June 6, 2023
Art Omi Announces New Initiative: Art Omi Pavilions @ Chatham with $5 Million Grant from The New York State Council on the Arts
Taken from
Art Omi announces the development of Art Omi Pavilions (Pavilions) in Chatham, New York, a 190-acre site that will invite visitors to explore 12 to 18 individual Pavilions that will display legacy stand-alone exhibitions of highly distinguished artists and collectors who will showcase their work in a setting that they control and design.
These Pavilions will be part of a larger art center, including a visitor center and rotating exhibition Pavilion, which will provide cultural context, museological standards, and visitor services. The existing Art Omi arts center in Ghent has extensive year-round arts education programming for students, and the Art Omi Pavilions project will include an expansion of the Art Omi education program in the form of a separate dedicated education wing in the visitor’s center. The visitor experience of self-guided exploration will be informed by the landscape of woodlands, meadows, and 360-degree Hudson Valley views, intermingled with unique built structures by world-class architects, all activated by dynamic artworks. It is an innovative, singular concept in the art world that seeks to serve the need for self-realized legacy for artists and collectors by addressing the challenge of preserving the aesthetic coherence of an artist’s oeuvre or collection.
“When distinguished artists and important collectors donate or sell groups of artwork to museums, their art is almost always absorbed and dispersed with the museum’s collection, losing the creative vision, spirit, and holistic ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ qualities that distinguish a body of work created or assembled from a singular point-of-view over a lifetime,” stated Francis Greenburger, founder of Art Omi. “At The Pavilions, we will preserve these qualities in an inclusive and sustainable natural landscape. It is my hope that the project will serve to advance the legacy and collective power of creative expression from leading artists, architects, and collectors.”
Pavilions received a $5 million grant from The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) as part of their Capital Projects Fund Awards which was recently announced in a press conference by Governor Kathy Hochul.
“From New York City to the North Country, we are investing in our state’s robust arts and culture sector to ensure all New Yorkers, regardless of their background, have access to the transformative power of art,” Governor Hochul said. “Our unprecedented support for this shared vision of accessible and sustainable cultural spaces will result in a stronger economy, more jobs, and improved community and personal health for New Yorkers and our visitors from around the globe.”
This showcases NYSCA’s continued support in arts education, the visual, literary, media, and performing arts throughout New York and in underserved communities. NYSCA’s sizeable grant to Pavilions is a rousing endorsement of the bustling cultural ecosystem of the Upper Hudson Valley and Art Omi’s central role in shaping its continued evolution.
At The Pavilions, up to 18 artists and collectors will be invited to create their own Pavilions, or mini-museum buildings. The artists and collectors will control the vision and design of their individual Pavilions in collaboration with architects of their choice. The structures, which will have a total footprint of no more than 5,700 square feet, will dot the stunning hilltop landscape in a rural area of northern Columbia County.