Monday, May 20, 2019

MEDIA CONTACT: Virginia McInnis | [email protected] | 480-874-4663

Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art to Receive $20,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona ­– National Endowment for the Arts Acting Chairman Mary Anne Carter has approved more than $80 million in grants as part of the Arts Endowment’s second major funding announcement for fiscal year 2019.  Included in this announcement is an Art Works grant of $20,000 to Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) for “Counter-Landscapes: Performative Actions from the 1970s – now” exhibition.

“These awards, reaching every corner of the United States, are a testament to the artistic richness and diversity in our country,” said Mary Anne Carter, acting chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. “Organizations such as Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art are giving people in their community the opportunity to learn, create, and be inspired.”

In the fall of 2019, SMoCA will premiere its first large-scale group exhibition of performance art titled, “Counter-Landscapes: Performative Actions from the 1970s – now,” accompanied by a catalogue and collaborative components. As a counter to the notion that land art deals exclusively with artists who work with earth as their medium this exhibition presents a number of important artists working with performance in the landscape from the 1970s to now, whose work has brought about a new way of seeing and interacting with the environment. Identifying not as land artists or performance artists, but as art activists who sought to interrupt and subvert how viewers perceived art, power, gender and place. The cross-generational, cross-gender group of artists includes early practitioners (1970s–80s), the next generation (1990s–2000s), and new commissions by contemporary artists (2019) Maria Hupfield and Saskia Jordá.

Additionally many other Scottsdale Arts branches have received generous grants. Canal Convergence received $30,000 in February 2016. Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts’ Discovery Series received $25,000 in January 2015 and December 2013 (and $10,000 in December 2012). Scottsdale Arts Education & Outreach received $15,000 in February 2010. SMoCA received $30,000 in December 2009 for the “Rewind, Remix, Replay” exhibition. Scottsdale Arts and its four branches: Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, SMoCA, Scottsdale Public Art, and Scottsdale Arts Education & Outreach have received National Endowment for the Arts grants since 1990.

For more information on this National Endowment for the Arts grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

SCOTTSDALE ARTS
Through its partnership with the City of Scottsdale, the nonprofit Scottsdale Arts (formerly known as Scottsdale Cultural Council) creates diverse, inspired arts experiences and educational opportunities that foster active, lifelong community engagement with the arts. Since its founding in 1987, Scottsdale Arts has grown into a regionally and nationally significant, multi-disciplinary arts organization offering an exceptional variety of programs through four acclaimed branches — Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA), Scottsdale Public Art and Scottsdale Arts Education & Outreach — serving more than 400,000 participants annually.

SCOTTSDALE MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
Founded in 1999, Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) explores the best of contemporary art, architecture and design. Global in its focus, the Museum is a unique and vital cultural resource for the Southwest, serving local audiences as well as visitors from the United States and abroad. Designed by award-winning architect Will Bruder, SMoCA’s minimalist building (an ingenious renovation of a former movie theater) has four galleries for showcasing changing exhibitions and works from the Museum’s collection, along with SMoCA Lounge, a living, functional art installation and space for community engagement. The Museum presents a wide variety of educational programs and special events for adults and families, including lectures, readings, performances, docent-led tours, workshops and classes. SMoCA also features an outdoor sculpture garden housing James Turrell’s “Knight Rise,” one of the renowned artist’s public skyspaces, and “Scrim Wall,” a monumental curtain of translucent glass panels by James Carpenter Design Associates. The Museum’s retail store, [email protected], offers classic design objects and furnishings, contemporary jewelry, art and architecture books, and imaginative gifts for all occasions.

VISITOR INFORMATION
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
7374 E. Second St., Scottsdale, Arizona 85251
www.SMoCA.org
480-874-4666
[email protected]

HOURS AND ADMISSION
Tuesday – Wednesday, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Thursday – Saturday, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday, noon – 5 p.m.
Closed Mondays and major holidays
Admission: $10 adults, $7 students, seniors (65+) and veterans; free for members and children under 15
Free on Thursdays and every second Saturday of the month

MEDIA: For interviews, digital images or additional information, please contact:

Virginia McInnis
Public Relations Specialist
Scottsdale Arts

Phone: 480-874-4663
Email: [email protected]

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