Video documentation of the April 3, 2021 (7 – 8:00 PM EST) celebration of 45th Anniversary, 45th Anniversary Sapphire Soirée presented by Franklin Furnace.
Recorded on Zoom, edited by Yoon Cho, 2020 Fall Intern.
Franklin Furnace Archive celebrated its 45th Anniversary with a free public online party announcing new members of its Board of Directors and the launch of its new website and digital Loft for live presentations. The public was invited to meet members of Franklin Furnace’s Board of Directors, Visionary Committee, and Staff, join a guided tour of our new website, and have a slice or three of virtual cake.
On April 3, 2021 Franklin Furnace invited the public to a free online event marking the 45th anniversary of founder Martha Wilson’s 1976 decision to take it upon herself to create an avenue for underserved artists who specialize in time-based art forms, including performance art, artists books, installation, and unforeseen contemporary avant-garde art forms.
As part of its pledge to better represent the communities it serves, Franklin Furnace’s Board of Directors has invited three new members to join its ranks, Juan Aruego, an Earnings Editor for CNBC; Pablo Helguera, the multidisciplinary artist behind the public art project and think-tank “The School of Panamerican Unrest;” and Carole Naggar, a writer and Series Editor for the Magnum Photos Legacy Biography Series. With their varied backgrounds, the incoming Board members will work on the organization’s mission to identify and amplify peripheral artistic voices. Ricardo Miranda Zúñiga, Chair, says, “As human life in the United States has entirely been commodified, existence financialized, and an underbelly of racism has reared its ugly head, Franklin Furnace’s support of emerging creative voices that perform toward an equitable future and are global in scope is more important than ever.”
The new website www.FranklinFurnace.org designed and built by Program Manager Arantxa Araujo and a cohort of university interns, aims for a cleaner look, improved navigability, and features the LOFT, our new virtual space providing artists with a worldwide platform on which to present avant-garde works of art.
Franklin Furnace strives to create an all-accepting, ever-growing, and ever-morphing community. We hew to the margins and remain determined to sing the polyvocal songs of the unsung; to support artists left out of the mainstream due to various marginalities; to address hot-button topics such as race, gender, ability, economics, equity, and justice; and to present to the world the abundance of art and culture represented within our archives.
Franklin Furnace Archive gratefully acknowledges the recent generous funding and in-kind support it has received from: Milton and Sally Avery Arts Foundation, Frances and Benjamin Benenson Foundation, Chris Dewey, Jerome Foundation, Herman Liebmann Foundation, Humanities New York, The National Endowment for the Arts, The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council and Materials for the Arts, New York City Council District 35 and Majority Leader Laurie A. Cumbo, The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, Pine Tree Foundation of New York, Pratt Institute, Resnicow + Associates, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Teiger Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding and Franklin Furnace’s loyal Board of Directors, Visionaries, Members and Friends.
