About
Our Mission
Why Not Art celebrates art and artists as we build community support and connection for all. We highlight the joy, creativity and resilience of the arts by showcasing artwork and performances by local artists. We host events and exhibitions that add to the vibrancy of the local community in Gowanus, Brooklyn as well as cross-promoting and championing the broader artistic community. Our goal is to create sustainable economic and social opportunity, open and accessible to all, across Brooklyn and beyond.
Who We Are
Grace R. Freedman, Ph.D.
Managing Director and Founder
A Brooklyn resident and community advocate for over 25 years, Grace has a vision to create an inclusive, diverse, accessible arts space that will support and celebrate living NYC artists and add to the vibrancy and culture of Gowanus, Brooklyn. Her experience in nonprofit fundraising, community building, and fostering collaboration among diverse groups will provide a foundation for creating this dynamic new space in Brooklyn.
Select professional and educational experience: Beam Center (Director of Development); Dancewave (Board Chair and Co-Chair of Capital Campaign), Forth on Fourth Avenue (FOFA), Committee of the Park Slope Civic Council (Co-Chair), Thinkmap (Project Manager), NYU (Public Policy Professor), Columbia University (HIV/AIDS Community Health Researcher). Education: Ph.D. and MA, Columbia University, NYC and BA from New College, Sarasota, FL.
Michael James Freedman
Artist and Founder
A successful artist and entrepreneur, Michael took a few years off from fine art to start, run, and then sell Vocabulary.com, an educational technology company. He is now making and selling his own art at MichaelJamesFreedman.com.
Select professional experience: Founder and CEO at Vocabulary.com and Thinkmap.com, Director of Business Development (Razorfish)
Education: Fine Arts and Mathematics, dual BA, New College, Sarasota, FL
Sylvie Freedman
Curatorial Assistant and Social Media Manager
Lifelong Gowanus resident Sylvie was raised in the bright community of Brooklyn and wants to continue to live and work in the borough, creating art and fostering community for other local artists.
Sylvie is a student at The New School in their Dual Degree BA/BFA program majoring in Fine Arts and Visual Studies with a minor in printmaking (expected graduation in 2022). She is a longtime artist, maker, educator and art student having worked at Beam Center and Beam Camp and graduating from Laguardia High School for the Visual Arts in 2017.
OUR STORY
When Michael and I had just graduated from college, we had a crazy idea to create Soul to Soul: A Concert in Modern Art— a combination visual art show and performance. Michael would paint a series of paintings inspired by the idea of the blues singer and I would perform classic songs by Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and other greats. It would be a one-night-only event, free and open to all.
We wrote and won (!) several grants, produced the show, invited local musicians, and did the 1990s version of viral marketing: wheat-pasted posters all around town. We hoped to get a nice crowd, but through word-of-mouth and early local press, we were stunned that literally hundreds of people showed up to the show.
Everyone had a blast and it was the most diverse crowd New College’s Ringling Mansion had probably ever seen. There were barefoot college students, tony old-money art collectors from Sarasota, friends of the Blues band and everyone in-between. The legendary Ahmet Ertegun from Atlantic Records even showed up! After the show, Michael and I packed up and moved to Brooklyn.
Now, 30 years later, we want to recapture that multidisciplinary energy and excitement in Why Not Art. We hope you will come to one of our art shows or events and spread the word about our project! — Grace R. Freedman
PAST Shows:
We were proud to host 6 pop-up art exhibitions from Oct 2021- June 2022.
-- Why Not Art's first show Rebirth: Brooklyn can still be viewed online.
Photos from Art + Jazz Party Reception (11/7/21) on Instagram
SPRING 2022:
-- Laughing on the Outside - April 1 - June 24, 2022 - Littlefield Gallery, 635 Sackett Street, Brooklyn, NY
Photos from Opening Reception HERE.
-- Reflections - A Collaboration with Michael James Freedman and Dancewave - May 7th to June 17, 2022
-- 3 Shows during the Arts Gowanus ArtWalk on Atlantic Ave, June 18-19 - Sunday June 2, 2022 at the Nu Hotel (85 Smith St at Atlantic Ave)
Abstract on Atlantic
Let's Chat About Climate Change
The Portrait Project
Our 2021-22 season is still available to view online. Please inquire for artwork availability - grace@whynotart.com
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