Greater New York™ Greater and Greater Project Press Release Correction Greater New York™ 2005 March 11 – September 26, 2005 P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and The Museum of Modern Art and the artists of NYC are proud to present Greater New York™, an extended program of exhibitions, events and activities opening March 11, 2005 through September 22, 2005. Greater New York, NY (March 1, 2005)—P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center and The Museum of Modern Art and the Artists of NYC present their wildly anticipated curatorial collaboration with Greater New York™, an ambitious overarching survey of New York City's most vital creative voices. In the making since 2003, this project will utilize innovative strategies to produce a program that will take place over the course of the summer and will extend beyond the museum into all boroughs to become a provocative series of platforms reflecting the pulse of the current cultural moment. Greater New York™ embodies the diversity of ideas and creative practices found in the metropolitan area, through a pioneering structure of exhibitions, symposia, performances, lectures, radio broadcasts and many more exciting events. Initially, 30 curatorial staff members from P.S.1 and MoMA reviewed the work of more than 2000 "emerging" artists; from promising high school students to seasoned recent graduates of MFA programs, to the artists of persistent dealers. During the process of studio visits and meetings — reminiscent of a casting call rather than a search for contemporary art — the team found itself limited by its own parameters. "We came to understand our approach as democratic in name only," explains a spokesperson, "This was neither the right process to look at art nor the appropriate method of selection for a show of this kind." Correspondingly, the final structure of Greater New York™ is refreshingly decentralized. It broadens the scope of the original project, opening it to artists and art collectives, art historians, writers, and local curators from all five boroughs, working hard for generations to make visible what remains to be hidden under the predominance of the commercially driven sector of the New York art world. This new structure invites everyone in the city to contribute and associate themselves with the new and greater Greater New York™. Greater New York™ consists of a summer-long unfurling of creative initiatives in different platforms. This laboratory of massive proportions challenges the curatorial talent of many individuals and institutions. One of them is "Greater New York™: platform 13; the greatly anticipated show in conjunction with the art fair that includes approximately 170 artists and will take place at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center. But it doesn't stop there! The greater Greater New York™, will address the urgent aspects of life and art in the greater New York City area embodying revitalized socialist ideals.  A curatorial move rarely found (if ever) in cultural institutions in the U.S., Greater New York™ will challenge the old system of inclusion and exclusion along the lines of race, gender, age and class, which has always riddled the city's art-world. In addition to offering artists an enormous public exhibition of their work, Greater New York™ will become a public space to gather and organize, open to all. Free lunches held weekly at the P.S.1 cafeteria will invite audiences to engage in a discussion around the working conditions and the financial challenges faced by many contemporary artists and cultural producers in our rapidly gentrifying city.  An even bolder long-term initiative to organize an artists' union will be launched concurrently with the exhibition. The participating artists will each receive an honorarium of $750 in addition to installation costs and a portion of the production cost of their artwork. "It is time to give back to the artists," says an organizer "While MoMA's visitors are discovering the wonders of Yoshio Taniguchi's redesign of the Museum, programs like Greater New York™ are about re-discovering the social ideas that will renew the spirit of our sibling institutions," adding with a smile, "and due to record admission and the steady stream of visitors all paying $20 per visit, money is not a problem." Indeed a revolution is on its way! With Greater New York™, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center will revisit its origins that began in the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, as a place that has since then been exemplary for institutions, inspirational for artists and endlessly educational for audiences. P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center continues to pursue its on-going quest and unconditional commitment for uncharted territory in its immediate surroundings: the artists of the city of New York —native, immigrant, visitor or undocumented, young or old, rich or poor, of any race and any gender— and their friends and allies around the globe. It is time to move forward, together! Come and be Greater New York™! Greater New York™ opens Friday, March 11 with Party Platform 7pm - Midnight, please call for further details 718.784.2084. Among the other installments of the project, Greater New York™, an exhibition of 170 artists, platform 13 opens March 13th, at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, 22–25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City. Media Contacts P.S.1 Press Consultant 718.784.2084 x *827 / press@ps1.org The Museum of Modern Art Director of Communications T. 212.333.6594