NEWS

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SEARCH

December 10, 2024

The Artists’ Legacy Foundation (the Foundation) seeks a part-time Executive Director to implement a new strategic direction focused on preserving and expanding the legacy of artist Viola Frey. Working with the Board of Directors and other staff, the new Executive Director will spearhead the planning and development of a long-term strategy to reshape the Foundation’s mission, business model, and sustainability plan.

This role is currently budgeted at 25 hours per week, and is primarily self-directed, though there is frequent collaboration and coordination with the Director of Collections & Archives and the Board of Directors. The Foundation’s office is located in Oakland, CA. Remote work is an option. Compensation is $55 per hour, plus a monthly stipend to offset healthcare premiums, as well as vacation, sick, and holiday pay.

Depending on experience, applicants may be considered a strong candidate for the position even if they do not fulfill all of the qualifications. The Foundation is an equal opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from candidates of under-represented backgrounds. Hiring decisions are based on merit, qualifications, and Foundation needs.

DESCRIPTION OF THE ROLE
The Executive Director oversees the operation and strategic direction of the Foundation, ensuring a dynamic and engaging vision and financial stability for the legacy of artist Viola Frey. This role requires an innovative, creative, and flexible leader who can inspire potential partners and collaborators, as well as oversee financial and administrative systems with acumen. Together with the Director of Collections & Archives, the Executive Director will collaborate in the development and implementation of educational and grantmaking programs that align with the Foundation’s vision and mission.

JOB DUTIES

Board Management

• Assist the Board of Directors in developing a comprehensive strategic plan that sets forth the Foundation’s mission, goals, strategies, objectives, and budget.
• Assist the Board in its professional development by strengthening policies and procedures for its financial and business management oversight.
• Assist in recruiting and retaining highly qualified and diverse members to join the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
• Work with the Director of Collections & Archives to plan quarterly Board and volunteer committee meetings and maintain minutes.

Fiscal Management

• Develop and manage the Foundation’s budget, including overseeing investments, forecasting revenue, controlling expenses, and working with the Director of Collections & Archives on income strategies.
• With the bookkeeper, manage the day-to-day business and finances, including gathering invoices and income reports, producing QuickBooks reports, printing and mailing checks, and reporting expenses to the Treasurer.
• With the accountant, prepare annual tax filings and other paperwork to maintain the Foundation’s charitable status in good standing.
• With the Treasurer, oversee investment managers and participate in quarterly meetings to review investment objectives.

Programs & Communications

• Serve as spokesperson to persuasively articulate the mission and vision of the Foundation to the public and partners, and to support and expand scholarship of Viola Frey’s life and work.
• With the Director of Collections & Archives, participate in public forums and conferences to enhance the Foundation’s reputation, expand its network, and secure new partnerships.
• With the Director of Collections & Archives, implement exhibitions, educational programs, grantmaking, and scholarship that preserve and expand the legacy of artist Viola Frey.
• With the Director of Collections & Archives, manage the development and implementation of all communications strategies for Foundation programs across website, email, and social media.

Administration

• Negotiate and manage contracts with vendors and outside contractors.
• Maintain insurance policies, rent, and storage agreements, and file related reports.
• Maintain accounts and subscriptions to aid the regular flow of business operations, including managing the security and integrity of logins and passwords.
• Respond to inquiries in a timely and friendly manner.
• Other opportunities and needs as they arise.

EXPERIENCE
Ideal candidates will have 7-10 years of experience in the arts, philanthropy, and/or nonprofit management, including at least three years in a leadership role, and will feel comfortable leading and implementing activities related to budget development, strategic planning, board management, and external partnerships. This is a public-facing position that will serve as a key spokesperson for the Foundation. Specific knowledge of art markets and/or artist-endowed foundations strongly preferred.

EDUCATION
A bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant field, including the arts and humanities, nonprofit management, or similar. Proficiency with Google Suite, FileMaker Pro, QuickBooks, WordPress, Mailchimp, Zoom, Adobe Creative Suite, and a Mac environment is preferred.

DEADLINE TO APPLY
Interested candidates should submit a cover letter explaining their interest in the position and their leadership credentials along with a resume and at least three professional references in a single PDF to info@artistslegacyfoundation.org. Please put Executive Director Search in the subject line. Applications are due by 11:59 pm on Friday, January 24. Interviews will begin in February with an anticipated start date in April.

Artists’ Legacy Foundation is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected Veteran, status as a person with a disability, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

Marie Watt, Blanket Stories: Great Grandmother, Pandemic, Daybreak, 2021, 105 reclaimed blankets from 21 states and cedar, 108 x 38 1/4 x 40 inches. Collection of Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, Portland, OR. Photo: Kevin McConnell. Courtesy of the artist.

MARIE WATT RECEIVES ARTISTS’ LEGACY FOUNDATION’S 2024 ARTIST AWARD

September 13, 2024

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA—The Artists’ Legacy Foundation is pleased to announce Marie Watt (b. 1967) as the recipient of the 2024 Artist Award. Watt’s multidisciplinary practice explores identity, history, and connections to the greater world. She often collaborates with craftspeople and local communities to create regional dialogues and encourage links between generations.

The Artist Award is an unrestricted merit award of $25,000 given annually to a painter or sculptor who has made significant contributions to their field and whose work shows evidence of the hand. Each year, ten artists are proposed for the Award by five anonymous peers from around the country, and one is selected by a panel of three jurors. Over $400,000 in grants have been distributed to artists since 2007.

Board president Squeak Carnwath states, “The first time I saw Marie Watt’s work was at the Seattle Art Museum. I loved that she was able to marry the traditional ceremonial with contemporary visual culture. I have since made it a point to see as much of her work as I can. Her work is generous in its beauty and deep in its conceptual form.”

The 2024 jury consisted of William Moreno, arts administrator and consultant; Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe, Executive Director of the Katonah Art Museum in Katonah, NY; and Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, artist, activist, and recipient of the 2023 Artist Award.

Michelle Yun Mapplethorpe states, “Marie Watt’s compelling meditations deftly and seamlessly engage history, memory, place, and social practice. The impressive formal mastery exemplified across her practice, along with her many accomplishments in the field, merit Watt the ideal recipient of the 2024 Artist Award.”

Jaune Quick-to-See Smith says, “Marie Watt stands out in a crowd of artists with her storytelling that relates history to contemporary culture. Further, her materials are all recycled, blankets, cedar and steel, but made into objects that are outstandingly elegant.”

“Employing a variety of elements such as blankets, cedar, neon, steel and beads, she takes the ordinary and transforms them into formidable cultural avatars,” says William Moreno. “The results are meditative and emotionally arresting– a metamorphosing of traditional domestic textiles into transfixing, urgent totems. Watt’s work is confident, resonant and determined, both in materiality and message.”

Watt states, “I am so honored to receive this ‘artist’s artist’ award and recognition from my respected peers. I have long admired the Artists’ Legacy Foundation for leading generative conversations around archiving and legacy planning, and I am grateful for their support not only through this award but also through the work they do every day.”

Watt is renowned for her methods of storytelling through objects and materials. Her totemic sculptures comprised of blankets reflect on shared experiences, generosity, and humanity, and honor the blanket donors by including their individual stories. Her recent work with jingle cones reflects on the origin and meaning of the jingle dance, and the way traditions spread over time. Jingle cones have been used as adornments since the late 1800s, and were traditionally made from the lids of tobacco cans. While there are various stories of the jingle dance’s origin, Watt has referred to one about an Ojibwa nation woman whose dream directed her to create dresses with jingles and dance around her sick granddaughter as a method of healing. This practice spread to other tribal communities, likely due to positive outcomes.

The Artists’ Legacy Foundation will host an online program on Thursday, October 17 at 4:00 pm PT (7 pm ET) featuring Watt in conversation with Dr. Aleesa Pitchamarn Alexander, the Robert M. and Ruth L. Halperin Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University.

Viola Frey, Artist’s Mind/Studio/World wallpaper

INTRODUCING VIOLA FREY x FLAVOR PAPER WALLPAPER

November 21, 2023

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA – Artists’ Legacy Foundation, The Fabric Workshop and Museum, and Flavor Paper are pleased to announce the reproduction of wallpaper designed by Viola Frey. Frey’s wallpaper designs were originally created during a residency at The Fabric Workshop and Museum’s printing studio in 1992. Frey created a bold pattern using imagery from her visual lexicon, including nude models, figurines, globes, and her face in silhouette. Titled Artist’s Mind/Studio/World, the wallpaper is part of a larger body of work that explores the ways artists take in their surroundings and reflect them in artwork.