The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is
delighted to announce that the
recipients of this year’s Cultural
Leadership Awards are collectors and
philanthropists Charles and Valerie
Diker and artist William
Wegman. The awards will be
presented at the AFA’s annual gala by
Alice Walton, Chairwoman of the Board of
the Crystal Bridges Museum of American
Art, and Jeff Rosenheim, Curator in
Charge of the Department of Photography
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The
event will take place on October
26 at the Metropolitan Club in
New York City. Proceeds benefit the
distinguished exhibitions toured to
museums nationwide by the American
Federation of Arts.
“The incredible generosity of Mr. and
Mrs. Diker in donating their vast
collection of Native American art to The
Metropolitan Museum of Art exemplifies a
strong commitment to making art both
accessible and comprehensive. Such an
initiative is remarkable in its
potential to foster engagement and
understanding. Mr. Wegman’s ability to
move fluidly and successfully through
various media creates a dialogue around
illusion and intention. In particular,
his paintings incorporate a sense of
humor while challenging expectations of
space,” said AFA Director Pauline
Willis.
Over the past forty years, Charles and Valerie
Diker have assembled one of the
most renowned and comprehensive private
collections of Native American art. In
2015, selections from their esteemed
holdings were featured in the AFA
exhibition, Indigenous Beauty:
Masterworks of American Indian Art from
the Diker Collection. By gifting
over one hundred works from diverse
traditions and aesthetic forms to The
Metropolitan Museum of Art, the couple
is helping to address a significant gap
in the museum’s collection. It is
certain that the couple’s generous gift
will fuel greater recognition and
appreciation of Native American art and
artists, and help them gain entrance
into a wider understanding of American
art. The Dikers have long been prominent
leaders in the arts. They are founding
co-chairs of the National Museum of the
American Indian’s George Gustav Heye
Center, and Mr. Diker is a generous
supporter of the Harvard Art Museums and
also serves as a trustee of the Solomon
R. Guggenheim Foundation.
William Wegman is a
photographer, painter, and writer who
first became known for the pioneering
video work he created in Los Angeles in
the 1970s. He received a BA from
Massachusetts College of Art, Boston and
an MFA from the University of Illinois,
Champaign-Urbana. Since the early 1970s,
his work has been exhibited at galleries
and museums internationally, including
such important exhibitions of conceptual
art as When Attitudes Become Form at
Kunsthalle Bern in 1969 and
retrospectives of his work which toured
museums in Europe and the US including
the Centre Pompidou, the Walker Art
Center, and the Whitney Museum of
American Art. He is probably best known
for his work with Weimaraners, a
collaboration which began with his dog
Man Ray in 1971 and which continues to
this day. He has created numerous books
for adults and children and he and his
dogs have appeared on Sesame Street, Saturday
Night Live, David Letterman, Charlie
Rose and The Tonight Show.
Recent projects include the book William
Wegman: Being Human (Thames and
Hudson/Chronicle), and William
Wegman: Dressed and Undressed, an
exhibition surveying over thirty years
of his photographic work.
The AFA Cultural Leadership Awards are
given annually to an artist, museum
leader, or philanthropist in recognition
of their outstanding contributions to
the art community. Previous recipients
have included: Marina Abramović, Sheikh
Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Rosa &
Carlos de la Cruz, Milton Esterow, Frank
Gehry, Wade Guyton, Arnold Lehman,
Wengechi Mutu, Shirin Neshat, Roy
Neuberger, Sarah Sze, Eugene V. Thaw,
Alice Walton, and Kehinde Wiley.
For tickets to the 2017 AFA Gala &
Cultural Leadership Awards, please
contact Kristin Sarli at
ksarli@amfedarts.org or
212.988.7700 x 209.
About the American Federation of
Arts
The American Federation of Arts is the
leader in traveling exhibitions
internationally. A nonprofit
organization founded in 1909, the AFA is
dedicated to enriching the public’s
experience and understanding of the
visual arts through organizing and
touring art exhibitions for presentation
in museums around the world, publishing
exhibition catalogues featuring
important scholarly research, and
developing educational programs. For
more information about the AFA, visit
www.amfedarts.org |
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