“Artist as Institution” panel

12:45pm- 2:15pm  (1 hour, 30mins) Sunday, April 9, 2022
Location:Theater, 2nd floor, the Queens Museum
Format: Panel
Artist as Institution
Andrew Freiband, Amy Ritter, and Esther Neff

The role of the artist has progressively become one of instigator, operating within and outside of institutions to enact tangible changes in the public realm. More and more, we find artists working in the medium of institutions themselves–circumnavigating bureaucracy to address issues head on–or often attempting to create shifts from within the system itself. What is the future of the artist as institution (or artists who institute), and what limits does public art have to implement real world change when the larger systems and structures in place are failing?

MoreArt 2021 Engaging Artist Fellows Amy Ritter and Andrew Freiband join Esther Neff in conversation around the artist as institution, debunking myths of social mobility as it relates to the American Dream, and new systems for artists to engage meaningfully in the world given its current state. Approaching public art and artist as institution from three distinct positions, Neff, Ritter, and Freiband bring together their philosophies, theories of change, and tangible approaches to navigating themselves and their practices within and outside of the Institution.