Ida Applebroog, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Christopher d’Amboise, and Lynn Nottage to be Inducted into NYFA Hall of Fame
Applebroog, Cooper Cafritz, d’Amboise, and Nottage will be celebrated on April 4, 2017 at NYFA’s annual benefit.
NYFA is celebrating the induction of these four arts
luminaries into its Hall of Fame during its annual benefit on Tuesday,
April 4, 2017, at 583 Park Avenue. The
glamorous ticketed event will begin with cocktails and art installations at
6:30 PM, with a dinner and awards presentation to follow.
On the inductees, feminist visual
arts advocate and NYFA Board Chair Judith K. Brodsky said:
“I’m thrilled that NYFA is honoring Ida Applebroog, a fearless artist and
feminist art heroine; Lynn Nottage, whose powerful, visionary work has just hit
Broadway; Peggy Cooper Cafritz, for her tireless championing of African American artists; and Christopher d’Amboise, a
brilliant choreographer whose work continues the
tradition of excellence started by his father, Jacques.”
The event recognizes the sustained achievements of artists who received early career support from NYFA and the vision and commitment of enlightened patrons of the arts. Applebroog, d’Amboise, and Nottage are all past recipients of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship, which are individual unrestricted grants made to artists who are living and working in New York State. These fellowships are not project grants, but are intended to fund an artist’s vision regardless of the level of their artistic development.
“The NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship program has been a significant source of support for artists of all disciplines for more than 30 years,” said Michael L. Royce, Executive Director, NYFA. “We’re proud of the creative contributions our Fellows have made, and are honored to be part of their story,” he added.
Ida Applebroog (Fellow in Graphics ‘86, Painting ‘90) is a
pioneering artist of the feminist movement whose work explores themes of
violence and power, gender politics, women’s sexuality, and domestic space
using images that are at once beguiling and disturbing. Her work has been shown
in many solo exhibitions at museums and galleries in the United States and
abroad, and it resides in the permanent collections of the Whitney Museum of
American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art,
among others. Applebroog will be featured in an eponymous show at Hauser &
Wirth London from May 19-July 29, 2017.
Peggy Cooper Cafritz, Patron of the Arts and former President of the District of Columbia
Board of Education, is known for championing contemporary and emerging African
American artists, with The New York Times
describing her collection as a “mash-up of the best of what you might find in a
group show at the Studio Museum in Harlem, PS1, and the Jack Shainman Gallery
in Chelsea.” Her dual passions for art and education led her to co-found the
Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington D.C., now one of the premiere
arts high schools in the country. Among her many other achievements, she has helped
bring greater racial and cultural diversity to the Smithsonian’s professional
ranks, exhibitions, and educational programs as former Co-Chair for the
Smithsonian Institution’s Cultural Equity Committee.
Christopher d’Amboise (Fellow in Choreography ‘89) was born into a family of dancers and has had many careers:
dancers, choreographer, playwright, director, and educator. As Principal dancer
with the New York City Ballet, d’Amboise worked closely with George Balanchine
and Jerome Robbins, originating works as well as performing major repertoire. His
work has been recognized by some of the industry’s top honors, including a Tony
nomination for “Best Featured Actor in a Musical” in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Song and Dance, and a Helen Hayes Award
for “Outstanding Choreography in a Play” for the Olney Theater’s production of Colossal. He is currently at Moving
Story, a production company he founded that supports innovative dance-driven
projects, as well as Heritage Professor at George Mason University in Fairfax,
VA.
Lynn Nottage (Fellow in Playwriting/Screenwriting ’94, ’00) is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter whose plays have been produced
widely and throughout the world. Her latest play, Sweat, opened on March 26 on Broadway after a sold-out run at
The Public Theater and wide critical praise. The play, which some see as a
timely reflection of America’s current political state, is based on extensive
interviews conducted with blue-collar people in the factory town of Reading, PA
whose livelihoods have been affected by the decline in American manufacturing.
Nottage was recognized with a Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Ruined and is a past recipient of the MacArthur ‘Genius Award’ among
many other honors. She is Co-Founder of the production company Market Road
Films and is an Associate Professor in the Theater Department at Columbia
University School of the Arts.
Past NYFA Awardees include James Casebere, Anna Deavere Smith, Faith Ringgold, Zhou Long, Junot Diaz, Yvonne Rainer, Spike Lee, Ross Bleckner, Errol Morris, David Hammons, Terry McMillan, Christian Marclay, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Andes Serrano. Find out more about NYFA’s Hall of Fame Benefit by clicking here.
The benefit’s sponsors and donors include Agnes Gund, Hauser & Wirth, Judith K. Brodsky, Louise Gund, J. Whitney Stevens, Stuart Thompson, and Lynda Logan.
