Mission
Smack Mellon is a nonprofit arts organization located in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Smack Mellon’s mission is to nurture and support emerging, under-recognized mid-career, and women artists in the creation and exhibition of new work by providing exhibition opportunities, studio workspace, and access to equipment and technical assistance for the realization of ambitious projects. We see ourselves as a vehicle whereby under-represented artists can create, explore, and exhibit their creative ideas outside the concerns of the commercial art world, offering many artists the exposure and recognition they deserve.
Values
We value artistic exploration, experimentation, and risk-taking. We value artists’ capacity to engage our communities in conversations that address pressing issues of our time. We honor our mission by focusing our support on NYC-based artists who have traditionally faced barriers to institutional and commercial opportunities. We prioritize those who identify as women, transgender, or non-binary, and/or who are from historically underrepresented racial, cultural, or economic backgrounds.
History
Smack Mellon was founded in 1995 by Andrea Reynosa and Kevin Vertrees in their loft at 135 Plymouth Street. David Baskin, James Hong, and Tommy Bordonaro provided a wealth of creative and technical support that was instrumental in the early development of the organization. From 1996–2004, Smack Mellon evolved to present exhibitions in dynamic spaces throughout the DUMBO neighborhood, thanks to generous space donations from the Walentas Family and Two Trees Management. Smack Mellon found homes in both a former rubber factory at 81 Washington Street and a former spice factory at 56 Water Street. In October 2005, Smack Mellon moved into its current home at 92 Plymouth Street, across from Brooklyn Bridge Park. Built by Robert Gair and designed by William Higginson, the 1880s structure is a converted boiler house that originally produced steam, providing heat and power to other facilities in the neighborhood. Smack Mellon worked with Sage & Coombe Architects to transform the building and create a unique cultural space that provides free admission to museum-scale contemporary art exhibitions, studio workspaces, and educational and public programs.
Smack Mellon recognizes that the land it sits on is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded homelands of the Lenape, the Munsee, the Manahatin, the Canarsie, the Matinecock, the Shinnecock, and other Indigenous nations. We acknowledge that our occupation of this site is predicated on the violent displacement, exclusion, and erasure of this region’s original inhabitants. We are grateful for the past, present, and future contributions of Indigenous people to this area, and we aim to honor them through our commitment to creating a more inclusive and equitable space for all.
Programs
Smack Mellon’s Exhibition Program provides opportunities to under-recognized artists, focusing on experimental projects in a diverse range of media within a broad range of relevant topics. Within a soaring former industrial space, our galleries offer artists ample room to explore their medium and present new and site-specific work. Exhibitions often present artists’ most ambitious works to date and, for many artists, their first major solo presentation in NYC. We prioritize solo exhibitions by women-identifying artists (inclusive of those who identify as transgender and nonbinary) and artists who do not have current commercial gallery representation in NYC. We also present group exhibitions featuring artists who tackle subjects that challenge us to reflect on the changing world in which we live. We engage our community through public programs that contextualize the work on display and offer insights into artists’ practices.
Launched in 2000, the Artist Studio Program seeks to address the worsening crisis in availability of affordable workspace for artists living and working in New York City. The program supports artists from historically underrepresented racial, cultural, or economic backgrounds, prioritizing those who identify as women, transgender, or non-binary. We provide six NYC-based early career artists with a free private studio space for an eleven-month period as well as access to our shared production facilities, a stipend, and exposure through both public open studios and studio visits with invited curators. Smack Mellon convenes a panel of artists and arts professionals to select the six Studio Artists from a competitive pool of applicants through an annual open call.
Art Ready is an eight-month long after school program that fosters the next generation of artists through mentorship, field trips, and hands-on education. Engaging young people in a way no other arts program does, Art Ready pairs NYC public high school students directly with working artist mentors, exposing them to life as a professional artist. The program begins in the fall with a series of studio visits, field trips, and a portfolio workshop. In the spring, the students work directly with their artist mentors who tutor the students in their creative process, introduce them to new ways of working, engage them in continuous critical reflection, and provide guidance as the students make decisions about their futures in the arts. The program culminates in an exhibition of student work in Smack Mellon’s gallery space.