FNAA BLOG

Category: Blog Post

  • Press Release: April 8 Gala VIP Opening

    Press Release: April 8 Gala VIP Opening

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

    March 27, 2026

    New American Art Gallery Celebrates Noise and Flesh: Crisis of the Image and Debuts on Bloomberg Connects

    New American Art Gallery at Westbeth Art Center

    Exhibition Opening Reception:

    55 Bethune St.

    NY NY

    Loft #G223

    Wednesday, April 8, 6–8 PM · Exhibition on View April 8–May 20, 2026

    NEW YORK, NY — The New American Art Gallery, the public face of the New American Art Foundation and a vital steward of living American culture, announces two landmark events unfolding simultaneously on April 8, 2026: the opening reception of its new exhibition, Noise and Flesh: Crisis of the Image, and the official launch of the Foundation’s digital guide on Bloomberg Connects, the prestigious free arts and culture application created by Bloomberg Philanthropies.

    New American Art Gallery, situated at Loft #G223 55 Bethune Street — in the legendary Westbeth Art Center complex in the heart of Manhattan’s Chelsea Art District, steps from the Whitney Museum of American Art — is the headquarters of the New American Art Foundation (formerly the Foundation for New American Art). The Foundation’s permanent collection constitutes an irreplaceable archive of the East Village High Renaissance (1980 – 1990): paintings, sculptures, video works, and audio recordings that document one of the most combustible and consequential moments in the history of American art. Alongside this historic patrimony, the Gallery continuously presents and champions the most frontier-edge visionary artists working today.

    The Foundation is directed by Phoebe Legere, whose curatorial vision has shaped the institution from its inception. As host and head writer of Roulette TV, the celebrated television program that spotlighted the most barrier-breaking and pioneering artists and musicians of the contemporary moment, Legere honed a commitment to artistic courage and formal risk that she now carries forward as Executive Director.

    The New American Art Foundation is dedicated to nourishing and amplifying the visionary artists who constitute the lifeblood of contemporary American culture — with particular attention to voices from underrepresented communities. In addition to its exhibition program, the Foundation offers free public panels, festivals, and performances, as well as free after-school, Saturday, and summer programs for low-income creative youth, educating the visionary artists of tomorrow while celebrating those of today.

    Noise and Flesh: Crisis of the Image

    On view April 8, 2026 through May 20, 2026, with an opening reception on Wednesday, April 8, from 6 to 8 PM, Noise and Flesh: Crisis of the Image confronts a cultural moment defined by collapse and saturation: a contracting art market, political disorientation, and images emptied of meaning by data, theory, and the relentless churn of trend. The exhibition calls for work that breaks decisively from the spectacles of contemporaneity and reclaims art as a site of intuition, risk, and inner necessity. The exhibition includes works by Alice Neel, Larry Rivers, Peter Beard, Anthony Haden-Guest, Rick Prol, Nina Sobell, Barnaby Ruhe, Darrell Thorne, Joan Belmar, and Ethan Shoshan.

    Drawing together diverse media and interdisciplinary approaches, Noise and Flesh invites work that resists reduction and affirms the spiritual, embodied, and eternal dimensions of human experience. This exhibition seeks a way forward through noise, toward flesh, soul, and the miracle of being human. The admission is free and open to the public.

    New American Art Foundation Joins Bloomberg Connects

    Concurrent with the opening of Noise and Flesh: Crisis of the Image, the New American Art Foundation officially launches its digital guide on Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and cultural application created by Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Foundation joins more than 1,400 of the world’s most distinguished cultural institutions — botanical gardens, historic houses, outdoor sculpture parks, and world-class museums — on a platform that makes art accessible from any mobile device, in any location, in over 40 languages. The Foundation’s guide offers photo, audio, and video content illuminating its permanent collection, current exhibitions, public events, and educational outreach programs.

    Bloomberg Connects is an expression of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ longstanding commitment to digital innovation in the arts, reflecting founder Michael R. Bloomberg’s conviction that cultural access is a public good. The platform features expert commentary, engaging audio content, accessibility features, interactive maps, and is available through Google Translate in more than 40 languages — ensuring that the collection and programs of the New American Art Gallery are available to any person, anywhere in the world, at any hour.

    “It has been a pleasure to partner with Bloomberg Philanthropies on the preparation of our guide. Their support for our mission and their excitement as they learned about our collection, our public service, and our educational programs encouraged us. Bloomberg Connects is an extraordinary platform — beautifully and thoughtfully constructed. Before the digital age, the salons where patrons, aesthetes, and artists gathered to forge the movements that defined modern art were sealed behind walls of privilege that almost no one could breach. Bloomberg Philanthropies has created truly visionary cultural access for anyone with a cell phone — honoring the democratic ideal at the heart of everything we do at the New American Art Foundation. We are honored to take our place alongside the prestigious cultural institutions that comprise this community. When we travel, we learn about sister institutions in other cities and countries. That is how art gets made: through cross-pollination, fertilization, and inspiration.” — Phoebe Legere, Executive Director, New American Art Foundation

    A selection of high-resolution images is available here: https://www.foundationfornewamericanart.org/press-images.html

    About New American Art Foundation

    The New American Art Foundation (formerly the Foundation for New American Art) is dedicated to presenting, preserving, and curating the work of artists from underrepresented communities who represent the lifeblood of American culture. The Foundation’s permanent collection encompasses landmark works of painting, sculpture, video, and sound from the East Village High Renaissance, as well as major works by the most visionary artists of the contemporary moment. In addition to its exhibition program, the Foundation provides free public panels, festivals, and performances, and offers free after-school, Saturday, and summer programs for low-income creative youth. The New American Art Gallery is located at Loft #G223 at 55 Bethune Street, New York, NY 10014, in the Westbeth Artists Housing complex.

    About Bloomberg Philanthropies

    Bloomberg Philanthropies invests in 700 cities and 150 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on creating lasting change in five key areas: the Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation, and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s giving, including his foundation, corporate, and personal philanthropy as well as Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consultancy that advises cities around the world. In 2023, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed $3 billion. For more information, visit bloomberg.org.

    MEDIA CONTACT

    Foundation for New American Art

    Vice President, Charles Richard

    212-777-7052

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  • A book about us!

    LOOK

  • Programa GRATUITO Para niños de 8 a 12

  • NYC’s Future Speaks Many Languages. Here’s How We’re Teaching Them.

    Girls playing instruments at Foundation for New Americn Aart headquarteers
    Young girls express their deepest emotions using the universal love language of music.

    El futuro habla muchos idiomas. 我们的未来是多语的. Notre avenir est multilingue.

    NEWSFLASH: The Foundation for New American Art is honored to announce that we have been awarded a 2026 Cultural Development Fund (CDF) grant from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA), in partnership with Mayor Zoran Mamdani. This award, bolstered by the CreateNYC Language Access Fund, is a powerful affirmation of our mission: using bilingual arts education to build belonging, confidence, and possibility for our city’s children.

    To me, this work is deeply personal. I heard French as a baby. That is my heritage – my Acadian and Abenaki ancestors crossed the northern border seeking opportunity. I know the heartbreak and resilience of those immigrants. My journey as a musician led me to Europe and eventually to China, where I fell in love with the 音乐(yīnyuè – music) of Mandarin. Language, to me, has always been friendship and possibility—it’s how we ask the universe for what we want. It’s why in our classrooms, we don’t just teach words—we unlock worlds.

    Our teaching is built on three ideas:

    First, it’s a two-way street. English-speaking kids dive into Spanish, and Spanish-speaking kids gain confidence in English. They don’t just learn from each other; they learn with each other, building a community where every language is an asset.

    Second, we use the body to teach the brain. Words stick when you move. We don’t just say “plátano” (ba-na-na) —we feel its triplet salsa rhythm in our hands and feet. Vocabulary lives in a gesture, grammar lives in dance steps. It’s learning that you don’t just think; you feel.

    Say BA-NA-NA! Clap the rhythm. That is a triplet – a beautiful Latin rhythm!

    And finally, this is about real-world belonging. In a city like ours, multilingualism is practical magic. It’s how you order your breakfast, make a new friend, or find your way. Let’s be honest: in New York, you’ll need some Spanish or Mandarin just to get anything to eat! We treat that not as a chore, but as a superpower. Our classroom is a microcosm of our vibrant New York , where speaking Spanish, Mandarin, or French isn’t exotic—it’s essential. It’s how we build a future where every child feels not just included, but indispensable.

    The Music of WE: How Our Languages Build Our Future
    La música del nosotros. La musique du nous. 我们的音乐，我们的未来。

    This grant will allow us to deepen this work, particularly for our Spanish-speaking communities. It recognizes that language access is equity. In our programs, a child’s home language is celebrated as a vital asset—a bridge to belonging, a tool for confidence, and a source of creative power.

    The magic happens when that confidence sparks. Take Carolina, a Spanish-speaking girl we recently cast in our new film, Children of the River. She struggled with the English “r” in “river,” a sound worlds away from the Spanish “r.” We recorded her takes, and she watched the footage. In that moment, she saw two things: the precise shape her lips needed to form to make the new sound, and the beautiful, budding actress she truly is. That’s the dual gift of this approach—practical skill and soaring self-worth.

    We are immensely grateful to the Department of Cultural Affairs, Mayon Zoran Mamdani, and the City Council. This support fuels our belief that through art and la amistad (friendship), we can create spaces where every child’s voice is heard, celebrated, and empowered to ask for the world.

    To learn more about our programs and philosophy, explore our forthcoming feature: “How Bilingual Arts Education Helps ELL Children Belong.” Join us at https://www.foundationfornewamericanart.org

    Read more: NYC’s Future Speaks Many Languages. Here’s How We’re Teaching Them.
    Written and read by Phoebe Legere, founder and Executive Director, New American Art Foundation

    Phoebe Legere is an internationally acclaimed artist, a composer, novelist, and underground performance legend whose work detonates the borders between music, film, visual art, and radical inquiry. Signed to Epic Records as a teenager, she exploded onto the cultural landscape, later sharing stages with David Bowie, Joni Mitchell, and Allen Ginsberg, while writing seven operas about female power and insurgent leadership. A celebrated film composer, her early hit Marilyn Monroe (Island Records) became a cult anthem, joining her broader catalogue of iconic scores for independent and experimental cinema.

    Her award-winning film The Gender Symphony (2024) — a fever dream of animation, philosophy, and gender alchemy — has seized 17 international prizes, including Best Soundtrack at the NY Independent Film Festival. Her newest bilingual single 2 Pianos, released with a climate video shot at Yaddo, blasted its way to #10 on the Canadian Groover chart.

    A lecturer at NYU, Executive Director of the Foundation for New American Art, and a doctoral candidate plumbing Indigenous epistemologies, queer futurism, and post-catastrophic aesthetics, Legere moves with equal fluency through the academy and the underground. The recipient of numerous awards and honors for innovation in music, film, and socially engaged art, she is currently building a monumental public sculpture, crafting a new feature film, mounting a Bundy Museum retrospective, and completing a transdisciplinary novel.

    phoebelegere.com

  • The Color Wheel debuts on Bloomberg Connects – January 2026

    PARENTS! GRANDPARENTS! CAREGIVERS! 🎨 We’ve got exciting news for you and your little ones. THE COLOR WHEEL is a vibrant children’s show debuting early 2026 on Bloomberg Connects.

    This empowering program brings art to neighborhoods that need it most, sparking creativity in young minds.

    Join the movement & give local kids a world of beauty #TheColorWheel

  • GIRL POWER

  • Community & Joy

    Welcome! Make yourself comfortable. You have a front row seat at our free afterschool program!

    Paint Brushes Not Guns

    Watch 30 seconds of our 2025 video.

  • Art for Every Child. Arte para Todos. 艺术给每个孩子

    Phoebe Legere conducting a diverse group of children
    Children learning the science of music in NYC

    Families of every background gather in our free afterschool program to paint, play instruments, dance, and imagine a better world together.

    Your donation makes it possible for children—English-speaking, Spanish-speaking, Chinese-speaking, all speaking the language of creativity—to grow up surrounded by beauty, culture, and community.

    Give today and join a circle of donors who believe that every child deserves art.
    All supporters are invited to our Donor Thank-You Celebration—una fiesta de creatividad,     快乐的社区聚会.

    Niños son sagrados.
    La creatividad es la herencia del alma.
    孩子的未来是我们共同的责任.

    Screenshot

  • Our programs are free

    because our miision is equity.

    Sharing our stories, singing our truth.

  • We Are Looking for the Great Artists of Tomorrow

    THE FUTURE ARTISTS OF TOMORROW

    Young boy looking at Hudson River through binoculars
    A still from our upcoming movie about Art and the Children of the River!

  • Meet The Foundation for New American Art

    Foundation for New American Art (FNAA), a nonprofit 501c3, was founded by multidisciplinary artist Phoebe Legere. Phoebe recognized a dire need to provide arts education programs to children living in low-income, underserved communities. Public schools in these districts suffer from having very low or absolutely no budgets for art/music/dance & theater curriculum.

    Phoebe Legere’s FNAA provides after-school programs, creates and hosts festivals, concerts, and community gatherings, offers free music and art classes, invites caregivers and grandfamilies to participate in creative arts sessions, and offers a haven for children who have no opportunities to express their artistic selves.

    Originally formed as the New York Underground Museum, a place to archive and showcase the works of both recognized and unrecognized artists of the community, the organization evolved into the Foundation for New American Art to offer much-needed cultural equity to children and families with little or no access to the Arts.

    The Foundation for New American Art offers the promise that neglected neighborhoods can achieve a considerable degree of much needed cultural equity. 

    We are happy to accept your donation to support our programs and no amount is too small. https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=JTDHKY54XR6N6

  • LET EVERY CHILD SING

    We Nurture The Visionary Artists of Tomorrow!

    The Lower East Side Children's Chorus
    The Lower East Side Children’s Chorus

    We created the Lower East Side Children’s Chorus to meet the needs of our students who desired to sing, write music and collaborate with their peers.