MISSION

The Painting Center is a non-profit organization in New York City with strong roots in the art community and a reputation for integrity in its programming. Our mission is to provide exhibition opportunities for emerging, mid-career and established artists. Curators use our space to present contemporary thesis exhibitions on visual arts, artists, and art making practices. The Painting Center has continually built upon its purpose of offering an alternative space dedicated to the exhibition of painting and various media regardless of market appeal. The Painting Center is a gathering place for artists and those who love art; it is a democratic arena that fosters dialogue, experimentation, and community among artists. It does not champion one school or tradition, but welcomes and encourages diverse viewpoints.

Over the past thirty-one years, The Painting Center has mounted over 700 exhibitions organized by guest curators and its curatorial program is central to its mission. These innovative exhibitions have displayed the work of diverse artists and have received continuous support that could only be recognized in the community as presenting an alternative voice. David Sharpe, James Little, Susan Shatter, Josef Brescher, Phong Bui, Matthew Deleget, Catherine Amidon, Ross Neher, Joanne Freeman, Stephen Maine, Karen Wilkin, Jennifer Samet, Jane Farver, Stephanie Buhmann, and Hester Simpson have all served as guest curators for The Painting Center. Reviews of some of the exhibitions have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Observer, The Brooklyn Rail, Art in America, The New Yorker, The New Art Examiner, The Partisan Review, Art News, Art Forum, Cover Magazine, Artcritical, Hyperallergic, Two Coats of Paint, Painter’s Table, and Artspiel among others. In 1998, The Painting Center was included in Modern Painters Magazine’s 100 Gallery Guide 1998, featuring 100 galleries in New York.

In addition to mounting a year round schedule of exhibitions, The Painting Center hosts lectures, educational events, panel discussions, poetry readings and performances which are open to the public, free of charge. These events regularly attract large audiences, furthering our goal of engaging artists and visitors as participants. The Painting Center maintains an online curated art file on its website, which is available to curators.