Re-imagining A Safe Space

Opening Reception

Thursday, October 26, 2017 | 6-8pm 

Riese Lounge | Tisch School of the Arts | 721 Broadway, 1st Floor

Exhibition runs through January 13, 2018 at the Gulf + Western Gallery, 721 Broadway, Lobby and 8th Floor.

Re-imagining A Safe Space, co-curated by Deborah Willis and Melissa Harris, is the second in a series of two exhibitions in partnership with The Nathan Cummings Foundation. It will be installed in the Gulf + Western Gallery (1st floor rear lobby) and the 8th Floor Gallery at 721 Broadway (at Waverly Place) and will remain on view through January 13, 2018.

Safe space––as a concept, phrase and reality (or not)—currently dominates so many of our conversations. Events over the past year have forced college campuses to wrestle, both in and outside of the classroom, with some of the most difficult issues of our generation––with varying degrees of success. We’ve asked: how can today's college campuses––long considered and celebrated as protected spaces for self-expression, for activism, for questioning––continue to foster an environment of critical, intellectual, and creative dialogue in such a polarized moment in our nation’s history. We know that the topics being discussed, or the discussions themselves, may at times be painful, and may even intensify feelings of alienation, of otherness, so how do we create a space where this, too, may be addressed? How do we encourage engagement—given the intrinsic “risks” of laying oneself, one’s beliefs on the line?  How do we discourage institutional or self-censorship, even when we know that in an intellectually open environment, ideas may be expressed that could offend someone, albeit unintentionally?

This exhibition looks closely at the ever-changing notions and manifestations of, and challenges to safe spaces. Re-imagining A Safe Space explores the workplace, daycare, classrooms, clubs, the home, public spaces among many other presumably safe spaces. The project also suggests some very basic questions, such as:  is it our “right,” as family members, friends, colleagues, students, community members, citizens… to feel safe?

The Fall exhibition will include works by 28 photographers, video artists, and visual artists: Mangue Banzima, Martin Bell & Mary Ellen Mark, Nina Berman, Zoë Buckman, Cause Collective (Ryan Alexiev, Jim Ricks, Will Sylvester, Hank Willis Thomas), Elizabeth Colomba, Bruce Davidson, Bryan Denton, Erika deVries, Wendy Ewald, Donna Ferrato, Samara Gaev, Caran Hartsfield, Lili Holzer-Glier, Jessica Ingram, Austin Irving, Michael Koehler, Barbara Kruger, Zoraida Lopez-Diago, Lorie Novak, Gordon Parks, John Francis Peters, Mark Peterson, Alice Proujansky, Safe Spaces Collective (Myles Golden, Nathaniel Palmer, Mallika Vora), Scheherazade Tillet, Sophia Tsanos, Danny Wilcox Frazier, and David Wojnarowicz

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays, and noon to 5 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free. Photo identification is required for access to the building. For more information, visit http://tisch.nyu.edu/photo or call 212.998.1930.

The opening will be on Thursday, October 26, 2017 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM with a panel discussion and reception to follow.

6pm – Opening Reception

7pm – Panel Discussion
           Jessica Ingram, photographer/moderator
           Mangue Banzima, photographer        
           Nina Berman, photographer
           Sandrine Colard, Assistant Professor Faculty/Fellow, NYU DPI
           Wendy Ewald, photographer
           Samara Gaev, Director, Truthworker Theatre Company    
           Michael Ralph, Associate Professor, NYU SCA
           Scheherazade Tillett, co-founder, A Long Walk Home
           Austin Irving, Artist

The Department of Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts is a four-year B.F.A. program centered on the making and understanding of images. Students explore photo-based imagery as personal and cultural expression. Situated within New York University, the program offers students both the intensive focus of an arts curriculum and a serious and broad grounding in the liberal arts.

The Nathan Cummings Foundation is rooted in the Jewish tradition and committed to democratic values and social justice, including fairness, diversity, and community. We seek to build a socially and economically just society that values nature and protects the ecological balance for future generations; promotes humane health care; and fosters arts and culture that enriches communities.