Talks & Performances

Dialogue and Discourse: Ben Shahn and Public Art

Jun. 12, 2025 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Scheuer Auditorium

Join us for a conversation on the potential and complexities of creating public art in the United States that draws on Ben Shahn’s abilities to galvanize his politics while working in and around government-funded projects. This panel features artists Damien Davis and Adrienne Elise Tarver, who have each recently completed public commissions with the MTA and Public Art Fund, respectively, alongside Allison Rudnick, New Deal scholar and Associate Curator of Drawings and Prints at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, moderated by Thomas Crow, the Rosalie Solow Professor of Modern Art at NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts.

This program is held in conjunction with the exhibition Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity. 

Tickets: $15 General; $10 Students and Seniors; $10 Jewish Museum members
Doors open at 6 pm; Includes Museum Admission

Entrance to the Ben Shahn exhibition at the Jewish Museum, with red walls, white architectural columns, and a painting of three men in suits and top hats visible through open doors.

Installation view of Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity at the Jewish Museum, NY, May 23–October 12, 2025. Photo by Dario Lasagni.