ChaShaMa Partners With The Art Students League To Advance Recovery By Bringing Art To Empty Storefronts

In a new partnership, the Art Students League of New York and ChaShaMa join forces to initiate artistic activations in vacant retail spaces across the five boroughs. These presentations will celebrate global stories by emerging artists at the Art Students League while repurposing unused city real estate.

“In the wake of this global health crisis our two veteran arts organizations will come together to heal communities,” says Genevieve Martin, Director of External Affairs at the League. “We lament the inevitable closure of small business in the coming weeks and months, which will serve as a constant reminder of this pandemic. Arts and culture will be looked to in the instigation of city-wide recovery as we open up, and we can begin to fill those voids with art and strive towards revitalization together.” Anita Durst, Chashama's founder and Artistic Director, believes that "ChaShaMa and ASL are the perfect partners to enliven NYC" and that "creativity, art, and expression are a matter of community well-being."

The inaugural exhibition“ FANTASIA” will open on September 1 at One Brooklyn Bridge Park, a waterfront gallery at the rear of 360 Furman Street, between Piers 5 + 6 in Brooklyn. The show will present an eclectic series of works of art by League students working across a range of media. This show’s mixture of forms, like its musical namesake, celebrates spontaneity and the gathering of distinct styles to create harmony. This year’s global health emergency has greatly impacted artists but has not drained their inspiration nor halted their practices. As the city slowly starts to reawaken, we invite you into the imaginations of artists who have continued composing through the pandemic.

 

ARTISTS FEATURED:

Walter Altamirano

Bruna D’Alessandro

Magdalena Dukiewicz

Debra Friedkin

Yolande Heijnen

John Parnell

Fulvia Zambon

 

CONNECT:

@aslnyc #1BBPark

 

About ChaShaMa:

For over two decades, ChaShaMa has played a central role in sustaining New York's vibrant artistic community and increasing access to the arts for all. ChaShaMa supports artists by partnering with property owners to transform unused real estate into space to create and present work and provides free art classes for NYC communities. Annually ChaShaMa operates 137 subsidized studios, presents 200 free exhibitions and performances, and provides 300 free art classes for 3,500+ participants in the Bronx, Washington Heights, and Sunset Park and awards
$9 million worth of real estate to artists. www.chashama.org

About The Art Students League of New York: The League was founded in 1875 by students breaking away from the National Academy of Design. That independent spirit remains at The League today, where students pursue their work unconstrained by dogma, politics or burdensome tuition. We educate students in the language and process of making art in an environment where anyone who wishes to pursue arts education can realize his or her full potential. The League fulfills this mission by offering affordable, high-quality education and instruction in painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture and assemblage. Artists who have studied at the League include Georgia O'Keeffe, Romare Bearden, Jackson Pollock, Carmen Herrera, Robert Rauschenberg, Adrian Piper, Louise Bourgeois, Alexander Calder, James Rosenquist and Ai-Weiwei, among others.. www.theartstudentsleague.org