ArtsWestchester Expands Services to Artists
ArtsWestchester Expands Services to Artists with First Janet Langsam Vault Project Commission Inside its Mosler Vault
White Plains, NY (October 7, 2024) —The inaugural art installation of the Janet Langsam Vault Project opens to the public on October 18th in ArtsWestchester’s historic downtown arts center. Sound Forest/Memory Cave by Bruce Odland and Soli Pierce is the first commission of many thanks to a new artist grant program named in honor of Janet Langsam, ArtsWestchester’s former CEO and CEO Emerita.
The commission is a site-responsive, immersive work of art created for the interior of ArtsWestchester’s Mosler Safe Company vault, the focal point of the gallery. During Arts-Westchester’s initial renovation of the building in 2000, the vault was converted into a discreet 168 sq. ft. gallery within a gallery, ideal for promoting intimate experiences with outstanding works of art.
The Janet Langsam Vault Project is founded on the belief that artists are visionaries who advance social change on both a micro and macro level. The Vault Project seeks to create an opportunity for artists to experiment, expand their practice, and have their voices heard. Support of individual artists has always been at the core of the ArtsWestchester mission. Through this new program, ArtsWestchester will provide annual funding for artists to conceptualize and realize site-responsive installations for the vault which also engage with important topics in the community.
Of the project, Langsam says, “as vaults traditionally hold objects of high value, this space will be a permanent venue for artists to create, explore, and contribute to meaningful conversations. It is meant to elevate the intrinsic value of the arts beyond the marketplace.”
Odland and Pierce’s Sound Forest/Memory Cave transforms the vault at ArtsWestchester into a dream-like, cave-like environment. Soundscapes, images, light, sculpture, vibration and tactile surfaces all combine to evoke deep memories, respect, wonder and connection with the natural world. Portals of wood and light combine with a canopy of leaf speakers, vibrations from a tree trunk subwoofer, and sculptural elements that speak in the language of wind and water. The piece is a celebration of deep listening that expands our circle of empathy for the real word and is a meditation onour relationship to natural elements. The installation will be on view in conjunction with the exhibition Futures through January 12, 2025. For more information, contact Debbie Scates at [email protected] or 914.428.4220 x315.
About ArtsWestchester
Founded in 1965, ArtsWestchester is New York State’s largest private not-for-profit arts council. The leading funder and advocate for the arts in Westchester and Rockland Counties, ArtsWestchester works to create an equitable, inclusive, vibrant and sustainable community in which the arts are integral to and integrated into every facet of life. Building on its 60-year legacy, ArtsWestchester advances arts and culture by providing grants, bringing artists into schools and community centers, advocating for the arts, and building audiences through diverse marketing initiatives. ArtsWestchester enriches the lives of everyone in the community and operates a multi-use gallery and home for the arts at 31 Mamaroneck Ave. in White Plains, New York.