Rochester Contemporary Art Center (RoCo) announces Take Back the Walls, a juried exhibition of artworks by New York State artists who also work in museums, galleries and arts organizations. This new, statewide project highlights the many talented creatives employed by New York’s numerous arts institutions and galleries, yet are often behind the scenes. We invited current employees of museums, visual art spaces and galleries in New York State to submit their artwork for exhibition. Both 2D and 3D works of all mediums were accepted. This call excluded past employees and family members of the employee.

Important Dates

Accepted Artwork Drop Off: August 16-18, 12-5pm
Industry Night (Opening Reception): Saturday, August 31, 6-9pm
First Friday: September 6, 6-9pm
Exhibition Dates: August 31 - September 21
Artwork Pick Up: September 22, 5-7pm, September 23 & 24, 12-6pm

Artists

Rachel B. Abrams (Brooklyn, NY) The Museum of Modern Art
Berly Brown (Troy, NY) University Art Museum at SUNY Albany
Steven Duval (Amherst, NY) The Albright Knox Art Gallery
Maryrose Fridey (Williamsville, NY) Albright Knox Art Gallery
Paul Harp (Fairport, NY) Memorial Art Gallery
G. Peter Jemison (Victor, NY) Ganondagan State Historic Site and the Seneca Art & Culture Center
Emilie Lemakis (New York, NY) Metropolitan Museum of Art
Paul Loughney (Brooklyn, NY) Galerie Lelong
Victoria Manning (Brooklyn, NY) The Museum of Modern Art
Nick Marshall (Rochester, NY) George Eastman Museum
Karl Mattson (Buffalo, NY) Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Matthew Osiol (Brooklyn, NY) Museum Of Modern Art
Saloman Pritchard (Tonawanda, NY) Albright-Knox Art Gallery
Davana Robedee (Syracuse, NY) Schweinfurth Art Center
David Russo (Webster, NY) The George Eastman Museum
Andrew Salomone (Rochester, NY) The George Eastman Museum
Rachel Shelton (Buffalo, NY) Mirabo Press
Greg Slick (Beacon, NY) The Katonah Museum of Art
Hiroshi Tachibana (Brooklyn, NY) Museum of Modern Art
Adriano Valeri (New York, NY), Fisk Fine Art Services, Levy Gorvy Gallery, Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
Bob Wagner (Rock Tavern, NY) Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz

Awards

Awards will be presented for a few optional and lighthearted categories.

Institutional Critique
This exhibition is intended to celebrate those working within the vast and layered Art World. Projects/artworks that reference the conventions of the field or are self-referential to the art museum/gallery scene will be considered for this award.

Repurposed Materials
This award honors those who gather some or all of their materials while on the job. Don’t worry, your secret is safe with us and will be awarded in private! ; )

Creative Shipping Award
Are you bringing your piece strapped to the top of your car? Or is your crate humidity controlled? Is your packing tape expertly folded to provide a lift strip? We appreciate all the time and care arts professionals put into protecting art – this one’s for you art handlers, registrars and conservators.

About the Juror

Karlos Carcamo is a multidisciplinary artist whose work touches on themes that incorporate high and low cultural references, art history, and urban culture. He has a BFA from the School of Visual Arts and his MFA from Hunter College, both in New York. He has exhibited extensively including at the Brooklyn Museum; the Bronx Museum of the Arts; MoMA PS1 and the Queens Museum of Contemporary Art. His work is in the collection of El Museo de Arte de El Salvador, El Museo del Barrio, The Deutsche Bank Art Foundation and the Mario Cader-French Collection. He was awarded a residency at Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture in 1998, the Lower Eastside Printshop in 2009 and was part of the Bronx Museum's Artist in the Marketplace Program in 2000. His work has been reviewed in Art in America, The New York Times, and the Village Voice, among other publications. Carcamo's work was included in the exhibition Street-ish at Rochester Contemporary Art Center in 2013. Carcamo has also worked within the Museum field as an art installer, exhibitions preparator and conservation picture framer for the last 27 years at venues such as International Center of Photography, Asia Society, Queens Museum, and Museum of Modern Art.

Next Time

Want to submit your work for the next Take Back the Walls exhibition? We plan to make this a biennial exhibition, taking place again in Fall 2021. Please sign up for our emails or follow us on social media to ensure you receive announcements about the next call for entries.