Jane Dickson and Julie Heffernan, moderated by Eugenie Tsai, imagine changes to the current art ecosystem that could empower artists.About this Event
In keeping with the ethos of the National Academy of Design, an institution founded by and for artists, Artist-Centric will highlight Jane Dickson and Julie Heffernan, two New York-based artists taking part in Shelter from the Storm, organized by National Academicians Polly Apfelbaum and Stan Allen.
In a conversation moderated by Eugenie Tsai, New York-based curator and writer, Dickson and Heffernan will discuss their works on view in the exhibition as well as imagining changes to the current art ecosystem that could further empower artists.
RESERVATIONS: Admission is free but reservations are required.
ACCESSIBILITY: This venue is fully accessible to wheelchairs. To request free ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation or CART (Communication Access Real-Time Translation) captioning service, email your request at least three weeks in advance of the event to [email protected].
About the Speakers
Jane Dickson makes paintings and drawings that explore the psychogeography of American culture. Working figuratively from her own photographic snapshots, especially of New York’s Times Square, where she lived for nearly thirty years, Dickson portrays strip clubs, diners, motels, sex workers, and their seemingly straight-laced foils: suburban homes, driveways, and businessmen. Using oils and acrylic on canvas and linen alongside a range of atypical surfaces such as vinyl, felt, astroturf, and sandpaper, she achieves impressionistic textures that often blur her subjects in hazes of neon and darkness. Dickson lives in New York.
Julie Heffernan is an American painter whose artwork has been described by Rebecca Solnit as a new kind of history painting. She received her MFA from Yale School of Art. Heffernan's graphic novel, Babe in the Woods, or the Art of Getting Lost was named Best Fiction of 2024 by Bookpage. She is the founder and co-editor of the blog Painters on Paintings. Heffernan was awarded numerous grants including a Fulbright, an NEA, and a NYFA Fellowship. Her paintings were exhibited in the Reception Room at the Chilean Embassy during the Biden Administration. Heffernan has had more than 50 solo exhibitions at museums and galleries worldwide and is represented in numerous museum and institutional collections.
Eugenie Tsai is a curator and writer based in New York.
Image: Left: Jane Dickson, Green Tunnel, 2004-2013, Oil on astroturf, 40 x 106 in. Right: Julie Heffernan, Nature Morte (Gaza II), o/c, 2026, 68 x 70 in.
Event venue
National Academy of Design, 519 West 26th Street, New York, United States
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.