"Artists Speaking for the Spirits" Is Largest Campaign of Its Kind

Artists were engaged to introduce the healing power of art into the various therapeutic settings at the Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation and its affiliate, Urban Resource Institute (ARTC-URI). The agencies offered canvas, materials and studio space to artists who are, in turn, giving back. Beny J. Primm, M.D., ARTC executive director and president of URI, says: “The artists’ legacy will be iconoclastic, and will add to what ARTC and URI are offering to the community.”

Otto Neals, James Denmark, Betty Blayton, Emmett Wigglesworth, Ramona Candy, Dindga McCannon, Ademola Olugebefola, Che Baraka, Herbert Bennett, Robert Daniels, Linda Hiwot, MLJ Johnson, Sonia Lynn Sadler, Jide Ojo, Wilda Gonzalez, Jean Dominique Volcy, Karl McIntosh, Beryl Benbow, Aleathia Brown and Doba Afolabi are among the revered and emerging artists of African ancestry participating. Their work is in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Studio Museum in Harlem, National Museum of Ghana, Spellman College, Sidney Poitier and others.

This show features glorious jewel-toned pieces, ethereal pastels and traditional, contemporary, Afro-futuristic, political, spiritual and satirical themes. The work will hang at ARTC-URI headquarters and is available for acquisition by collectors and corporations and the exhibition will feature a second group of artists this summer.  Each artist is generously donating a significant percentage of the proceeds to enhance the institution’s services and a portion of each sale will be tax-deductible. Artists are also volunteering time to conduct workshops for ARTC-URI patients and consumers, who find joy, potential and self-regard through creating art.

“Artists Speaking for the Spirits” is the debut project of ARTCURIAN, a ground-breaking initiative of ARTC-URI, two of New York City’s largest not-for-profit human service providers, with 14 facilities in Brooklyn, Queens and Manhattan. ARTC delivers medical and support services to thousands battling addiction and its related diseases, including HIV/AIDS and mental illness. URI operates a city-wide transportation network for the severely disabled, job training, placement services and group homes for the developmentally disabled and the city’s second-largest emergency residential program for families endangered by domestic violence.

Director of public affairs Charles Bailey is representing Dr. Primm, a longtime collector who made possible the artful collaboration. Lead artist-in-residence Emmett Wigglesworth conceived and curated the project along with artist-in-residence Ogundipe Fayomi. Artists Herb Bennett, Betty Blayton, Che Baraka and project coordinator Wendy Jones also serve on the steering committee, which has created a remarkable exhibition with heart. The Artcurian Mural Project is the largest group of paintings of this size ever created by a group of African, African American, Caribbean and Latin American artists inspired by the Harlem Renaissance and the Weusi, Where We At and AfriCobra groups.

Opening weekend hours are: Fri, 11-5, Sat and Sun 3-6. The remaining Black History Month schedule is: Thurs-Fri 11-5 and Sun from 3-6. Audiences will enjoy artist talks at 4pm each Sunday in February. First up is “New Beginnings,” in which artists new to mural-painting examine the experience, along with a discussion about great muralists of color in our history. Visitors and school groups are also most welcome by appointment. For info and to RSVP for the opening reception, call 718-260-2909 or visit www.artcurian.org. Arthur Bennett Hall is located at 22 Chapel Street near Jay St., between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. 

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