We take a great deal of pride, at OFF THE WALL, in our gallery’s impactful track record, stretching to 1978 and informally further still. It’s a history marked by fierce advocacy for inclusion — from the feminist bent of our first show, “Their Names Are Not Anonymous Anymore,” to solo exhibitions the next year for a Black woman, Ellen Powell-Tiberino, and a trans artist, Roberta Dickinson.
As we got underway, we definitely WERE paying attention to the definitive model, some 1,000 feet away. THE PLASTIC CLUB was women-founded just like OFF THE WALL. The key difference is our neighbors just to the north opened their doors eight decades earlier, in 1897, before moving to their permanent location at 247 South Camac Street in 1909. There could be no better model for a pioneering art and art-making space.
In recent decades, our stories have richly and reciprocally intertwined. We call THE PLASTIC CLUB our sister organization for good reason. Dozens of its members have found a wider following by becoming familiar names on our Wall and in our 3D space. Meanwhile, we have co-organized artist education events. Plastic Club leaders have often served on our juries, and Jody Sweitzer, our curator and a long-standing Plastic Club member, has lent her talents to a number of shows on Camac.
Against this tableau, ACROSS THE BOARD natural emerges from well-established colleagueship and cross-pollination. It becomes a renewal of the bonds we share. It embodies what our gallery and community relish most: shining a spotlight on a group of talented artists…who just happen to helm the Club right now, as its volunteer leaders. And this show is as much a fresh commitment to the ways we need to work together so that our independent-minded organizations thrive far into the future.
We joyfully welcome artwork from 10 (of the 13) Plastic Club Board members to this celebration of the collaborative spirit: CAROL TASHJIAN, President; JANE J. WILKIE, Treasurer; RON PLOEG, Finances, and SUSAN PLOEG; EILEEN ECKSTEIN and CHLOE GLYNN, Corresponding and Recording Secretaries, respectively; KAREN BENSON, Exhibitions Coordinator; REYNA HOWKINS, Volunteer Coordinator; and LAURA STORCK, Publicity and Social Media. However, the occasion is not about titles; it is about immersing yourselves in inspiring artwork, which we’re fortunate to have with us through Friday, September 25. Enjoy and come back often.
TO VIEW, SHOP AND PURCHASE ARTWORK, please go to the menu and click on SHOP ACROSS THE BOARD.
NOTA BENE TO ONLINE BUYERS: While we requisition in-person purchases on an almost-daily basis, it is still possible that you may purchase something on this website that may have already sold in our Gallery. We will make every effort to avoid this circumstance.
