Abrons Arts Center’s Curatorial AIRspace Residency annually supports one New York City-based curator.
Installation view of with Wardrobe: Curatorial AIRspace Residency 2022–23 Exhibition, February 11, 2023 – April 9, 2023. Curated by Laura Serejo Genes and Kiyoto Koseki. Photograph by Olympia Shannon. Image courtesy of Abrons Arts Center.
Abrons Arts Center’s Curatorial AIRspace Residency, presented in partnership with Artists Alliance Inc (AAI), will provide one New York City-based curator with an honorarium, production budget, materials budget, and office space to support the curation of one exhibition responding to the 2025 curatorial focus. The exhibition will be hosted at both Abrons Arts Center and Cuchifritos Gallery + Project Space.
2024–2025 Residency Application
Program Components
Qualifications
Important Dates
2023–24 Curatorial Focus
Abrons’ curatorial focus for our Spring 2024 season is "sanctuary". Anna Khimasia, our 2023–2024 Curatorial AIRspace Resident will curate one proposal based exhibition and the Visual Artist AIRspace Exhibition based on this theme.
The word “sanctuary” comes from the Late Latin word “sanctuarium,” which means a sacred place or a shrine. A sanctuary evokes ideas of spirituality and protection yet it also brings forth the idea of a hideaway that suggests an imminent threat.
Anna Khimasia
Anna Khimasia is an independent curator and educator. Often working collaboratively, her curatorial projects focus on under-represented bodies and voices, interrogating the politics of space, race and gender. Recent curatorial projects include Drawing on Our History (Carleton University Art Gallery); C’est du Gâteau/Piece of Cake (Arts image);Through the Looking Glass and Afternoon Tea for PERF (AXENÉO7); and Live in Palestine (AXENÉO7, A Space Gallery and Montréal, arts interculturels). This year Anna co-founded International Arrivals, a NYFA-sponsored project, supporting artists from countries in conflict. She currently teaches courses on contemporary art and performance at both UCLA and Rutgers.
Funding
The 2024-2025 Curatorial AIRspace Residency is co-presented by Abrons Arts Center and Artists Alliance Inc.
Abrons Arts Center’s Curatorial AIRspace Residency program is made possible through the generosity of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation. This program is also supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and support from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
Artists Alliance Inc. (AAI) is a 501c3 not-for-profit organization located on the Lower East Side of New York City. Programming support is provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with support from the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Further exhibition programming is made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts. We thank the New York City Economic Development Corporation, The Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural & Educational Center, and individual supporters of Artists Alliance Inc for their continued support. Special thanks go to our team of dedicated volunteers and interns, without whom this program would not be possible.
About Organizational Partners
Abrons Arts Center is a home for contemporary interdisciplinary arts in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood. A core program of the Henry Street Settlement, Abrons mobilizes communities through performances, exhibitions, arts education programs, and residencies.
Artists Alliance Inc (AAI) is an artist-founded and artist-centered non-profit that provides a free and accessible platform to produce, experience, and understand contemporary art in the Lower East Side–a longstanding epicenter for creative experimentation and cultural diversity. AAI fosters forward-thinking and experimental practices of emerging and underrepresented artists and curators with funded residencies and paid exhibition opportunities, and advocates for art-making that challenges how we experience ourselves and our communities.