“This Art Is Your Art” CompetitionPress Release

The White House Historical Association, Artsy, and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Launch “This Art Is Your Art” National Student Competition

Online competition seeks innovative short videos to engage with art in the White House Collection. Deadline extended: submit by June 8, 2016

May 10, 2016 (New York, NY) ---Today the White House Historical Association, Artsy, and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation launched the This Art Is Your Art competition. This is an unprecedented opportunity for university students in the United States to engage with the artwork and artifacts in our country’s home—the White House—by creating a short video about the historical and artistic context of a particular work in the White House. The five winners will receive a trip to Washington, D.C. and have their videos shown at a special ceremony at the White House Historical Association.

The competition is open to all undergraduate and graduate students in the United States and launches May 10th on Artsy. The jury for the This Art Is Your Art competition is comprised of eight renowned artists, educators, museum professionals, and public figures—Caroline Bauman, Director of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum; Melissa Chiu, Director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; JiaJia Fei, Director of Digital, Jewish Museum; Agnes Gund, Chairman of the Board of MoMA PS1 and President Emerita of MoMA; William Kloss, Art historian and author of “Art in the White House”; Jan Krawitz, Professor of Documentary Film and Video at Stanford University; Earl A. Powell III, Director of the National Gallery of Art; and Kehinde Wiley, artist.

Students are encouraged to submit a 3-minute video focusing on a particular work of art in the White House collection, selected from a gallery of images on Artsy. The videos will respond to one or more of the provided prompts, and participants are encouraged to make unexpected connections pondering new lines of reflection that surprise and delight. Entries should be innovative and creative in their approach.

The competition will be hosted by Artsy, the leading resource for learning about and collecting art. Artsy partners with over 600 major museums and foundations, including the Guggenheim Museum, Art Institute of Chicago, SFMOMA, J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, as well as over 4,000 leading galleries and more than 60 art fairs. In 2014, Artsy and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation collaborated on the Emerging Curator Competition, which invited students around the world to submit exhibition proposals related to the work of Robert Rauschenberg. This year’s competition similarly draws on the importance of providing online access to digital resources to students interested in important art works and collections.

“Artsy is delighted to collaborate with the WHHA and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation on a project employing digital tools and technology to engage the nation’s next generation of leaders in a dialogue about the White House’s extraordinary collection,” said Liz Luna, Director of Institutional Partnerships at Artsy. “Working with these forward-thinking institutional partners reinforces the importance of using art as a lens for exploring cultural heritage, both locally and globally."

"We are thrilled to be a part of this exciting launch and to be working alongside Artsy and the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation,” said Stewart McLaurin, President of the White House Historical Association. “It's important that we continue to educate the public about the rich history of the White House and to create innovative competitions that excite and engage America’s youth.” 

Fostering the legacy of Rauschenberg’s work and his long-term commitment to art education by providing broad public access to art is central to the mission of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Christy MacLear, CEO of the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, explains: “Robert Rauschenberg spoke directly to the power art has in crossing cultural boundaries and transcending political party beliefs. This project engages our young people to learn about the art in our country’s home–the White House–and provide context for these important discussions.  This art is your art, this art is their art–it represents us and inspires all those who visit.”  The foundation strives to encourage students to actively engage with and respond to iconic American works of art. With the This Art Is Your Art competition, the foundation seeks to encourage connections between young scholars and the expansive White House collection.

Submission deadline: June 8, 2016

Competition website: https://www.artsy.net/thisartisyourart

White House Historical Association

The White House Historical Association is a nonprofit educational association founded in 1961 for the purpose of enhancing the understanding, appreciation, and enjoyment of the Executive Mansion. It was created with the support of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. The Association also sponsors lectures, exhibits, and other outreach programs.

Artsy

Artsy is the leading resource for learning about and collecting art from over 4,000 leading galleries, 600 museums and institutions, 60 international art fairs, and select auctions. Artsy provides free access via its website (Artsy.net) and iPhone and iPad apps to 400,000 images of art and architecture by 50,000 artists, which includes the world’s largest online database of contemporary art. Artsy's encyclopedic database spans historical works, such as the Rosetta Stone and the Colosseum, to modern and contemporary works by artists such as Pablo Picasso, Willem de Kooning, Richard Serra, Sarah Lucas, and Cindy Sherman. Powered by The Art Genome Project, a classification system that maps the connections between artists and artworks, Artsy fosters new generations of art lovers, museum-goers, patrons, and collectors.

Robert Rauschenberg Foundation

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation fosters the legacy of the life, artistic practice, and activist philosophy of one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Through exhibitions, scholarship, grants, and a residency program, the Foundation furthers Rauschenberg’s belief that art can change the world, while ensuring that his singular achievements and contributions continue to have global impact and resonance with contemporary artists.

Media Contacts

White House Historical Association: Amy Weiss, [email protected]

Artsy: Graham Newhall, [email protected]

Robert Rauschenberg Foundation: Megan Canning, [email protected]

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