Press Release FOR RELEASE: October 10, 2019 Images Located here.

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Visual Art Exhibition featuring 15 Emerging Artists with to Tour Nationally, November 2019–September 2020

(WASHINGTON)—VSA, the Kennedy Center’s international organization on arts and , will present artwork by 15 emerging young artists with disabilities in a traveling exhibition. Titled Connected, this year-long national tour kicks off in Washington, D.C. at the Rayburn House Office Building on October 22, 2019, and is presented through generous support from Volkswagen Group of America.

The 2019 VSA Emerging Young Artists Competition, a Arts and Disability Program of the Kennedy Center, drew submissions from talented young artists with disabilities, ages 16-25, from around the U.S. This year’s theme, around which the artists were challenged to create work, asks artists to connect, to span new distances, and to see unexpected relationships. The winners, selected from a pool of hundreds of applicants, were chosen based on the quality of their work, artistic proficiency, and enlightening or compelling interpretations of the theme.

“What was the last connection, or disconnection, you made? Was it via a story, idea, or commonality? The ties we experience, whether positive or negative, spark a greater understanding of our connected lives. It can overwhelm or it can create important new discoveries.” said Betty Siegel, Director of VSA and of the Kennedy Center. “These young artists have delved into connections in their lives that resonate deeply with their work. It also makes visible what is often overlooked and challenges us to see the world from a different point of view, and through their personal lens. We look forward to seeing the impact these 15 individuals and their work will have on invoking unity and inclusivity across the nation. We thank Volkswagen Group of America for their continued support in elevating the work of young artist with disabilities.”

2019 marks the 18th year of the program in which VSA’s Emerging Artists Competition challenges young artists with disabilities to demonstrate their talents and skills across visual arts genres. The winners receive a total of $60,000 in cash awards as well as national recognition via the exhibition, which will travel to museums and galleries as part of a one-year national tour. As part of their award package, the winners also receive all-expense paid travel to Washington, D.C. for three days of educational events and seminars October 22–24, 2019, including a reception at the Rayburn House Office Building on October 22. Over the three days, the artists will convene at the Kennedy Center for a series of professional development workshops, which will provide skill- building and practical knowledge-sharing opportunities to support career growth. Volkswagen Group of America has supported the program through funds and board support since 2002. Additionally, the company will display the art in its Herndon, Virginia headquarters for employees and visitors to view as part of the national tour and will host a reception at Volkswagen’s D.C. offices for the artists on October 23.

“Volkswagen has been connected to the Kennedy Center for 18 amazing years. Our support of the VSA Emerging Young Artists Program reminds us we are all part of one world, and the arts have a unique way of bringing us all together to appreciate beauty in all its diverse forms.” said David Geanacopoulos, Senior Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and Public Policy. “This program continues to serve as a testament to the ability of the arts to encourage accessibility and inclusion, principles that Volkswagen Group of America strives to uphold in our business. This year’s emerging young artists inspire me to appreciate how connected we all are, and how we need to stop and appreciate the good all around us. I look forward to sharing the artists’ award- winning work both in our Washington Office and North American Sales and Marketing headquarters in Virginia.”

Artists Michelle Miles, age 22, of Charlottesville, Virginia won the $20,000 Grand Prize for hand model, a short film. Miles's recent work demonstrates an interest in how we conceal and reveal aspects of our identities, specifically through signifiers of disability—in this piece, using her own hands affected by her neuromuscular condition. She first explored the images and fantasies of her own personal experiences, and then began an investigation of a new way to represent disability in conversation with the symbols, colors, and gestures of classical art, where positive representations of disability are largely absent. The film hand model accentuates how her gestures and ways of gripping objects tend to reference the hands found frequently in Renaissance-era paintings. In the film, she uses objects that symbolize beauty, femininity, or sexuality, positioning disability in realms where it is traditionally excluded. Miles graduated from the University of Virginia in May of 2019, and works as the Access and Inclusive Education Intern for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Savannah Magnolia, age 23, of Tampa, Florida took the $10,000 First Prize for After Getting Your Heart Ripped Out, an acrylic painting on canvas. With a background in the health sciences, laboratory precision, and the hidden physiology of the body, Magnolia’s work merges science with art. Instead of depicting this combination as stoic medical textbook illustrations, she re- presents anatomy through stylized forms, hyper-saturated colors, and precise technical execution without using tape or stencils to create shapes. Creating these paintings has helped her embrace life with an autoimmune disorder by illustrating that diseases are often invisible on the surface. She explores the role that medicine can play in art and that art can subsequently play in medicine by addressing both the positive and negative aspects of healthcare. She hopes to have a successful career as a painter, to secure gallery representation, and to continue to spark conversations about the convergence of art and science. Magnolia received a BFA from Ringling College of Art and Design. She works as a studio artist in Tampa, Florida.

Daveed Baptiste, age 22, of Brooklyn, New York won the $6,000 Second Prize for Hood Dandy, a still photograph. Born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and later immigrating to North Miami, Florida when he was nine, this photo series examines the social dynamics within the Haitian-American home by constructing sets of intimate living spaces and positioning both black and Haitian- Americans in these re-imagined realities. The sets are built by collecting and rearranging material elements that construct the Haitian identity, symbolizing financial status, choice, and personality. As a child, Baptiste remembers his parents understanding his attention difficulties, hyperactivity, and impulsiveness as “bad manners” and “misbehavior” that often resulted in physical discipline. Hood Dandy aims to relate these frustrations through the home’s interior and the subject’s face. Currently Baptiste is creating a cross-disciplinary project for his final year at Parsons School of Design. He will graduate in 2020.

The following artists will receive an Award of Excellence in the amount of $2,000:  Jesus Miguel Avena, Santa Fe, New Mexico, age 21  Timothy Bair, New York, New York, age 22  Aurora Berger, South Strafford, Vermont, age 24  Rora Blue, San Francisco, California, age 23  Malcolm Corley, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, age 20  Lorenzo DiAndrea, Bound Brook, New Jersey, age 22  Libby Evan, Albany, New York, age 21  Courtney Lowry, Baltimore, Maryland, age 22  Meghan McDunnah, Bar Harbor, Maine, age 21  Julia McGehean, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, age 23  Julia O’Bryan, Taylor, Texas, age 22  Lexie Peterson, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, age 21

The winners were selected by a jury of noted art professionals, including Kayleigh Bryant- Greenwell, Head of Public Programs with Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery; Amanda Cachia, curator and Assistant Professor of Art History at Moreno Valley College; Brandon Cordrey, artist and Director of VAE Raleigh; Carol Rhodes Dyson, curator and founder of Social Impact Arts Collective; Xang Mimi Ho, fashion photographer and professor of Art at George Mason University; Hanna Lee, artist and art educator; Mikaela Jaros, art educator and regional director for Visual Arts Scholastic Event Texas; and Isaac Powell, Associate Professor of Art at Eastern Kentucky University.

FUNDING CREDITS: The VSA Emerging Young Artists Program is sponsored by Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.

ABOUT THE OFFICE OF VSA AND ACCESSIBILTY AT THE KENNEDY CENTER The Kennedy Center has been at the forefront of making the performing arts accessible to persons with disabilities. Serving the international disability and arts community, the Office of VSA and Accessibility, a Jean Kennedy Smith Arts and Disability program, provides opportunities for people with disabilities of all ages across the globe to learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. The Office focuses its efforts on cultural access for patrons and visitors with disabilities; arts and initiatives; professional development for educators and cultural administrators; and career opportunities in the arts for people with disabilities. For more information, please visit http://education.kennedy-center.org/education/#Access.

ABOUT EDUCATION AT THE KENNEDY CENTER The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sets a national standard for arts learning. Working through model programs and a nationwide network of partners, the nation’s cultural center harnesses the power of the arts to address education challenges, accelerate best practices, and uplift citizen artists. Across all its programs, the Kennedy Center is committed to increasing accessible, inclusive opportunities for people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in, learn about, and learn through the arts. New York Times best-selling author and illustrator Mo Willems serves as the Center’s first-ever Education Artist-in-Residence. Throughout his two-year residency, Willems will invite kids and former kids into the creative process with original productions and hands-on, interactive moments. On September 7, 2019, the Kennedy Center opened the REACH, an immersive arts and learning center with significant space and programming for arts education.

As an essential component of the living memorial to President Kennedy, the Center’s Education programs utilize the arts to embrace President Kennedy’s ideals of service, justice, freedom, courage, and gratitude. By cultivating the citizen artist in everyone, the Kennedy Center brings the arts and creativity to the center of our lives. For more information, please visit kennedy-center.org/education/.

ABOUT VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA, INC. Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, one of the world’s leading automobile manufacturers and the largest carmaker in Europe. It operates a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee and houses the U.S. operations of a worldwide family of distinguished and exciting brands including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen, as well as VW Credit, Inc.

Founded in 1955, the company's headquarters are in Herndon, VA, Volkswagen Group of America brings vehicles to the U.S. that marry the science of engineering and the art of styling, with the goal of offering attractive, safe, and eco-conscious automobiles that are competitive and set world standards in their respective classes. The company has approximately 6,000 employees in the United States and sells its vehicles through a 1,000-strong dealer network.

For more information, please visit the Kennedy Center website.

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PRESS CONTACT: Brittany Laeger The Kennedy Center (202) 416-8445 [email protected]