A new art fair will spotlight work by recent art school graduates.
Pier 36. Photo courtesy Art Market Productions.
A freshman is joining the New York City art fair class of 2019. The MFA Fair, a new venture under the umbrella of fair production outfit Art Market Productions and built on partnerships between leading university art programs and an advisory committee of industry experts, will showcase exclusively work by recent MFA graduates, offering students a springboard into the art market. Schools set to participate in the fair’s inaugural edition, which will take place November 14th to 17th on Pier 36 on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, include Columbia University School of the Arts, Cranbrook Academy of Art, Maryland Institute College of Art, New York Academy of Art, and more.
In a statement sent to Artsy, the fair’s co-founder and director, James Salomon, said:
I see this as a fresh way to connect artists and universities across the country, to start new conversations around art, and to revolutionize models of support for emerging artists and those working and living outside the established centers of the art world. From the onset, there's been a high level of enthusiasm from all corners. We're thrilled to help create new relationships between students, the departments, and collectors.
Expanding MFA programs and multiplying art fairs have been two of the major driving forces in the changing landscape of the art world in recent decades, so a fair of this sort seems to be a natural progression. While galleries and studious collectors have long surveilled graduating classes at top MFA programs, The MFA Fair aims to formalize the process of ushering recent grads into the market. Its inaugural edition will take place outside of New York City’s two major fair weeks in the spring, but will coincide with the annual The Salon Art + Design.
