NARS’ mission is geared towards creating community while fostering expansion and exchange of artistic and cultural practices. In March 2020, in response to the devastating impact that the COVID pandemic had on the cultural sector and specifically artists and in the development of their work, we dedicated part of the NARS Studios to 2-3 individual NY based artists per season who were in need of a space but were otherwise unable to afford it.
Each subsidized studio space was available for 3 months, as a work-space only. Throughout this time, artists had 24/7 access to their spaces and were able to liaise with a diverse artistic community.
The NARS Foundation is grateful to have been one of the selected cultural institutions using one of the houses in Governors Island for their Summer-Fall season in 2020, 2021, and again in 2022.
Throughout the three summer seasons, NARS invited a selection of New York based artists to do a 3 month residency at our NARS x Governors Island Satellite Residency Program. The selected artists had access to a working space and benefited from the vibrant community of artists and institution working at The Island.
The satellite program in GI was a unique opportunity for NARS as it greatly impacted the visibility of our organization’s mission: to provide direct support to emerging artists and curators. The location of Governors Island made it not only accessible to visitors from Manhattan, Brooklyn, and beyond, but applicable to the communities which we serve, while simultaneously expanding our reach to new audiences.
