Press Release

FERRARA SHOWMAN GALLERY proudly presents the 28th Annual NO DEAD ARTISTS International Juried Exhibition of Contemporary Art. For the 2024 installment of the exhibition, seventeen artists from and/or living and working across the United States, as well as: Australia, Germany, India, Iran, Japan, Nigeria, and South Africa were selected by the jury from over 500 submissions by artists worldwide. The exhibition will be on view from 3 September through 19 October with an opening reception on 7 September 5-9PM in conjunction with the Arts District New Orleans’s (ADNO) First Saturday Gallery Openings. An additional closing reception will be held on Saturday 5 October 5-9PM in conjunction with the ADNO special, charity event - Art Beyond Arts’ Sake.

 

The NO DEAD ARTISTS exhibition was founded by Jonathan Ferrara in 1995 to give a voice to emerging artists. The exhibition’s name is derived from the old adage that artists never achieve success until they are dead. NO DEAD ARTISTS turns that notion on its head and often gives emerging artists their first break in the art world. In the 90’s, the exhibition was open to New Orleans-based artists and subsequently grew to include artists of Louisiana, then becoming a national juried exhibition in 2010. In 2014, Matthew Weldon Showman opened the call internationally, expanding the opportunity to artists everywhere and producing an even more diverse and compelling survey of Contemporary Art. Now in its 28th iteration, the exhibition has been a springboard for numerous artists; leading to national press coverage, recognition, gallery representation, art fair exhibition, and acquisitions by museums and other prominent collections. Each year the gallery invites a panel of renowned arts professionals and collectors to select the newest creative talents from around the world.

 

::: The 2024 NO DEAD ARTISTS Jury :::

  
KATE CHERTAVIAN – Cambridge, MA 

An internationally recognized art consultant, Kate has over 25 years of experience curating independent projects and building private collections. She built and curated David Bowie’s art collection from 1992 to 2000 and has subsequently built important collections in her fields of expertise. Her university and institutional projects include the sculpture program at Harvard Business School, a curated collection for the Barr Foundation, and a collection of important pictures for the Four Seasons/One Dalton. Kate has worked in the auction and gallery markets for over two decades and specializes in Impressionist and Modern, Post War and Contemporary, American and Modern British art markets. She is a Trustee of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, the Co-President of the Rowland Foundation and a founder of the national non-profit Year Up.

 

TOCCARRA THOMAS – New Orleans, LA 

Toccarra is a nonprofit arts professional with experience spanning community-based cultural programming, artist services, and nonprofit operations. Thomas has served in many capacities within organizations of varying sizes, facilitating opportunities for individuals and communities to access resources that contribute towards a more inclusive, connected, and culturally-rich future. Most recently, she worked as the Director of the Joan Mitchell Center in New Orleans, LA; the inaugural general manager of Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, NY; and inaugural managing director of SPACE, a contemporary multidisciplinary art organization in Portland, ME.

 

KATE SCHEIN WAISMAN – Larchmont, NY 

Kate has been working in the museum field for over 25 years as both an exhibition developer and museum educator. Her background is in arts education, creating and conducting innovative arts programs both in classrooms and museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Jewish Museum. She has led conceptual planning and overseen design and fabrication for exhibition projects in partnership with various cultural institutions including: The Boston Children’s Museum, “Peep’s World”; The Brooklyn Botanic Garden – conceptual plan for their new Children’s Garden; The Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum, “Heroic Journeys”; and various National Park Service Historic Sites including The Roanoke Island Festival Park. Kate has also consulted in the design of play-spaces for the JCC in Manhattan and private residences in New York City. She most recently led content development for the new 81st Street Studio, an interdisciplinary, multisensory drop-in discovery and play space at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Kate earned her Masters of Education with focus in Supervision and Administration with specialization in Museum Leadership from Bank Street College, and her B.A. in Art History at Tulane University.

 

::: The 28th Annual NO DEAD ARTISTS Finalists :::

CINDY AVROCH – American - Dallas, Texas

VIRGINIA CANDLER – American - New Orleans, Louisiana

TEMI EDUN – Nigerian - Columbia, Maryland

NOZOMI HASEGAWA – Japanese - Braunschweig, Germany

INA KAUR – Indian – New Orleans, Louisiana

KX2 (Ruth Avra and Dana Kleinman) – American – Hollywood, Florida

SARAH KNOUSE – American – Lake Worth Beach, Florida

JOLIET MORRILL – American – New Orleans, Louisiana

KIARA AILEEN MACHADO – American – Glendora, California

SONIA MARTIGNON – Australian - Northern Territory, Australia

LOUIS MINNAAR – South African – Pretoria, South Africa

MARTRYCE ROACH – American – Mount Laurel, New Jersey

MIKE RYCZEK – American – Dedham, Massachusetts

MARYAM SAFAJOO – Iranian – Morgantown, West Virginia

EZRA THOMPSON – American – Port Jefferson Station, New York

MCKINLEY WALLACE – American – Atlanta, Georgia

AKEYLAH WELLINGTON – American – Columbus, Ohio

 

Comprised of painting, drawing, photography, digital media, sculpture, ceramic, printmaking, collage, and installation, NO DEAD ARTISTS continues to exhibit a great diversity in media with a cohesive cross-section of the pulse of contemporary art.  For the grand prize of the exhibition, one of the selected jury winning artists will be awarded a solo exhibition at FSG in 2024. Previous recipient awardees include: Jenny Day (2017), Kat Flyn (2018), Trenity Thomas (2020), Michael Tole (2021), Brandon V. Lewis (2022), and Ginger Williams Cook (2023). In addition to these award winners who have all since become represented by the gallery, FSG has continued to exhibit and take under representation other former finalists: Tony Dagradi (2017), John Isiah Walton (2017), REWA (2018), Kristin Moore (2019), Barbara Kuebel (2020), Andrew Lyman (2021),  Not only have all of these past finalists received solo shows at the gallery but some have also successfully continued on to exhibit at art fairs in New York, Miami, Basel (Switzerland), Leipzig (Germany), San Francisco, Houston, Seattle, and other traveling exhibitions and museums worldwide. These artists and the NO DEAD ARTISTS exhibition have garnered great interest from curators, museums, and press and have also been acquired by many prominent public and private collections. . . Stay tuned for the announcement of the 2024 winner at the close of the Exhibition and their subsequent exhibition in 2025.

 

For more information, press or sales inquiries please contact Partner + Gallery Director Matthew Weldon Showman at 504.343.6827 or matthew@ferrarashowman.com. Please join the conversation with FSG on Facebook (@FerraraShowmanGallery), Twitter (@FerraraShowman), and Instagram (@FerraraShowmanGallery) via the hashtags: #NoDeadArtists, #NDA2024, #FerraraShowmanGallery, and #ArtsDistrictNewOrleans.