ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y.—The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College (CCS Bard) will present its tenth annual Award for Curatorial Excellence to Alanna Heiss, founder and executive director of P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, and one of New York’s legendary and groundbreaking exhibition makers. Heiss’s bold and innovative efforts over more than thirty years have left an indelible mark on the cultural landscape of New York City. She was selected by a panel of leading critics, curators, art experts, and alumni/ae on behalf of CCS Bard.
Each year the Center for Curatorial Studies celebrates the individual achievements of a leading curator or curators whose lasting contributions have shaped the way we conceive of exhibition-making today. Past recipients of the award include Harald Szeemann (1998), Marcia Tucker (1999), Kasper König (2000), Paul Schimmel (2001), Suzanne Ghez (2002), Kynaston McShine (2003), Walter Hopps (2004), Kathy Halbreich and Mari Carmen Ramírez (2005), and Lynne Cooke and Vasif Kortun (2006). This award reflects the Center’s commitment to recognizing individuals who have defined new thinking, bold vision, and dedicated service to the field of exhibition practice. The formal presentation of the award by Agnes Gund, president of the Museum of Modern Art, will be made at a gala dinner on May 2 at Gotham Hall (1356 Broadway at 36th Street) in New York City.
Alanna Heiss has curated and organized more than 700 exhibitions at P.S.1 and beyond. Recognizing New York as a worldwide magnet for contemporary artists, and believing that traditional museums did not provide adequate exhibition opportunities for site-specific art, Heiss decided to establish a formal alternative arts organization. In 1971, she and critic Brendan Gill founded the Institute for Art and Urban Resources. By 1976, the Institute had concentrated its activities in two facilities: P.S.1 Museum (now P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center) in Long Island City, and the Clocktower Gallery in Lower Manhattan. The Clocktower has become a legendary alternative exhibition space; its distinctive location in the sky near City Hall has made it an iconic site for solo exhibitions. In 2004, the Clocktower became home to Art Radio WPS1.org, the world’s first Internet-based art radio station.
Rooms, the seminal 1976 inaugural exhibition at P.S.1, laid the foundation for future installation exhibitions. Other definitive exhibitions at P.S.1 include New York, New Wave (1981) and Stalin’s Choice: Soviet Socialist Realism, 1932–1956 (1993). Heiss is also recognized for her long-standing commitment to solo exhibitions, from Robert Grosvenor (1976) and Dennis Oppenheim (1992) to Alex Katz: Under the Stars, American Landscapes1951–1995 (1998) and John Wesley: Paintings 1961–2000 (2000). Heiss served as commissioner of the 1986 American Pavilion at the Venice Biennial (Isamu Noguchi, curated by Henry Geldzahler) and was a commissioner of the 1985 Paris Biennial and chief curator of Tribute for John Cage, organized for the 1993 Venice Biennial.