Exhibitions at City Hall
City Hall is proud to serve as both a municipal building, and a gateway to the City of Kingston. In an effort to bring art to our local public spaces, the ground floor of City Hall has transitioned into a space for exhibitions. The Ground Floor Gallery has been developed through the collaboration of prominent local arts organizations, including Arts Mid-Hudson and the Midtown Arts District.
ARTWORK SUBMISSIONS OPEN FOR UPCOMING
HISTORIC CITY HALL EXHIBITION
Mayor Steven T. Noble is pleased to announce the City of Kingston’s Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs will be accepting submissions of artwork for the 2022 City Hall exhibition entitled, Kingston Revealed. For this exhibition, artists are invited to submit work that celebrates and visually represents the significant contributions made by Indigenous Peoples, African Americans, Latinos, LGBTQ, and Women to the City of Kingston through the years. The concept of the Kingston Revealed exhibition was developed by Mayor Noble and Council Majority Leader Rita Worthington as a part of the city’s ongoing 150th Anniversary celebrations, calling for an update to the artwork on display at City Hall.
“As we continue to celebrate Kingston’s 150th Anniversary, it will be an honor to not only witness the displays of artwork depicting the many contributions made by African Americans, Immigrants, and Indigenous Peoples in the corridors of City Hall, but to also educate by telling and retelling the story of our shared experience,” said Majority Leader Rita Worthington. “Nelson Mandela reminds us that ‘education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to the change the world.’ Kingston has a people steeped in history with the likes of Professor Benjamin Wigfall, migrant farm workers, Mexican laborers, Sojourner Truth, Catherine Nelson - the woman who helped build the Wurts Bridge, the unknown heroes buried at the Pine Street African Burial Ground, and more. Truly, there is no higher cause than honoring our struggle and ancestors by remembering and appreciating a past as a worthy legacy, which helped to inspire cultural pride in a contemporary world.”
Selected works will be displayed on the Ground Floor Gallery at City Hall from September through December, with an opening reception on Saturday, September 3, 2022. As the City of Kingston has several available spaces in municipal buildings, the City of Kingston will use American Rescue Plan Act funding from the Arts & Tourism category to compensate select artists at $750 for each piece of artwork that will be chosen for permanent display. Artists who submit work for this exhibition must indicate on the application form if they would like to be considered for permanent display to be considered.
Artists are invited to submit an artwork to in response to the theme and title Kingston Revealed via the online application or in person/by mail to the Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs, 420 Broadway, Kingston, NY, 12401 by August 1, 2022 at 4:30pm. Accepted work should be delivered to the Department of Art & Cultural Affairs no later than August 22nd.
Submissions should include the following to be considered:
- Image of the work
- A short bio and contact information
- A brief description of the work and how the theme Kingston Revealed inspired it
- Further details on specs are included in the online application
For further information or questions, please contact Kitt Potter, Director of Arts and Cultural Affairs at [email protected] or call 845.331.0800 ext.3929