Part 1.
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| Following is this organization’s responses to the Art Spaces Archives
Project (AS-AP) Survey, which in August 2005 was distributed to over
1,000 “alternative” and “avant-garde organizations” to “quantify the
need for archival services to the field.”
1a. Year Founded: |
| 1986 |
| 1b. Primary activity[ies] of the organization. |
| Exhibition Space
Multipurpose Space [Amalgam of Multiple Artistic Disciplines]
Other
|
| 1b. Primary activity[ies] of the organization. |
| not-for-profit 501(c)3 visual arts organization/international artists exchange |
| 1c. Organization's annual budget. |
| $50,001 - $100,000 |
Part 2.
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| 2a. Mission Statement |
| “There is nothing new under the sun,” goes the old adage. What does change, however, is configuration. That change, as another well-known adage has it, “is constant”; in human terms, often the agent of modification of perception. Resulting technologies emerge, creating opportunity for broader methodologies of utilization; of illumination, of sonics, motion, communication, architectonics. Hand-in-hand with science - the imperative of which is the observation and manipulation of phenomena - the artist sits at the center of this shifting maelstrom of perception, part magician and part town-crier busy with the invention and employment of tools meant to facilitate various modes of articulation. Fusion arts, in the tradition of artists of the Bauhaus, seeks a closer relationship with science as well as the seamless interdisciplinary integration of all artistic media - painting, sculpture, light, sound, robotics, video projection, photography, performance and the written word, allowing a genre of its own, a generation of hybrids permissive of endless creative possibilities. It’s manifesto is as follows:
1. We advocate as sublime the integration of all cultures, races, religions, ideologies and art forms. 2. We denounce as divisive the patriotic, the nationalistic and the religious dogmas of the past. 3. We aim for maximalism, to bridge and combine rather than reduce, minimize and restrict. 4. We are inspired and driven by an inner need, by a deep passion to create rather than be driven by misplaced ulterior motives and made slave to a process devoid of political, social, emotional, and conceptual meaning. 5. We denounce minimalistic, abstract and concrete art whose time has come and gone. These art forms are vague, passive and best suited for palatial interiors where admiration is its rhyme and decoration is its reason. 6. We espouse the use of all contemporary technological mediums and materials for the melding, the fusing, the creation of art of the future. 7. We espouse recognition for talent, creativity and vision. 8. We praise the collective spirit, the truth of creating art for its own sake and not for the sake of adulation by the power brokers. 9. We denounce narcissistic art forms, contemporary art which is self congratulatory and promotional. 10. We aspire to create art which can and will invade all sensory levels and by its limitless nature espouses the infinite.
Converging Arts Media Organization is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) registered charity arts organization that brings avant garde art and arts related events to the Lower East Side of New York City. Converging Arts Media Organization has received funding and support from the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. It’s mission is threefold: 1. To promote fusion/multidisciplinary art as a recognized contemporary art genre.
2. To provide an exhibition venue for fusion artists, with a primary focus on artists from New York City while making this art genre/form accessible to the community. FusionArts Museum is Converging Arts Media Organization’s headquarters and art gallery space located on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. A number of the New York City artists represented here have been creating fusion art on the Lower East Side and in the East Village for over two decades.
3. To provide New York City fusion artists the opportunity to exhibit internationally through an international artist cultural exchange program. This program connects NYC artists with a network of arts festivals held in Canada, Europe and Asia. In turn international fusion artists from participating countries are hosted at a New York-based fusion arts festival held annually at the end of each August. The international artists who have been hosted and exhibited at FusionArts Museum are from Japan, Italy, Germany, Canada, Poland, China, Russia, the Czech Republic and France. Many have never exhibited before in the United States. Gallery fall and winter hours are: Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 1 PM - 6 PM, Thursdays and Sundays from 1 PM - 7 PM. Hours are extended for one hour during the spring and summer months. Mondays and Fridays by appointment only. FusionArts Museum is closed on Saturday. Please take the F or V train to the Second Avenue-Houston Street station and exit at First Avenue.
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| Website Link to Mission Statement |
| |
| 2b. Organization History / Organizational Overview. Index of important events in organization's history. |
| FusionArts established itself as an art space in the mid 1980s when it was a combination working artist’s studio and performance/exhibition space. FusionArts and Shalom Neuman, the afore-mentioned artist, were a large part of the activities in the East Village art scene in the 1980s. It was also part of what later became known as the Rivington Sculpture Garden providing the perfect vehicle for a fusion artist like Shalom to create a fusion events, a overlaying of music, welding, vidoe projection, lighting effects that lasted for days.
In 2003 Converging Arts Media Organization (also known as FusionArts) received its 501(c)3 status from the IRS. It functions as both an exhibition venue under the name FusionArts Museum and an international artists exchange program.
FusionArts Museum is the only contemporary art space in New York City that is soley dedicated to the exhibition and archiving of multidisciplinary (fusion) art. |
| Website Link to Organization's History / Organization Overview |
| |
| 2c. Exhibition / Programming / Publishing History. |
| We have been exhibiting fusion artists in group and solo exhibitions since 2004. We traditionally have 4 - 5 group exhibits throughout the year and a minimum of 6 solo exhibitions in our basement installation room. We do not hold open calls and fusion artists are invited to exhibit and/or submit work for consideration. We look for new artists on web sites and through recommendation. |
| Website Link to Exhibition / Programming / Publishing History |
| www.artnet.com/fusionatsmuseum.html |
Part 3.
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| 3a. Names and email addresses of Founders, Board Members, Directors or other key individuals: |
| Shalom Neuman |
|
| Deborah Fries |
|
| Howard Seligman |
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| |
| 3b. Could any of these individuals assist in providing an oral history of your organization? |
| Yes |
Part 4.
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| 4a. Is organization currently active? |
| Yes |
| 4b. Year activity suspended if no longer active. |
| Organization Still Active |
Part 5.
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| 5a. Type of organization at its founding. |
| Non-Profit [IRS certified] |
| 5b. Type of organization currently, or at the termination of activities. |
| Non-Profit [IRS certified] |
Part 6.
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| 6a. Does the organization have an archive? |
| Yes |
| 6b. Are there any short or long-term threats to the organization? |
| None / Not Applicable |
| 6c. Other threats to the organization: |
| |
Part 7.
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| 7a. How important is to the organization to preserve the organization’s historical material. From 1 – Very Important to 5 – Not Important. |
| 1. Very Important |
| 7b. Has planning for the preservation and documentation of archive begun? |
| Yes |
| 7c. Does the organization know how and where to seek expertise and assistance? |
| No |
| 7d. Does the organization have specific concerns regarding starting an archive working with its historic materials? |
| Technical Support / Expertise |
|
| |
Part 8.
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| 8a. Is the organization's archives in the collection of another institution or promised to one? |
| Yes |
|
| Some of our leterary and other events over the years have been archived at the NYU Fales Library & Special Collections. We have been active with the Unbearables, a published, New York City literary group with its foundations in the Beats. |
| 8b. Archival materials are also located at: |
| Yes |
| Where are these locations? |
| Individuals with film archives of activities here in the 1980s and 1990s. |
Part 9.
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| 9. Does the organization maintain archives for any other organization. |
| No |
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| |
Part 10a.
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| 10a. Is the archive accessible to scholars, curators or researchers? |
| Yes |
Part 10b.
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| 10b. Are there conditions of access for scholars, curators or researchers? |
| No |
Part 10c.
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| 10c. How are arrangements made for access to archive? |
| |
Part 11.
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The following questions address the historical materials (type, quantity and storage) of the organization.
11a. Paper Files and Documents |
| Artist Files
Correspondence
Exhibition or Production Files
Legal Documents
By-laws / Incorporation Documents
Other Paper Files
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| 11b. Artwork and Documentation |
| Audiotapes [Any Format]
Oral History, Recordings and / or Transcripts
CDs / DVDs [Pre-Recorded or CD-R / CD-RW / DVD-R / etc.]
Other Digital Materials
Films
Slides
Photographs
Prints / Lithographs / Etchings / Screenprints / etc.
Videotapes
Unique Art Objects
|
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| |
| 11c. Press and Promotional Materials |
| Announcements, Mailing Cards, etc.
Newspaper / Magazine / Media Clippings
Posters / Flyers
Other Press or Promotional Materials - Please describe below.
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| Emailings |
| 11d. Printed Publications |
| Artists' Publications
Brochures
Broadsides / Small Press
Commercially Published Materials
Checklists / Performance Programs / Price Lists
Programs of Events
Publication or Merchandise Catalogues
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| 11e. Other |
| Layouts / Sketches / Instructions for Installations
Layouts / Sketches / Instructions for Performances
|
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Part 12.
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| 12. What years does the materials cover? |
| 1970-1979
1980-1989
1990-1999
2000-2005
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Part 13.
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| 13a. How is the material stored? |
| Other Boxes
File Cabinets
Flat Files
Three-Ring Binders
|
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| |
| 13b. Are some or all of these storage units “archival”? |
| Some |
Part 14.
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| 14a. Estimated Number of Boxes or Milk-Crate Sized Storage Units |
| 11 - 20 |
| 14b. Estimated Number of Archive Drawers |
| 1 - 10 |
| 14c. Estimated Number of Archive Notebooks |
| 1 - 10 |
| Other Archive Storage Units - Please describe below. |
| |
| 14d. Estimated the total Linear Feet. ["Linear Feet" is standard measure of the quantity of archival materials on the basis of shelf space occupied or the length of drawers in vertical files or the thickness of horizontally filed materials. For example, a moderately full manila folder file is typically 3/4 of an inch wide at the bottom. Approximately 16 folders equal approximately 1 linear foot.] |
| ---- |
| or |
| I don’t know |
Part 15.
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| 15. Is the historical materials - or archives - inventoried or catalogued in any way, either formally or otherwise? |
| No |
Part 16.
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| 16a. Is there a key, index or finding aid to the materials inventoried? |
| No |
| 16b. Paper-based: |
| Not Applicable |
| 16c. Electronic Based: |
| Not Applicable |
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| |
Part 16 / Electronic Files & Archival Management
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| 16f. Does the organization have a back-up program, or back-up schedule, for its electronic records and perform monitoring of its removable media (i.e. floppies, ZIP disks, CD-ROMs, DVDs, portable hard drives, etc.)? |
| Yes |
| 16g. Who is responsible for working with the archival material? |
| Other - Please describe below. |
|
| The gallery director |
Part 17.
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| 17. How are new materials processed? |
| No System |
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| |
Part 18.
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| 18. What, if any, conservation methods are in place for both physical materials and electronic data? |
| None or Limited |
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Part 19.
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| 19. What type of climate-controls are present in the area[s] in which the archives are stored? |
| No or minimal climate controls [i.e. in an attic, basement, unheated / uncooled storage area, etc.] |
|
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Part 20.
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| 20a. What are the goals for the historical materials for the next year? |
| To begin organizing files for archiving |
|
| To gather organized materials into archival storage boxes that are numbered and labelled |
|
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| 20b. What are the biggest challenges to reaching these short-term goals? |
| Time, assistance and money |
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| 20c. What goals are in place for the historical materials for the next three to five
years? |
| See above |
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| 20d. What are the biggest challenges to reaching these long term goals? |
| See above |
|
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| 20e. Are there any additional goals for the organizations historic materials? |
| Long term we plan to apply for permanenet musuem status |
|
| To build a new building at our current site that will contain archival areas for art and artifacts |
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Part 21.
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| 21. Estimated cost to achieve these archival goals for the next year. |
| $10,001 - $15,000 |
Part 22.
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| 22. Estimated cost to achieve these archival goals for the next five years. |
| $20,001 - $25,000 |
Part 23.
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23. Archival issues visual arts organizations could / should address collectively in the next one to two years? Ranked: 1 (highest priority) to 5 (lowest priority).
Information on conservation / preservation |
| Rank = 1 |
| 23a. Information on cataloguing techniques |
| Rank = 1 |
| 23b. Information on digitizing previously published materials |
| Rank = 1 |
| 23c. Information on digitizing materials |
| Rank = 1 |
| 23d. Other - Please describe below. |
| |
Part 24.
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24. What archival issues could / should visual arts organizations address
collectively in the next three to five years? Ranked from 1 (highest priority) to 5 (lowest priority).
24a. Shared standards / protocols for digitization |
| Rank = 1 |
| 24b. Establish centralized locations for storage of, and access to, historical materials |
| Rank = 1 |
| 24c. Create databases / servers for archived materials |
| Rank = 1 |
| 24d. Other - Please describe below. |
| |
Part 25.
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| 25a. Is the organization a member of, or in contact with, any organizations concerned with archival issues? |
| No |
| 25b. Who? |
| |
Part 26.
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| 26. Additional information, comments, observations, and questions. |
| |
Finish
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| Who executed this survey. |
| Deborah Fries |
|
| Converging Arts Media Organization |
| Is this survey complete and all appropriate questions answered? |
| Yes |