The Voice recently sat down with Robert Waterhouse, chair of the Department of Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) at Daemen; and Dan Shanahan, assistant professor and director of the Entrepreneurship Program to discuss the juried exhibit, EMERGENCE: A Celebration of the Emerging Artist.
In its second year, EMERGENCE includes a call to young artists from Western New York who are on the forefront of the new generation of artists. This year submissions close on Dec. 21 and artists will be informed of their acceptance in January, 2023.
What inspired EMERGENCE?
Waterhouse: Emergence is an initiative sponsored by the new bachelor’s degree program in leadership and entrepreneurship in the arts. While designing this program, we brought on 30 arts professionals and leaders from the cultural sector for an extended focus group and talked about what they wanted to see in graduates as they were looking to hire.
With that in mind, we came up with the idea of EMERGENCE as a celebration of the emergent artist.
Who can submit their work for the exhibit?
Waterhouse: We are asking for submissions from artists who believe themselves to be on the cutting edge of the new generation. Mainly, young artists who will be shaping the cultural landscape here in Western New York. We are partnering with Art Services, Inc., which acts as an arts council to all the not-for-profit culturals in Western New York, as well as the Buffalo Center for the Arts and Technology, a downtown gallery that works with a lot of young people.
We have announced a call in two categories. The first is for young artists ages 17-21 and the second is for artists ages 22-30. We are going to host two juried shows, one in each category.
In addition to those shows, we are offering two workshops under the broad title of “The Artist as Entrepreneur.” These include workshops and panel presentations for artists on launching a solo career in the cultural field, grant writing presentations, self promotion, and portfolio development.
What are the selected artists awarded?
Waterhouse: We are offering scholarships in the 17-21 category where we are particularly interested in seeing work by transfer students. We will be offering a best in show and two honorable mentions in that category. We are also offering a cash prize for the best in show in the 22-30 year old category.
Why is this exhibit so beneficial for young artists?
Shanahan: One of the reasons we felt this was an important exhibition to get behind is that there is not a huge platform for artists moving into the cusp of their professional careers to be able to showcase their work.
We wanted to find a platform to support the visibility of these artists. It is very much in line with the genesis of the entrepreneurial program we are launching, which is walking two parallel tracks. One is, “how can we encourage artists to have a further appreciation for the culture, philosophy, and context for the art they are creating?” The other is, “how can they view themselves through a professional lens?”
We help them with tangible experience for developing their portfolios, understanding submission requirements, going through the gallery curatorial process and the exhibition process.
Once the work is exhibited, we like to follow that up with target artist talks so that the students can begin to articulate their own vision to a broader audience and be able to begin positioning themselves within a professional context with not only their own art, but the art of their peers.
Our area really boasts an incredible cultural scene and we have found there is a fascinating shift amongst artists under the age of 30. We want to find opportunities to connect with them and give them a wider voice in order to showcase their work.
How does Daemen support and encourage the work of young artists?
Shanahan: At Daemen, we are always looking at how we can give each student the professional skills required to take ownership of their knowledge and build a career out of it. That is what really drives EMERGENCE and the Entrepreneurship Program.
Waterhouse: Something I think we do very well at Daemen is take young artists seriously. The moment they come to us, we begin to treat them as professional artists in training. I think this is important because a lot of young people do excellent work, but they do it in solitude.
We elevate them to a position where they can continue to professionally pursue their vision, promote themselves, and look to long-term success.