New York Art

A Conversation on Supporting Artists and Taking Risks with NYC Culture Club’s Parker Calvert

By Alexandra Goldman

Pictured above: NYCCC 2nd Annual Benefit. Photo by Casey Kelbaugh/CKA and Ilya Savenok/CKA.

This article was originally published in Cultbytes.

Brothers Parker and Clayton Calvert, founders of NYC’s Culture Club (a 501c3 art nonprofit with a brick-and-mortar gallery component) do not only create and curate art; they curate people—warm, kind, and intelligent people spanning all areas of the art world from artists, to curators, to dealers, to critics, to auctioneers. For their spring benefit, a community of three hundred guests and committee members rallied around the Calverts and the NYC Culture Club to support their cause at 7 World Trade Center. I felt lucky to be in attendance this year; vibes were high.

The evening’s honorees were the author, curator, art critic, activist, and NYU professor Dr. Nicole Fleetwood, and the artist and educator teaching between New York and Florence, Italy, Salvatore Catalano. The benefit featured a silent auction and a live auction led by auctioneer Ruth Maudlin with work by fifteen artists Enzo Barracco, Gabe Aiello, John Black, Michael De Feo, Michael Sadowsky, Minku Kim, Michela Roman, Hope Buzzelli, Djordje Skendzic, David Hollier, Cavier Coleman, Faustin Adeniran, Michael Sadowsky, Ricardo Arango, and Natasha Blodgett. The auction lots looked beautiful against the backdrop of the New York City skyline from the fortieth floor.

Guests danced to a DJ set by Timo Weiland, and plentiful servings of champagne and caviar from brilliantly appointed sponsors Billecart-Salmon Champagne and Kaviari Caviar were enjoyed. In light of the success of the event, I sat down with Parker Calvert for an interview to discuss NYC Culture Club’s upcoming plans.

Parker Calvert New York Culture Club NYCCC
NYCCC 2nd Annual Benefit. (L to R Dr. Nicole Fleetwood, Parker Calvert). Photo by Casey Kelbaugh/CKA and Ilya Savenok/CKA.

Alexandra Goldman: In your opinion, what is particularly important about nonprofits like New York City Culture Club right now, especially considering the current political climate and budget cuts affecting the arts?

Parker Calvert: Nonprofits like ours are critical to providing opportunities to artists and curators that otherwise don’t exist. Too often in the art world, the commercial viability of shows keeps certain exhibitions from being put on. This lack of risk-taking means lots of rotating exhibitions with established and already renowned artists. We believe that creating space where artists come together, regardless of if a show can sell out or not, creates organic opportunities for connection and discovery. This is even more important now than ever as the arts have been attacked at the highest level.

How did the idea to found the NYCCC nonprofit come about?

Clayton and I founded NYCCC during the pandemic, when we saw artists leaving NYC and empty retail locations. We felt like this project would be a great chance to contribute back to the NYC cultural scene by creating a community hub for talented artists, without the commercial pressures of having a sellout show.

Could you share some of your favorite recent artist-related highlights or success stories from your work with the organization?

Many of the artists we have exhibited have gone on to join great residency programs, exhibit in major galleries and have their work collected into major institutions. Rather than highlight specific artists, I think it would be great to note that many of the artists we have exhibited have gone on to residencies at Silver Art Projects, gotten their MFA’s at New York Academy of Art, taught at Pratt and Columbia, and exhibited with Jeffrey Deitch and Gagosian.

What are your plans for NYCCC in the coming year and in the longer term?

We plan to continue exhibition programming in more spaces, as well as to offer more residency opportunities. We love to connect the dots and bring together our community of artists—which at this point comprise more than 500 artists exhibited. We would love to continue to foster career development and help guide emerging artists in their careers.

New York Culture Club NYCCC
NYCCC 2nd Annual Benefit. Photo by Casey Kelbaugh/CKA and Ilya Savenok/CKA.

In what specific ways are you looking forward to using the funds raised at the benefit to support artists in your community?

We plan to spend the funds raised on our operational budget. We have a very lean structure, as Clayton and I have volunteered for the last four years. Our budget is devoted to exhibition expenses and staffing exhibitions.

How can people view work by NYCCC artists this summer, and what are some ways they can continue to support the organization throughout the year?

We are focusing on our artists basketball tournament, Ball for Art, which features artists, gallerists, and art dealers playing basketball to support five arts nonprofits. This game is free and open to the public. All funds raised go directly to supporting: NYC Culture Club, ArtNoir, Silver Art Projects, Artolution, and ArtsConnection. Our exhibitions are on a summer break as we find a new gallery space. We will have more programming in place as soon as our next space is squared away.

What keeps you inspired and motivated in your work with NYCCC?

Seeing the direct impact of our programming both on the artists and the general public is very rewarding. We have seen many artists who needed a boost at just the right time to persevere through this difficult climate. It is very meaningful to be a part of a bigger NYC art community—especially in a way that values art for the creativity and expression, and not just the market value. We are actively seeking more ways to engage our community of artists, to create opportunities, and to spread the power of art.

More Photos from the Benefit

Chellis Baird Josh Campbell New York Culture Club NYCCC
NYCCC 2nd Annual Benefit. (L to R Chellis Baird, Josh Campbell). Photo by Casey Kelbaugh/CKA and Ilya Savenok/CKA.
Jason Wallace, Jamel Robinson, New York Culture Club NYCCC
NYCCC 2nd Annual Benefit. (L to R Jason Wallace, Jamel Robinson). Photo by Casey Kelbaugh/CKA and Ilya Savenok/CKA.
NYCCC 2nd Annual Benefit. (L to R Vajra Kingsley, Erica Boginsky, Esther Park). Photo by Casey Kelbaugh/CKA and Ilya Savenok/CKA.
Tariku Shiferaw
NYCCC 2nd Annual Benefit. (L to R Anwarii Musa, Aiza Ahmed, Tariku Shiferaw). Photo by Casey Kelbaugh/CKA and Ilya Savenok/CKA.

Alexandra Goldman Talks To Judy Rifka About Ionic Ironic: Mythos from the ‘80s at CORE:Club and the Inexistence of “Feminist Art”

Above Image: Judy Rifka, IN SITU, Parthenon Frieze (History of Sculpture), 1987, Acrylic with ink on linen, 30 x 24 in

Original article published in Whitehot Magazine 

By ALEXANDRA GOLDMAN, Feb. 2019

I recently attended a panel at the CORE:Club with Judy Rifka, where I’d curated the fall exhibition. I’d never met Rifka before nor seen her speak but now that I have, I will never forget her captivating candid presence.

 If you don’t yet know Rifka’s work, she is an historically relevant painter, video artist, sculptor and print maker who rose in the New York Colab and Fluxus scenes in the 1970s and ‘80s with resume highlights including two Whitney Biennials, Documenta 7, and the 1980 Times Square Art Show.  In reading up on her in prior interviews I found it personally interesting that some of her abstract painting compositions were actually inspired by translational dance movements as she herself was studying dance. In the Fluxus period there were several artists combining ideas of dance and sculpture like Simone Forti but I hadn’t known of as many artists conceptually translating dance movement to painting.

When Rifka spoke, I felt like I was being taken on an unapologetic beeline journey into her psyche that gave me a loving slap when I arrived and left me wanting to come back for more. Around Judy, I knew I was in the presence of greatness.

Judy Rifka, IN SITU (L to R) UNTITLED, Acrylic with ink on linen 30 x 24 in & Parthenon Frieze (History of Sculpture), 1987, Acrylic with ink on linen, 30 x 24 in

The panel celebrated the release of the book, 50 Contemporary Women Artists, a volume comprising a refined selection of current and impactful artists in which Rifka is included. I admire the research conducted by John Gosslee and Heather Zises to compile the book. The foreword is by Elizabeth Sackler of the Brooklyn Museum’s Sackler Cernter for Feminist Art. Additional names in the book include sculptor and carver Barbara Segal and mixed media artist Stephanie Hirsch (selected artists on the CORE:Club panel), as well as Judy Chicago, and Teresita Fernandez, the first Latina woman to be appointed to the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts (an appointment decided by President Obama in 2011).

A solo exhibition of Rifka’s 1980s History of Sculpture acrylic abstract paintings was on view in an adjoining gallery space to the panel. The show is called Ionic Ironic: Mythos from the ‘80s presented by CORE:Club and LatchKey Gallery with support from Gregory de la Haba and will remain on view until March 29, 2019.

To kick off the evening, one of the first things Rifka said on the panel, when asked about the status of feminist art was, “I don’t know if there is such a thing as feminist art, but I believe that surviving being a woman and continuing to make art is feminist.”

In the following interview, Alexandra Goldman (Artifactoid) sits down with Rifka to continue to dig deeper into her ideas about gender dynamics in the art world in 2019.

Judy Rifka, IN SITU (L to R) Samothrace Frieze I, 1988, Acrylic on linen 36 x 132 in Labords Head I, 1988, Acrylic on linen, 30 1/4 x 24 in & Samothrace Frieze III, 1988, Acrylic on linen 36 x 132 in

Alexandra Goldman: What do you see as the main problem today of gender inequality in the art world?

Judy Rifka: The main problem is that everyone is left out, not just women. But that is, of course based on a general qualification on museums and galleries, and auction values. If you want to change the definition of what “is” is, to perhaps, networking posts in toto, it would democratize.

AG: What is something about gender dynamics in the art world that you see clearly only through your own experience?

JR: My own experience is that leaving female artists out , or treating them shabbily ruins the aggregate of visible art, and its historical and theoretical study.

AG: At the Core Club panel, you began to speak about an idea you had for a redistribution of funds: that when a work by a male artist sells for, as you humorously put it, “godzillions” of dollars, that a few of those godzillions should be allocated to a fund that supports development for women artists. Can you expand on this idea and how you see it playing out?

JR: If you have any interest or knowledge of John Rawls, A Theory of Justice (1971), “He is widely considered the most important political philosopher of the 20th century),” according to the Encyclopedia Brittanica.

Judy Rifka, IN SITU(L to R) Acroterion in Grey, Acrylic on linen 72 x 47 in & Acroterion in Taupe, Acrylic on linen 72 x 47 in

You can understand a guiding principal that has at times been applied to even up the inequities in inclusion of people of color into numerous spheres.  It helped kickstart the elimination of a longtime series of inequalities in the playing field, which had seriously hindered their furthering of themselves to inclusion in our economy. That is affirmative action: a no-nonsense, this starts here, corrective.

I can see no reason, now that statistics bear us out, why women’s inclusion into a lopsided world of art pricing cannot then be facilitated, by redistributing a portion of those huge profits to women’s art institutions, and projects. It is not appropriate to simply shrug off these inequalities.

AG:  Have you thought of any additional, unique ideas for leveling the playing field?

JR: Oh, I have.

AG: It’s known you’re interested in social media for sharing your artwork and studio practice. Are there some specific ways in which you’ve thought of utilizing social media to accomplish goals of furthering gender equity in the art world, apart from how they’re already helping democratize through the possibility of self-representation and heightened visibility?

JR: You have said it.  How bout considering the aggregate of Social Media, or even Internet in general, as the art form itself.

Judy Rifka, Acroterion in Grey, Acrylic on linen, 72 x 47 in & detail of Acroterion in Grey

AG:  Is there something you think that young artists (they don’t necessarily have to be women) today should know, that you wish you had known when you were starting out, that may be able to somehow benefit the future of the art world?

JR: What is the art world? Needs definition, a new one.

AG: How do you think the art world should be defined?

JR: Probably should say “art worlds“ at this point, any networking of art and its ideas, works, and practices.

AG: Will you add me as your Facebook friend? 

JR: I’m at 5000 limit, but I will add you ASAP somehow. WM