Mission Statement:
319 Scholes supports digital arts and experimentation through exhibitions, lectures, panels, participatory workshops, and live performances. We use a multidisciplinary approach to examine technology and its effects on our communities, relationships, and the body. Grounded in the belief that art is the best way to navigate the potential of networked culture, we aim to cultivate challenging and experiential modes of engaging with new media. Established in 2009, 319 Scholes is run by artists, curators and a core group of collaborators, operating out of a 3,000 sq. ft. gallery space in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Staff:
Igal Nassima
Founding Director
Igal Nassima is a programmer and artist from Istanbul, Turkey. His work focuses on creating socially networked environments for communities to create and form their own bodies of work. Igal received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Worcestor Polytechnic Institute, completed an undergraduate thesis at SRI International’s Artificial Intelligence Center, and obtained his master’s degree from the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University’s Tisch School of Arts. He founded 319 Scholes in 2009 and is a co-creator of MyBlockNYC, an interactive mapping website that captures personal video accounts of New York City’s life and culture, which was included in MoMA’s Talk To Me exhibition in 2011.
His work has been displayed at numerous festivals, museums and gallery shows worldwide, including the Museum of Modern Art, The New Museum, Whitney Museum of American Art, Bowery Poetry Club, Danspace Project at St. Mark’s Church and Arts for Transit: MTA.
Lindsay Howard
Curatorial Director
Lindsay Howard is a curator and researcher based in New York. In her role as 319 Scholes’ Curatorial Director, Lindsay oversees programs that support art creation, dialogue, exhibition, and preservation. She is responsible for shaping the organization’s artistic vision by researching and coordinating exhibitions, as well as educational/community development projects. In 2011, she launched the Guest Curator program, which provides a platform and resources for rigorous, scholarly exhibitions in the fields of net art, new media, interactive art, sound art, and performance. She initiated and oversaw 319 Scholes’ website re-launch in March 2012. In addition to her work at 319 Scholes, Lindsay conducts research and organizes programs as the Curatorial Fellow at Eyebeam: Art & Technology Center, the second person to hold this position in the organization’s 15-year history.
Ellie Bastani
Fundraising Manager
Ellie Bastani earned a bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Psychology, and a master’s degree in Teaching Education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Most recently, she has completed her second master’s in International Education at New York University with a minor in media studies. She was also a Research Fellow for Blue Kitabu, an organization focusing on developing education for under-served youth who are diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Ellie’s experience ranges from higher education, student affairs, teaching and curriculum design to photography and human rights, and international affairs and development.
Geetha Pedapati
Digital Archivist
Geetha Pedapati is a designer, artist and student based in New York City. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree within the Interactive Telecommunications Program at New York University’s Tisch School of Arts, while working at the Whitney Museum of Contemporary Art. Her current research at 319 Scholes examines the role of documenting and archiving new media art and experience.
Sam Hart
Technical Director
Sam Hart oversees the space, manages installation, and maintains the gallery’s equipment library. Also a curator of the music program, he focuses on contemporary electronic exhibitions, multi-media projects, and experimental sound pieces. His artistic practice explores physical phenomena, perception, and spacial relationships through immersive sculptural installation works. Sam studied Chemical Physics at Wesleyan University and currently performs computational biology research as a part of the Sloan-Kettering Institute‘s HOPP program in an effort to better understand and combat neurological cancers.