FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 3, 2024

Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Media Contact: Maryl Fleisher
Email: MFleisher@GlendaleCA.gov  
Office: (818) 937-7806

City Media Contact: Stephanie Mkhlian
Email: SMkhlian@GlendaleCA.gov
Office: (818) 550-4844

BRAND ASSOCIATES PRESENTS BRAND 52: ANNUAL NATIONAL JURIED EXHIBITION OF WORKS ON PAPER

GLENDALE, CA - Brand Associates, in partnership with Brand Library & Art Center and Glendale Library, Arts & Culture, is pleased to announce the opening of the 52^nd Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper (Brand 52), on view from June 15 through August 9, 2024, at Brand Library & Art Center. The exhibition includes over 100 artworks chosen by juror Shana Nys Dambrot, a renowned art critic, author, and curator. The public opening reception on Saturday, June 15 from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM will be a festive and fun affair, bringing together artists from diverse backgrounds, including new artists and seasoned professionals whose work is widely known.

This year, over 1,500 artworks were submitted to Brand Associates through an open call process. As an experienced juror, Dambrot looked initially for artworks that demonstrate skill, innovation, finesse, beauty, power, and message. Dambrot notes: “For this ‘Paper’ extravaganza, I’ve gathered works that I feel are in deep dialogue with each other across a few key vectors. First and foremost, profound engagement with the materiality of paper as a medium, and in some cases as an object itself... Ultimately this is what everything I ended up including has in common—they embrace, elevate, explore, and expand what a work on paper can be.”

Exhibition Chairperson, Debra Thompson, is the President of Brand Associates and recently retired from her position as an adjunct Assistant Professor of Art History at Glendale Community College. Says Thompson: “Epic is not a word to be used lightly or often, but it fits Brand 52 in many ways. This year saw the largest number of artworks entered (1,574) and the largest number of artists chosen for exhibition (102). Our artists have mastered a difficult medium through painting, drawing, cutting, folding, molding, tearing, adding and subtracting, gluing and taping, weaving, and sewing. The results are by turn beautiful, profound, and engaging. Epic, indeed!” The majority of artworks on display in Brand 52 are available for purchase with a portion of the proceeds going to support cultural programming at Brand. Art and catalogs will be for sale at the opening event and beginning the following week from the Associates’ website: AssociatesOfBrand.org.

Gallery admission is free and open to the public during library open hours. On-site, limited, free parking is available; ride-share is encouraged. Brand Library & Art Center Hours: Tuesday - Thursday, 11:00 AM - 8:00 PM, Friday & Saturday, 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM, Closed Sunday & Monday. Learn more about Brand 52 at BrandLibrary.org/Gallery. Brand Library & Art Center is located at 1601 W. Mountain Street in Glendale, CA. 

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 ABOUT THIS EXHIBITION

The Annual National Juried Exhibition of Works on Paper has been organized and sponsored by Brand Associates since 1971 in cooperation with the City of Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department. It is one of the region’s most prestigious juried shows, drawing entries from across the country. Over the years the exhibition has evolved to include an increasingly diverse array of three-dimensional artworks as well as an expanding range of approaches to the two-dimensional paper surface.

This year’s juror joins a distinguished roster of jurors who have given their time, energy, and expertise over the 52 years this exhibition has been mounted. Included among these artists, gallerists, curators, and educators are Ara Oshagan (2023), Shannon Currie Holmes (2022), Marvella Muro (2021), Dan McCleary (2020), Alma Ruiz (2019), Edward Goldman (2018), Leslie Jones (2017), Jack Rutberg (2014), Peter Frank (2011), Lita Albuquerque (2007), Ruth Weisberg (1985), and Millard Sheets (1979) among many other prominent arts professionals.

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ABOUT SHANA NYS DAMBROT

Art critic, curator and author Shana Nys Dambrot was selected at Brand 52’s juror. Based in Downtown LA, Dambrot is the former Arts Editor for the L.A. Weekly, the co-founder of 13ThingsLA, and a contributor to the Village Voice, Flaunt, Artillery, and other culture publications. She studied Art History at Vassar College and is the recipient of the Rabkin Prize for Art Criticism, the Mozaik Art Writers Prize, and the LA Press Club National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Critic of the Year award. She has curated and juried many exhibitions, writes prolifically for exhibition catalogs and monographic publications, and speaks at galleries, schools, and cultural institutions nationally. As an experienced juror, Dambrot looks initially for artworks that demonstrate skill, innovation, finesse, beauty, power, and message. Her goal is for the final selections to produce coherence, conversation, and balance across an entire group of high-quality artworks. We are proud to present a wonderful Brand 52 that was crafted with her careful eye.

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ABOUT BRAND ASSOCIATES

Brand Associates is a nonprofit community-based organization that endeavors to make possible and support a rich array of cultural, arts, and educational programming at the iconic Brand Library & Art Center. For over 50 years, the organization has created an enthusiastic membership base throughout Glendale and beyond to support an array of inclusive, diverse, and free events such as music, dance, visual arts, film, special events, and talks for all ages. Founded in 1969, the organization aspires to continue growing the depth and diversity of programming at Brand, making it a place where the arts and community can truly connect. Become a member today at AssociatesOfBrand.org.

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ABOUT BRAND LIBRARY & ART CENTER

Brand Library & Art Center has been a cornerstone for the arts in Southern California since 1956. This unique public library focuses on visual arts and music and provides free services and programs for a diverse community, including a collection of over 110,000 items, subject specialist librarians, exhibitions, concerts, lectures, dance performances, films, and hands-on craft programs for children and adults. Always evolving, Brand Library & Art Center continues to develop innovative programs, services, and collections to serve an ever-widening public interested in the arts. Brand Library & Art Center is a branch of the City of Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department.

@brandlibrary #brandlibrary

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ABOUT LIBRARY, ARTS & CULTURE      

Founded in 1907, the Glendale Library, Arts & Culture Department includes eight neighborhood libraries including the Brand Library & Art Center, a regional visual arts and music library and performance venue housed in the historic 1904 mansion of Glendale pioneer Leslie C. Brand, and the Central Library, a 93,000 square foot center for individuals and groups to convene, collaborate and create. The department also serves as the chief liaison to the Glendale Arts and Culture Commission which works to continually transform Glendale into an ever-evolving arts destination. Glendale Library Arts & Culture is supported in part through the efforts of the Glendale Library Arts & Culture Trust (GLACT) GLACT.org. For more information visit GlendaleLAC.org, or contact Library, Arts & Culture at (818) 548-2021 or via email at LibraryInfo@GlendaleCA.gov.  

@myglendalelac #myglendalelac

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ABOUT GLENDALE      

Known as the “Jewel City,” Glendale is the fourth largest city of Los Angeles County. With a population of more than 200,000, Glendale is a thriving cosmopolitan city that is rich in history, culturally diverse, and offers nearly 50 public parks, and easy access to a municipal airport. It is the home to a vibrant business community, with major companies in healthcare, entertainment, manufacturing, retail, and banking.