The collaborators of The Art Handling Olympics and Dan Cameron Present Employee of the Month by Dan Cameron, Therapeutic Advisor.
It is with deep pride that we announce the opening of Employee of the Month, a group exhibition featuring original artworks made by many of the most gifted day-residents of the Marianne Boesky Gallery. Since its inception, the gallery has been in the forefront of the NY art world’s commitment to provide some of society’s most maladjusted and deprived citizens with the thing they need most: a second chance. For most, if not all, of the participating artists in the exhibition, Employee of the Month is much more than another show. It’s a genuine opportunity for many of them to re-enter society, finally leaving the mistakes of the past behind.
Here at Boesky Gallery, we take particular pride in the success of our outpatient services. Despite the pitiful state of many of these young people’s delusions about themselves and the world when they first wash up on our doorstep, our ‘boot camp’ approach to the cultural realignment process has many of the participants able to take care of many of their basic needs within a few weeks. As they begin to adapt to their new surroundings, we’ve found through close observation of our charges that many of them demonstrate an active interest in their surroundings, and even, over time, a growing desire to participate. We strongly encourage that participation, because it makes our ‘artists’ feel like they belong, knowing that if they stick to the straight and narrow, and work hard, someday a watercolor that they created with their one good hand might end hanging in the reception area of the second largest dental clinic in Queens.
That’s the most important reason we started the Employee of the Month program: to give the outside world a chance to share in our success stories, and to give Ted, Brent, Nick, Jay, Shane, Ryan and Pat (not their real names) permission to dream about what’s possible. After all, they understand, more than anybody, that not every artist can have their name on a billboard, but they also know that before they can walk with their heads held high, they’re going to be limping a while longer.
--Therapeutic Advisor Dan Cameron