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This September, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 300-member honor society championing and fostering excellence in American culture, is opening 10,000 square feet of space within its galleries to the public.
It’ll be within the Audubon Terrace complex of buildings on Broadway between West 155th and West 156th Streets and will come with a new curatorial program featuring solo exhibits, original commissions by contemporary artists and interdisciplinary events, according to an official press release.
"We are thrilled to open our doors to the public year-round and to create a place of welcome in Washington Heights," said executive director Cody Upton in an official statement. "Our new programming will bring together and inspire conversations between artistic disciplines."
The roster of on-site exhibitions will kick off with an individual show featuring the work of Christine Kozlov across four galleries inside the South Building. The North Gallery, on the other hand, will be taken over by a commissioned sound installation by composer Raven Chacon.
The spring calendar is already looking stacked as well, with photographer and filmmaker Elle Pérez and painter Teresa Baker scheduled to exhibit their works as well.
Overall, attendees can expect to walk through a significantly revamped Arts and Letters building complex. According to the press release, a slew of other updates will be carried out over the next three years as well.
In addition to the various scheduled events and exhibitions, the organization will also start offerings tours of its building come this September.
"Arts and Letters has a rare opportunity to not only offer extraordinary landmark buildings to artists in a city where space is a precious resource, but to share this space with the public," said architect Billie Tsien, also an Arts and Letters board member. "We believe this support is crucial to artistic flourishing and to encourage community across disciplines."
For those not familiar with the Washington Heights destination, the American Academy of Arts and Letters was founded back in 1898 across landmark buildings in Washington Heights, formed by a group of artists, architects, writers and others to "foster and sustain interest in the arts." Among the many members of the clan are writer and theater critic Hilton Als, musician Laurie Anderson, journalist and author Robert Caro, artist Cindy Sherman and painter Kara Walker.