ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Who Writes History? was organized by the Public Programs Department of ArtsWestchester. We invited artist, curator and educator Randy Williams to serve as co-curator, tapping his deep knowledge of artists who engage in institutional critique. We thank Randy for his sensitive and insightful guidance on this project. The exhibition and its commissioned works of art were made possible thanks to the National Endowment for the Arts’s Grants for Arts Projects program. Public programming presented in conjunction with the exhibition is made possible thanks to a grant from Humanities New York and the National Endowment for the Humanities. We thank the ArtsWestchester Board of Directors, ArtsWestchester Arts Committee, Yvonne Pollack, For Freedoms, Anna Zorina Gallery, Ryan Lee Gallery, Sikkema Jenkins & Co, and Accola Griefen Fine Art for their support and collaboration on this project. The title of our exhibition is a question intended to challenge the viewer. As you experience the work, we ask that you not only open yourself to a different view on the histories you know and the institutions you turn to for information, but to also ask, “What histories are missing?” Our approach to Who Writes History? has been to allow artists’ voices to be primary. Their works are reflections on complex narratives either untold, controlled by dominant culture, or misaligned with lived experience. A project like this challenges the institutions that assign value and create narratives, including our own. From small events with resounding local impact, to multinational incidences that reshape the global dialog, history is happening every moment of the day. As we were entering the final stages of preparation before opening Who Writes History?, Russia invaded Ukraine. Understanding the magnitude of this act of war, we sought to include works by artists who are engaging with the multi-generational RussianUkrainian relationship. We thank Anne Bobroff-Hajal and the Kolodzei Art Foundation for facilitating this eleventh-hour inclusion.
Kathleen Reckling
Director of Public Programs
Adam Chau
Exhibitions Manager
WITH ADDITIONAL THANKS TO: ArtsWestchester’s Board of Directors
ARTSWESTCHESTER ARTS COMMITTEE:
Betty Cotton, Barbara Elliot (Chair), A. Maren Hexter, Betty Himmel, Karin Myers, Yvonne Pollack, Nataly Ritter, Dr. Judith S. Schwartz, Deborah Simon and Jacqueline A. Walker
Artwork on left: Kambui Olujimi, Late Stage Love Affairs
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