Paul Ramírez Jonas Joins Board of the Joan Mitchell Foundation
We are pleased to announce that artist and educator Paul Ramírez Jonas has been appointed to the Joan Mitchell Foundation's Board of Directors for a three-year term. Over the last twenty-five years, Ramírez Jonas has created works that range from large-scale public installations and monumental sculptures to performances, videos, and intimate drawings. Underlying his diverse practice is a vision to redefine the relationship between artist, artwork, and viewer, and his works and installations often encourage public participation and exchange. In addition to his artistic practice, Ramírez Jonas serves as an Associate Professor at Hunter College in New York. In 2008, he was the recipient of a Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grant.
“As an artist dedicated to social practice and to promoting the importance of creativity in our lives, Paul brings an important vantage and a shared commitment to equity and generosity—both core to the Foundation’s work and vision. His connection with young people, through his work as an educator, also enhances our understanding of the needs and aspirations of the future generation of artists,” said Christa Blatchford, the CEO of the Joan Mitchell Foundation. “As an artist-centered Foundation, the perspectives of working artists are essential to shaping our priorities. Our board composition ensures that at least one third of the members are artists. We’re delighted to have Paul’s voice at the table.”
From the outset of his career in 1989, Ramírez Jonas has seen himself as a reader and interpreter of objects, texts, and histories, creating new physical and conceptual forms that connect his source materials with his own vision and experience. In the mid-2000s, he began expanding his practice to connect more directly with the viewer, centering the public in the development and experience of his work. His 2017 project, Public Trust, which was recognized as an outstanding public art project by Americans for the Arts, invited individuals to declare and record personal promises as an exploration of communal commitment. His 2010 Creative Time project, Key to the City, involved 20,000 participants and centered around a key as a vehicle for exploring social contracts pertaining to trust, access, and belonging...