of modern urban graffiti and portraits of individuals whose faces are historically absent on this type of luxury item – people like Sojourner Truth, Dr. Cornel West, and The Notorious BIG, as well as Lugo’s family members and, very often, himself. Lugo holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Penn State. His work has been featured in exhibitions at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2019 Pew Fellowship, a Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize, and a US Artist Award. His work is found in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Philadelphia Museum of Art, The High Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Brooklyn Museum, Walters Art Museum, and more. He is currently an Assistant Professor at Tyler School of Art and Architecture in Philadelphia, PA.
About The Color Network
The Color Network’s mission is to aid in the advancement of people of color in the ceramic arts. Their focus includes exhibitions, an online database, community events, and mentorship. Since 2018, The Color Network has created an international Mentorship program, curated exhibitions, held a residency at Watershed Ceramics, and provided opportunities through micro grants and an artists’ listserv. Its active Instagram page (@thecolornetwork) highlights both established and rising stars in the ceramics field, as well as resources for the community. The Color Network also holds panels, resource tables, community events, and exhibitions during the National Council for Education on the Ceramic Arts conference, as well as periodic affinity rooms and safe rooms for specific communities.
About Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy
Angelik Vizcarrondo-Laboy (she/her) is a New York and Los Angeles-based curator, writer, and arts administrator of contemporary art and craft. Her current research focuses on the subversive power of humor, cuteness, and leisure as tools of protest. Amplifying the voices of BIPOC artists is central to her practice. She serves as Assistant Curator at the Museum of Arts and Design (MAD), NY. She has helped the curatorial team organize over twenty exhibitions since 2016, including 2021’s Craft Front & Center. She also oversees MAD’s Burke Prize, a prestigious contemporary craft award. Recent projects include exhibitions Sleight of Hand (2020) at the Center for Craft, NC, where she was a 2020 curatorial fellow, and Clay Is Just Thick Paint (2020) at Greenwich House Pottery, NY. She has also contributed to Cultured and American Craft magazines and catalogs at MAD and the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, NE. She holds an MA from the Bard Graduate Center, NY, in Decorative Arts, Design History, & Material Culture.
About Grounds For Sculpture
Grounds For Sculpture is a 42-acre not-for-profit sculpture park, arboretum, and museum, founded by the late artist and philanthropist Seward Johnson. Featuring nearly 300 contemporary sculptures by renowned and emerging artists in a beckoning landscape, Grounds For Sculpture combines art and nature to surprise, inspire, and engage all visitors in the artist’s act of invention. In addition to its permanent collection, Grounds For Sculpture offers rotating special exhibitions in its six indoor galleries, rich educational programs, and dynamic family events. Located in Hamilton, New Jersey, Grounds For Sculpture is easily accessible from both the New York City and Philadelphia metropolitan areas and is now open year-round. For more information, visit groundsforsculpture.org.
Media Contacts
Christina Ludgood / Catherine Coughlin
Resnicow and Associates
Account Executive / Senior Account Supervisor
212-671-5178 / 212-671-5162
cludgood@resnicow.com / ccoughlin@resnicow.com
George Chevalier
Grounds For Sculpture
Manager of Marketing
609-249-0210
gchevalier@groundsforsculpture.org
Grounds For Sculpture Announces Two-Year Commission Series with Klip Collective
Immersive Light and Sound Exhibitions Will Activate the Sculpture Park during Winter Evenings
Hamilton, NJ – August 3, 2021 – Grounds For Sculpture today announces a two-year partnership with Klip Collective to present a distinctive after-hours multisensory experience. The Night Forms series will directly interact with a selection of contemporary artworks and signature horticultural features across the park’s 42 acres, furthering the nonprofit’s commitment to creating unique experiences bringing art and nature together. On view November 26, 2021 through February 27, 2022, the first commission, titled Night Forms: dreamloop by Klip Collective, presents more than a dozen site-specific light and sound works. The innovative and immersive experience offers a rare opportunity to visit the park both at night and during the winter.
“Grounds For Sculpture continuously surprises and delights visitors through the interaction of art and the environment, and by design is an experience that changes seasonally. Through this newly commissioned series, we are intentionally experimenting with the possibilities of a nightscape,” said Gary Garrido Schneider, Executive Director of Grounds For Sculpture. “We are thrilled to collaborate with Klip Collective to bring their vision to life on our grounds and create a unique response to our art that delivers an entirely transformed atmosphere.”
As immersive art gains popularity across the country, Night Forms brings this progressive movement to a new environment. Illuminating the park with projection mapping and lighting to a special choreographed soundtrack, Klip Collective creates a dialogue with the sculptures in the park. Expanding the viewing plane from the earth to the sky, Night Forms merges order and chaos to create a shared experience that heightens the senses. Like the natural environment itself, the installation changes throughout the course of its run and even the course of an evening. Visitors actively participate in the multisensory presentation as they move through the park. By creating a unique experience specific to Grounds For Sculpture, Night Forms: dreamloop by Klip Collective is a totally bespoke event that can only be seen and heard this year at the sculpture park.
Ricardo Rivera, creative director and founder of Klip Collective, is a site-specific media artist and pioneer of projection mapping. Rivera has directed several ambient light and sound experiences, including Nightscape at Longwood Gardens and Electric Desertat the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. As a Sundance Story Lab fellow and Creative Capital award recipient, Rivera applies his theater and film background in the transformation of spaces, layering architecture and filling landscapes with light and sound, resulting in immersive, sensory environments.
Tickets to Grounds For Sculpture’s Night Forms: dreamloop by Klip Collective will go on sale to Grounds For Sculpture members on August 16, 2021 and open to the public on September 9, 2021. For more information, please visit groundsforsculpture.org.
Grounds For Sculpture thanks lead sponsor Bank of America for their generous support of Night Forms, including underwriting free admission for nonprofit community partners. Alberto Garofalo, Bank of America New Jersey Market President, said, “Bank of America is pleased to support the production of Night Forms and to offer members of the community the opportunity to attend without ticket price being a barrier. Providing equitable access to this exhibition is important to both Grounds For Sculpture and Bank of America as both organizations work to make a positive impact on our community.”
Night Forms: dreamloop by Klip Collective is supported by lead sponsor Bank of America and the following Exhibition Supporters: Bloomberg Philanthropies; Capital Health System; Geoscape; NRG; the Atlantic Foundation; the Johnson Art and Education Foundation; the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
Grounds For Sculpture Announces New Leadership Appointments, Strengthening the Sculpture Park, Arboretum, and Museum’s Commitment to the Visitor Experience and Engagement of Contemporary Artists
Kathleen Greene Named to the Newly Created Position of Chief Audience Officer as Marissa Reibstein Activates New Role of Chief Development Officer
Hamilton, NJ – July 12, 2021 – Grounds For Sculpture today announced that it has appointed Kathleen Greene to the newly created position of Chief Audience Officer (CAO) and Marissa Reibstein to Chief Development Officer (CDO), strengthening its senior leadership team as the nonprofit builds on its mission to facilitate meaningful and accessible encounters with art and nature; support the work of leading contemporary sculptors; and serve as a vital hub for diverse communities within the tri-state region and beyond. Greene begins her role with Grounds For Sculpture as CAO on July 12, 2021 and Marissa stepped into her position as CDO on March 1, 2021.
“Kathleen and Marissa bring decades of experience in innovative audience building through program creation, curatorial, and development work to Grounds For Sculpture, enhancing our ability to create impactful and equitable experiences for our visitors,” said Gary Garrido Schneider, Executive Director of Grounds For Sculpture. “As we build on the strong foundation created by our founder and approach our thirty-year anniversary in 2022, we are solidifying our standing as an independent organization with the addition of these two experienced leaders.”
As CAO—a new role designed to build audience diversity and engagement—Greene will be responsible for leading the Curatorial, Educational, and Marketing teams in the development of innovative, cross-disciplinary, and audience-centric exhibitions and programs that forge meaningful connections between visitors and living artists and creators, as well as art and horticulture. Bringing over two decades of experience in building audiences through program creation and strategic partnerships, education, and curation to the sculpture park, museum, and arboretum, Greene was most recently the Curator of Public Programs at the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia, where she worked across the institution to sustain partnerships and grow program audiences to reflect the diversity of the Philadelphia region. Prior to joining the Barnes in 2012, Greene held leadership positions in the programming and education departments at Fleisher Art Memorial and Mural Arts Philadelphia.
“Grounds For Sculpture is renowned for creating a dynamic and surprising experience for its visitors and for providing a critical space to reconnect with nature. Now more than ever, the winding pathways, interactive sculptures, and beautiful landscape are a beacon, gathering visitors of all ages across our diverse surrounding communities,” said newly appointed Chief Audience Officer Kathleen Greene. “Under Gary’s leadership, GFS has grown its audience by 50% and I am thrilled to partner with him to continue this trend of audience growth while expanding and deepening our reach to regional cultural producers, creatives, and organizations.”
As CDO, Reibstein is responsible for overseeing all functions of fundraising, including individual major and principal gifts, corporate and foundation giving, planned gifts, annual fund and membership programs, and special fundraising events. Prior to joining Grounds For Sculpture, Reibstein was the Director of Development, Board Engagement & Special Events for the 92nd Street Y in New York City. During her 13-year tenure, she served as a key relationship builder and fundraiser with Board members and major donors, created an innovative and prominent junior board, as well as led the overall strategy and execution of all fundraising events for this esteemed institution. Reibstein brings nearly two decades of diverse experience in the nonprofit sector to the cultural institution, including programming and development positions at the American Cancer Society and Facing History and Ourselves.
“This is an exciting and pivotal time to join Grounds For Sculpture. Coming out of the pandemic and amidst a significant transformation, our mission is ever more critical and our need for support has never been greater,” said Chief Development Officer Marissa Reibstein. “Grounds For Sculpture is an incredible place that truly elevates humanity, through the connections we make with art, nature, one another, and ultimately with ourselves. I am thrilled and honored to be part of this community and look forward to scaling our development efforts so that the park is accessible to all, for generations to come.”
Grounds For Sculpture Photography Exhibit at Capital Health System, Hopewell
One month remains to see botanical samples and photography from the park
Hamilton, NJ (August 26, 2021) – The Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) exhibition entitled Along the Way, composed of plant specimens and photographs from the park, installed at Capital Health Hopewell in the Investors Bank Art and Healing Gallery, closes soon. Curated by a cross department team at GFS, the exhibition showcases the park through the seasons and encourages visitors to slow down and benefit from the work on display. The goal of the project is to uplift and bring joy to hospital visitors and employees by mirroring the wellness benefits of visiting GFS, through images and actual plant clippings. The exhibition ends on September 18th.
Pressed plants were carefully chosen by GFS Horticulturist, Janis Napoli. Prompts featured help viewers connect with various sculptures located at GFS through the photographs. Julio Enrique Badel, Manager of Experiential Programs, explained “Our goal was to convey the experience of GFS by showing what makes visiting the grounds unique and engaging. We selected and grouped photos related to large scale sculpture, people interacting with artwork, the passing of the seasons, and horticulture-focused landscapes contrasted with close-up images. Questions posed to the viewer encourage closer looking and reflection, probing at deeper meanings behind the images. GFS encourages an open-ended form of discovery and curiosity when exploring art and nature.”
The physical space where the gallery sits benefits from natural light which further enhances the calming atmosphere. “During the installation, Capital Health employees approached us to share personal stories of gatherings at GFS. Seeing the images also reminded them how close and accessible this hidden gem is to them,” said Tracy Lee, GFS Assistant Preparator.
The intersection of art and nature is at the core of the GFS mission and reflects how the role of museums is evolving to play a significant part in the wellbeing of the community. The arts resonate deeply with the human experience and are saturated with the potential to promote healing and wellness, not only in hospitals and other healthcare facilities but also within the fabric of our communities. GFS has seen considerable demand from guests for programming that connects wellbeing with art and nature since the park began to offer wellness-focused programs nearly 10 years ago.
The importance of healing and art has always been considered important within the Capital Health system. From the initial planning of the facility and throughout the construction, art was intentionally incorporated into the design of the Hopewell hospital. At the time, art consultant, Lin Swenson, advised and led a plan for the design and acquisition of the thoughtful integration of art in a variety of forms using mainly community artists. Art has been created and installed thoughtfully under the advisement of a community arts committee, including staff from the Seward Johnson Atelier. In addition, elements of the former Mercer Hospital in Trenton including architectural elements, photographs, and equipment were also incorporated into five historical artistic design presentations. Artists including Judith Brodsky, Michael Graves, and Thom Montanari created beautiful pieces within the facility. More than 20 community artists participated in a collaborative project that created more than 400 pieces for patient rooms. Art is often incorporated into care plans at Capital Health.
“Our art gallery at Capital Health allows us to help heal our patients, families, and communities outside of just their physical and mental health, it provides support for emotional wellbeing. The space allows anyone from patients to staff members to take a moment to themselves. It allows for a few moments of peace and tranquility,” shared Lyndsie Moran, System Manager, Patient Experience at Capital Health. “During the global pandemic, art and nature have become even more important as beacons of restoration and healing.” said Gina Petrone Mumolie, DNP, MBA, RN, NEA-BC, Sr. VP of Hospital Administration. “This wonderful art show beckons viewers to enjoy the beauty at Grounds For Sculpture,” she added. “The uniquely displayed dried floral arrangements and photography of people enjoying the vibrancy of GFS encourage relaxation for those at the hospital and also urges viewers to visit GFS for more.”
INSTITUTIONAL BACKGROUND
Grounds For Sculpture (GFS) is a not-for-profit sculpture park, arboretum, and museum in New Jersey. To facilitate meaningful encounters with art and nature, the vibrant 42-acre campus features nearly 300 contemporary sculptures by renowned and emerging artists set in a dynamic landscape hosting hundreds of plant species. Six indoor galleries present diverse, rotating special exhibitions, which are complemented by robust educational programming for all ages and abilities. Founded by artist and philanthropist Seward Johnson in 1992, Grounds For Sculpture has become a premier cultural destination, enchanting more than 250,000 visitors per year.
