Hunter College Receives $80,000 Grant from The Andy Warhol Foundation for its Artist’s Institute

Hunter College President Jennifer J. Raab has announced that the Artist’s Institute, a project of Hunter College, has been awarded an $80,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. The two-year grant will be used to continue the work of the Institute, which was created as a new, experimental platform for thinking about contemporary art.

President Raab said, “Hunter is delighted to have the support of the Warhol Foundation, one of the nation’s foremost arts organizations, for our Artist’s Institute, a place where thinking about art is as important as showing art. The Institute is a significant component of Hunter’s dynamic program in the visual and performing arts, and this grant will help us continue its pioneering work well into the future.”

“The Artist’s Institute offers an innovative alternative to standard curatorial practice, and is a welcome addition to the burgeoning cultural hub of the Lower East Side. The Warhol Foundation is pleased to support its exhibitions and public programming,” said Joel Wachs, President of The Warhol Foundation.

Anthony Huberman, the curator, writer, and distinguished lecturer at Hunter who leads the Institute, said: “I am very proud that the Artist's Institute has earned the support of the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Arts. By creating the Artist's Institute, Hunter College's art program continues its commitment to innovation and experimentation, and to receive the support from the Warhol Foundation represents a significant recognition of our efforts. The funding will allow the Institute to further develop its unique curatorial platform and to engage audiences in new ways.”

Located at 163 Eldridge Street in Manhattan, the Institute was established in September 2010 as an artist-based research center. Each semester, a small selection of works by a single “anchor artist” is placed on view. Weekly seminars are conducted with MA and MFA students from Hunter College’s Department of Art, and the anchor artist’s work is studied in the context of a rotating series of exhibitions and events by other relevant artists, writers, performers, filmmakers, or thinkers from across the world.

The Artist’s Institute also conducts public events and exhibitions in its storefront gallery on Eldridge Street. The gallery is open to the public from noon to 6 pm on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from September through May and by appointment during June, July and August.

Huberman leads the Artist’s Institute in collaboration with Hunter professor Katy Siegel and Joachim Pissarro, Bershad Professor of Art History and Director of the Hunter College Art Galleries. Huberman has held leadership positions in prominent institutions around the world, including Chief Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis (2007-2010), Curator at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris (2006-2007), Curator at Sculpture Center in New York (2003-2006), and Director of Education and Public Programs at P.S. 1 Contemporary Art Center in New York (1999-2003).

The Andy Warhol Foundation was established in 1987 with the mission of advancing the visual arts in accordance with Warhol’s will.