Miami Children’s Museum, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, and International Artist Victor Matthews will collaborate in installinga Children’s Sculpture Garden at the Museum’s Watson Island location during this year’s Art Basel.
International artist Victor Matthews serves on the board of Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation in New York and has been exhibited in numerous solo exhibitions in the US and abroad, including the 48th Venice Biennale, Museum Sala Uno (Rome), Stephen Wirtz Gallery (San Francisco), Perry Rubenstein Gallery (New York), Space SBH Gallery (St Barths) and The Sculpture Center (New York). Most recently, his work was chosen as part of a two-person exhibition for the 55th Venice Biennale, 2013. The work and the show then travelled to the BOCA Museum of Art from July-Sept 2013. At this years Art Basel Miami Victor will unveil a sculpture of his own and work alongside Rush Philanthropic and MCM education teams and youth in both NYC and Miami to create a permanent Children’s Sculpture Garden at MCM.
Founded by brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons, Rush Philanthropic is dedicated to providing inner-city youth with significant exposure and access to the arts, and to providing exhibition opportunities to emerging and underrepresented artists. Rush’s education programs (Rush Toddlers, Kids, and Teens, and Rush Gallery in the Schools) directly serve over 2,900 students each year. Victor and Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation are excited to partner with Miami Children’s Museum (MCM) in order to further our collective mission of engaging and educating youth through art.
“It’s great for Rush to have likeminded partners like Miami Children’s Museum. This collaboration not only allows Rush’s NYC students and their Miami peers to create a sculpture celebrating their mutual communities,” says Russell Simmons, Rush Philanthropic Co-Founder, “but it also promotes the importance of arts education during Art Basel, the biggest annual arts celebration in the country”.
In the weeks leading up to Art Basel Miami 2013, Victor Matthews will work with three groups of students to collaborate on an 8-foot sculpture inspired by his own work. Rush’s NYC students will use found items and imagery from their own NYC neighborhoods. Victor Matthews will then work with students from Miami Children’s Museum after school program to create their portion of the sculpture representative of themselves, their city, and culture; Miami sessions will be held at Miami Children’s Museum and at a local Rush partner school, the New World School. Miami sessions will be held during the week of November 18th. The sculpture will be part of MCM’s Children’s Sculpture Garden at the Museum’s Watson Island location.
Victor Matthews and the Rush Philanthropic Education team will also support Miami Children’s Museum’s ArtKids at Art Basel Miami Beach Convention Center location. From mixed media to building blocks and beyond, a variety of art exploration stations will be available for budding young artists to create their own original works of art. Participating children there will have the opportunity to create sculpture and other artworks inspired by the work of NYC and Miami students.
“Our partnership with Rush Philanthropic is a perfect example of how we can bring creativity and appreciation of the art world to all the children and families we come into contact with,” states Deborah Spiegelman, Executive Director and CEO of Miami Children’s Museum. “We look forward to more projects like this one in the future.”
Also during Art Basel, Miami Children’s Museum, Rush Philanthropic, and Russell Simmons will co-host a reception at MCM on Thursday, December 5 from 6pm- 7:30pm to view the sculpture. Please RSVP for this event no later than Monday, November 25 th to Yanet at (305) 373-KIDS (5437) ext 112 or yanet@miamichildrensmuseum.org.