Artists and Legacy

Artists and Legacy: A Symposium represents a collaborative effort between Judd Foundation, The Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum + The Philip Johnson Glass House. The Symposium was held at the Noguchi Museum on April 11, 2011. Made possible through a Partnership Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the event was organized to provide a forum for learning and exchange, primarily among artists, on the topic of artists' legacies. Representatives from the artist foundation community, arts organizations and museums also contributed to the panel discussions, roundtable discourse and spirit of the day.

Symposium Program + Artist Bios

Artists and Legacy: A Symposium

Over the past several years, the Directors of Judd Foundation, The Noguchi Museum and the Philip Johnson Glass House have met informally to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities they face as stewards to legacies of prominent figures in 20th century art, architecture and design. At the 2010 College Art Association meeting held in Chicago, these institutions hosted a panel discussion titled In Considering Legacy which called attention to the need for further discussion among artists on the challenges inherent to understanding future impact and in considering one's legacy.

Funded in part by a Partnership Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Artists and Legacy: A Symposium is intended to provide a forum for learning and exchange among the many voices of participants capable of informing and providing valuable insight on this topic.

Program Overview

Panel Discussion: From Estate to Institution: What We Wish We Had Known

Barbara Hunt McLanahan, Executive Director, Judd Foundation

Jenny Dixon, Director, The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum

Hunter Palmer, Director of Programs and Visitor Experience, The Philip Johnson Glass House

Luncheon and Roundtable Discussions

Beyond the Big Foundations: How Artists Plan for the Inevitable

Amy Sadao, E.D., Visual AIDS, interviews

Christine J. Vincent, Study Director, The Aspen Institute's National Study
of Artist-Endowed Foundations

Artist Panel Discussion: Thinking About Legacy

Yvonne Jacquette

Joan Jonas

Joel Shapiro

Fred Wilson

Synthesis by Liam Gillick

Both panel discussions moderated by Dorothy Dunn, Director, America: Now and Here

Acknowledgements

Beyond the panelists, moderators and all participants, we wish to thank the following individuals for their participation serving as roundtable discussion hosts: Alberta Arthurs; Susan Batton; Jack Cowart; Rainer Judd; Susanne Pandich; Amy Sadao; Ellen Salpeter; John Smith; Rena Zurofsky

Additional thanks to Will Martin, video production

Next Steps: Artist Residency

The Noguchi Foundation, Judd Foundation, and the Philip Johnson Glass House are exploring ways to work together to honor the legacies of their founders and the physical spaces they support, designed by Isamu Noguchi, Donald Judd, and Philip Johnson respectively. To this end we undertook a feasibility study to consider a new kind of artist’s residency, a collaborative program that could offer artists unique time, access to three inspirational and visionary places—The Noguchi Museum complex in Long Island City, NY; the Donald Judd spaces in Marfa, TX; and Philip Johnson’s iconic Glass House and grounds in New Canaan, CT—and financial support.

Feedback was collected through an online survey conducted after the Symposium took place, which we consider vital in helping us to consider the creation of an exceptional residency program, one that would be worthy of association with these artists' legacies and highly regarded among contemporary artists.

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This symposium represents a collaborative effort between Judd Foundation, The Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum and the Philip Johnson Glass House. Artists and Legacy: A Symposium was made possible by a partnership grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.