The Academy Blog

An artistic maverick, Neil Jenney is committed to exploring, and ultimately transcending, realism as both style and philosophy. Having designated his early work “Bad Painting” and his post-1970 output “Good Painting,” he challenges models of taste and subject matter while pursuing an idiosyncratic approach to depicting culture and place.

Jenney characterizes his current work as “painted sculpture,” and uses handmade frames to present crisp, high-contrast canvases. Providing an “architectural foreground” as well as—through stenciled captions—guides to title and setting, the frames situate the paintings as both objects and interpretations.

Linda Yablonsky has been writing about art and artists, as both critic and journalist, for the past thirty years. Her byline has appeared in The New York Times, Bloomberg, Palmer, W, Wallpaper, Elle Decor, among many others, and contributes the monthly New York Insider column to The Art Newspaper as well as reviews. She is also the author of The Story of Junk: A Novel, numerous essays for artist monographs and exhibition catalogues, and is currently at work on the first full biography of the artist Jeff Koons.

Neil Jenney Photo Credit: Debra Jenney
Linda Yablonsky Photo Credit: Grace Roselli for the Pandora’s BoxX Project

Ruth Adams
Co-Executive Director of Art Omi
Ruth Adams is Co-Executive Director of Art Omi in Ghent, NY, where she provides leadership for the multi-faceted contemporary arts center’s 120-acre Sculpture and Architecture Park and Gallery, five international artist residencies, arts events, and education programming. Together with a Board of Trustees and Program Advisory Boards, totaling 90 people from the arts and business communities, Adams is dedicated to Art Omi’s vitality and sustainability, with a current focus on reputation building, destination creation, exemplary visitor services, internationalism, equity, inclusivity, and programming excellence. Adams has been in the arts residency field for 32 years and is always learning new ways to serve and support artists in community with one another, in the unique setting of a residency.

Sarah Philp
Deputy Director of Delfina Foundation
Sarah Philp is Deputy Director of Delfina Foundation, the largest international visual arts residency programme in the UK, where she focuses on partnerships, future strategy and fundraising for the Foundation’s capital campaign. Prior to joining Delfina in June 2023, she was Director of Programme and Policy at Art Fund, where she led on the development and delivery of the charity’s grants programmes, museum and gallery support, and sector policy and research. She worked with partners nationwide across the museum and visual arts sectors, latterly launching new research and funding to support the sector in its recovery from Covid-19. Sarah is a founding member of the Association of Women in the Arts, has advised organisations including Gerry’s Pompeii, the King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter and the Churches Conservation Trust, mentored for Arts Emergency, and served as a trustee for the Association for Art History and Michael Clark Company.

Gabriella Wilks
Programs Director of Black Rock Global Arts Foundation
Gabriella Wilks has worked alongside world-renowned artist Kehinde Wiley since 2019 and is currently Programs Director of Black Rock Global Arts Foundation (BRGAF), the non-for-profit founded by Wiley. She has produced international exhibitions and special projects for Wiley’s studio, launched and developed the Black Rock Senegal artist residency program, and successfully established 501c3 status for BRGAF. She has been integral in defining the growth and development of Wiley’s non-for-profit work in the US and Africa and has facilitated over 60 successful residencies for artists in Dakar, Senegal. She spearheaded the inaugural participation of Black Rock Senegal in the DAK’ART Biennale and secured on-going exhibition partnerships for BRGAF with 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African- American Arts + Culture.

Before working with Wiley, Gabriella worked in the Live Programming Department of MoMA PS1 assisting with the production and curation of live performances and public programs for Sunday Sessions. A selection of produced projects include: Black Rock 40 (DAK’ART Biennale, Dakar, Senegal), Go (Moynihan Train Hall, USA), Rumors of War (VMFA, USA), Self-Addressed (Jeffrey Deitch, USA), and The Prelude (National Gallery, UK). She is currently based in Brooklyn, New York.

Dexter Wimberly is an American curator based in Japan who has organized exhibitions in galleries and institutions around the world including the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City; The Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas, Texas; The Harvey B. Gantt Center in Charlotte, North Carolina; KOKI Arts in Tokyo, Japan; BODE in Berlin, Germany; and The Third Line in Dubai, UAE. His exhibitions have been reviewed and featured in publications including The New York Times and Artforum; and have received support from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, and The Kinkade Family Foundation. Wimberly is a Senior Critic at New York Academy of Art, and the founder and director of the Hayama Artist Residency in Japan. He is also the co-founder and CEO of the online education platform, CreativeStudy.
Photo credit: Hiroki Kobayashi