WHEN:
OPENING RECEPTION
Thursday, March 31, 2016, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Show runs March 31 – April 21, 2016

WHERE:
Trygve Lie Gallery
317 E 52^nd St., New York, NY 10022

Opening hours
Thursday to Saturday: 12 PM – 6 PM

Isha Setia, Curator

Twitter Art Exhibit: New York City features original postcard-sized art created and donated by artists from all around the world. The sale of this original art benefits Foster Pride’s “Handmade” program, in which young women in foster care learn to create and market a unique line of goods. The entire exhibit is carried out by an unpaid, volunteer corps of organizers and artists; there is no entry fee, and artists of all career levels are encouraged to participate, making it possible for emerging talent to appear alongside seasoned professionals.

Costs associated with Twitter Art Exhibit: New York City have been underwritten by anonymous donors.

A spirit of generosity imbues this exhibition, as it has from its inception. Twitter Art Exhibit: New York City is the sixth installment of this worldwide art experience, uniting artists from every part of the globe through social media in support of a worthy cause. David Sandum, a Swedish-born artist and social media influencer in the field of fine arts, first conceived of the open exhibition in 2011 as a vehicle for doing good through online community building.

The first exhibition hoped for 140 entries, symbolic of the 140 characters used on Twitter. The response was so enthusiastic that 260 cards were submitted from 24 countries, and Sandum raised enough funds to buy 221 new children’s books for a struggling library in Moss, Norway.

Organized by local curators, subsequent exhibitions held in Moss in 2012, Los Angeles in 2013, Orlando in 2014, and again in Moss in 2015, attracted on average 600 artists from 35 nations in each installment, raising much-needed funding for local charities which include Women’s Shelter, a shelter for abused women, Art Division, a program preparing underprivileged youth to pursue careers in the visual arts, the Center for Contemporary Dance, offering scholarships for special needs dancers, and Home-Start Moss, an organization offering support to vulnerable families.

This time around, Twitter Art Exhibit returns to the U.S. in a much-anticipated event held in New York City. Hundreds of local and international artists are expected to participate. Postcard art entries will be displayed and sold at a price of $35 each on opening night, Thursday March 31st, 2016, at the Trygve Lie Gallery, through April 21^st, 2016. All proceeds benefit Foster Pride. This event is FREE to attend and open to the public.

PARTNERS

Foster Pride
http://fosterpride.org

Since 1993 Foster Pride, which was named “ONE OF NYC’S 4 BEST CHARITIES” by CBS.com, has helped over 10,000 children and teens in foster care, through mentoring relationships and the arts.  Money raised from the Twitter Art Exhibit will be used in support of Foster Pride’s “HandMade” program, in which young women in foster care learn to create and market a unique line of crocheted goods. Their beautiful scarves, hats, blankets and more are sold online at Etsy and in boutiques in New York and Paris, and all proceeds from sales go to these talented teens. For children in the foster care system who have few opportunities, the HandMade program teaches valuable entrepreneurial skills and can change the way a teenager thinks about herself and her life.

Trygve Lie Gallery
www.sjomannskirken.no/trygve-lie-gallery

Trygve Lie Gallery was established to contribute to the promotion of Norwegian, Norwegian-American and Scandinavian art to a broad audience in the city of New York. Since our opening in 2003 we have had the pleasure of exhibiting several of Norway’s leading artists. The gallery is named for the first General Secretary of the UN, and we take pride in maintaining a connection to our friends at the UN Headquarters – only 10 blocks south of the gallery.

 In addition to exhibiting art and documentary projects, the gallery space is used for recitals, conferences, performances etc. The gallery is located in and run by the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in New York. The church has over 130 years of history in New York and has resided on 317 E 52nd Street since 1992.

The Call for Artists with specifics on how to participate and where to send art will be issued in late October, 2015. 

For more information, please follow Twitter Art Exhibit:

Twitter:        @twitrartexhibit & #twitterartexhibit
Facebook:   Facebook.com/twitterartexhibit
Website:     TwitterArtExhibit.org