Mission :
Nurture art Non-Profit Inc. is dedicated to nurturing new contemporary art by providing exhibition opportunities and resources for both emerging artists and curators. The unique synergy between nurture art’s Emerging Curators Program and our Registry of Artists and Curators generates a collaborative environment for curatorial experimentation and exposure of new artists. This framework, along with other far-reaching programming, cultivates a supportive artistic network and enriches the local and larger cultural communities.
Overview:
Nurtureart Non-Profit Inc. is dedicated to nurturing new contemporary art by providing exhibition opportunities and resources for emerging artists, curators and public school students. Founded in 1997 by George Robinson to realize his vision of a non-profit dedicated to supporting artists, Nurtureart is now located in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the heart of emerging art in New York City.
History:
In 1997, George J. Robinson founded Nurtureart Nonprofit Inc. to realize his vision of an organization dedicated to supporting emerging artists.
He began by mounting guerilla exhibitions in donated spaces whenever and wherever possible, starting a slide registry in a filing cabinet in his Washington Heights apartment. As the registry grew,Nurtureart presented exhibitions in donated spaces as diverse as the United Nations, empty Lower East Side storefronts, Columbia University, and the corporate lobbies of Citibank and Pfizer. In 2002, the organization marked the launch of its Emerging Curators Program to nurture curators as well as artists. The following year,Nurtureart opened a gallery space of its own on Keap Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, creating the galvanizing opportunity for a full season of collaborative exhibitions between emerging curators and Registry Artists; and Board member Eliot Lable started an exciting education program creating teaching and learning opportunities for Registry Artists and neighborhood school children.
In 2006, after George Robinson’s retirement, long-time volunteer and trustee Karen Marston took the helm of the organization as President of the Board. Nurtureart moved to successive bigger and better new homes, first for a five year stint on Grand Street in East Williamsburg from 2006-2011, and then onto 56 Bogart Street in the heart of the new Bushwick art scene. In 2007 Benjamin Evans joined the staff as Gallery Director and ushered in an exciting, continuing growth period. After his move to Paris in 2011 the staff expanded further and currently includes Executive Director & Curator Marco Antonini, Development Director Louise Barry, Education Director Molly O’Brien and Assistant Director Rachel Steinberg. With the collaboration of an energetic staff and board and many dedicated volunteers, all of its programs have flourished over the course of its short history, and Nurtureart has grown into the dynamic organization it is today, playing a vital role in the cutting-edge emerging art community.
