BWAC to host its 42nd annual spring and summer art show with virtual exhibitions

Despite the COVID- 19 pandemic, art lovers will be able to enjoy the annual Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition’s (BWAC) spring and summer exhibition.

The non-profit organization that formed in 1978 will host three virtual exhibitions for the spring/summer season from Saturday, May 30 until Sunday, July 26.

The exhibits are entitled Wide Open 11, Transparent as Glass? and Art from the Inside.

The shows can be viewed at bwac.org/online-exhibitions and artwork from the shows can be purchased at bwac.org.

Despite not being able to host its annual physical exhibitions, BWAC found it important to keep the show going.

“BWAC has had to reimagine itself in ways we never expected in order to weather the pandemic storm of 2020,” said BWAC President Alicia Degener. “When we realized we would not be able to open our gallery doors for our spring shows, we had to rethink how to generate income in order to survive an unprecedented catastrophe in our artist coalitions 42 year old history.”

Transparent as Glass?: Graham Caldwell “Untitled” Glass sculpture

BWAC started the transition by partnering w/SCORE, an outreach group of the SBA.

“Via weekly Zoom calls, our advisor guided us through steps to achieve financial assistance for our non profit,” she added. “We were awarded the Payroll Protection plan and emergency insurance disaster loan (both forgivable loans) which bought us time to restructure. We personally called over 300 artists involved in our spring shows assuring them BWAC was fighting through this disaster and would be open at some point again in the future. Our last recourse was to launch all three of our shows virtually on our website.

BWAC will be hosting an opening for its juried show Wide Open 11 via Zoom on Thursday, June 4 at 6 p.m.

Juror from MoMA Paula Pobocha will award the winners and chat with the artists in the show about their work.

“BWAC has been in existence for over 40 years,” added artist and public relations for BWAC Janice Weiss. “We usually exhibit at our beautiful 25,000 square foot gallery in our historic Civil War Building in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Because of the Pandemic this year, many of our artists have been home staying safe and busy creating. This new virtual venue gives us an opportunity to exhibit our three shows ,and still maintain social distancing. Of course not as exciting as roaming through our beautiful gallery, but adjusting to the atmosphere of these times.”

Art from the Inside: Judith Eloise Hooper “Otherwise Engaged”

BWAC Co-PresidentSusan Handwerker added that the new format will help its viewers continue to enjoy its exhibits.

“Since people can’t come to the gallery, we still wanted to give everyone the feeling that they have visited an art exhibition,” she said. “These virtual video presentations allow us to do that in an immersive way and best for all, people can visit as many times as they want from the comfort of their own homes.”

For a full description of the three exhibits, visit bwac.org.

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