Press Release: Not-For-Profit Arts Center Art Omi Announces New Initiative: Art Omi Pavilions @ Chatham

Art Omi Pavilions Has Received a $5 Million Grant from The New York State Council on
the Arts; the Grant Falls Under the NYSCA’s Capital Projects Fund Awards

CHATHAM, NY – JUNE 6, 2023 – Art Omi, a not-for-profit arts center in Ghent, New York that features a
120-acre Sculpture & Architecture Park, contemporary art gallery, five distinct international residency
programs, and arts education programming for all ages, today announces the development of Art Omi
Pavilions (Pavilions) in Chatham, New York, a 190-acre site that will invite visitors to explore 12 to 18
individual Pavilions that will display legacy stand-alone exhibitions of highly distinguished artists and
collectors who will showcase their work in a setting that they control and design.

These Pavilions will be part of a larger art center, including a visitor center and rotating exhibition Pavilion,
which will provide cultural context, museological standards, and visitor services. The existing Art Omi arts
center in Ghent has extensive year-round arts education programming for students, and the Art Omi
Pavilions project will include an expansion of the Art Omi education program in the form of a separate
dedicated education wing in the visitor’s center. The visitor experience of self-guided exploration will be
informed by the landscape of woodlands, meadows, and 360-degree Hudson Valley views, intermingled
with unique built structures by world-class architects, all activated by dynamic artworks. It is an innovative,
singular concept in the art world that seeks to serve the need for self-realized legacy for artists and
collectors by addressing the challenge of preserving the aesthetic coherence of an artist’s oeuvre or
collection.

“When distinguished artists and important collectors donate or sell groups of artwork to museums, their
art is almost always absorbed and dispersed with the museum’s collection, losing the creative vision,
spirit, and holistic ‘gesamtkunstwerk’ qualities that distinguish a body of work created or assembled from
a singular point-of-view over a lifetime,” stated Francis Greenburger, founder of Art Omi. “At The
Pavilions, we will preserve these qualities in an inclusive and sustainable natural landscape. It is my hope
that the project will serve to advance the legacy and collective power of creative expression from leading
artists, architects, and collectors.”

Pavilions received a $5 million grant from The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) as part of
their Capital Projects Fund Awards which was announced this morning in a press conference by
Governor Kathy Hochul.

“From New York City to the North Country, we are investing in our state's robust arts and culture sector to
ensure all New Yorkers, regardless of their background, have access to the transformative power of
art”; Governor Hochul said. “Our unprecedented support for this shared vision of accessible and
sustainable cultural spaces will result in a stronger economy, more jobs, and improved community and
personal health for New Yorkers and our visitors from around the globe.”

This showcases NYSCA’s continued support in arts education, the visual, literary, media and performing
arts throughout New York and in underserved communities. NYSCA’s sizeable grant to Pavilions is a
rousing endorsement of the bustling cultural ecosystem of the Upper Hudson Valley and Art Omi’s central
role in shaping its continued evolution.

At The Pavilions, up to 18 artists and collectors will be invited to create their own Pavilions, or mini-
museum buildings. The artists and collectors will control the vision and design of their individual Pavilions
in collaboration with architects of their choice. The structures, which will have a total footprint of no more
than 5,700 square feet, will dot the stunning hilltop landscape in a rural area of northern Columbia
County.

Initial collaborators include:

·       Alice Aycock
·        Rakuko Naito and Tadaaki Kuwayama
·       Institute for Studies on Latin American Art (ISLAA)
·       Torkwase Dyson

“We look forward to bringing Art Omi Pavilions to reality,” stated Ruth Adams, co-executive director of Art
Omi along with Jeremy Adams. "We are tremendously grateful to have the opportunity to grow and serve
artists and our community in new ways. From arts education for our local Hudson Valley neighbors, to
welcoming international visitors and artists-in-residence alike to find inspiration in the fields of the
Sculpture & Architecture Park in Ghent, and now to providing a platform for established artists to shape
their legacies with Art Omi Pavilions in Chatham, we are honored to be part of the artistic process at
every stage of its lifecycle.”

The anticipated groundbreaking of the site will take place in 2025.

To learn more about the Pavilions at Art Omi, visit the website at https://artomipavilions.org/.

About Art Omi
Art Omi is a not-for-profit arts center with a 120-acre sculpture and architecture park and gallery, residency programs
for international artists, writers, translators, musicians, architects and dancers. For more information,
visit https://artomi.org/.

About the Art Omi Pavilions @ Chatham
The Art Omi Pavilions is a not-for-profit arts center that will be comprised of 12 to 18 individual Pavilions, which will
display legacy exhibitions of highly distinguished artists and architects on a stunning hilltop site in Chatham, New
York. Our mission is to advance the legacy and collective power of creative expression from leading artists, architects
and collectors in an inclusive and sustainable natural landscape. To learn more, visit https://artomipavilions.org/.