Dear ███████,

As you may have heard, Artists Space is in search of a new Executive Director following the announcement that Stefan Kalmár will leave his post in November 2016. Upon appointment, the new Director will be given executive authority over the operations and artistic direction of Artists Space.

In the meantime, we, as members of the staff of Artists Space, plan to collectively examine a number of aspects of the organization, and question how they might be improved. In lieu of stepping back and awaiting guidance, we would like to embrace this period of transition, in which authority roles are contested. We would like to do this by establishing internal exchanges and collaborations, which we plan to record and document. In order to sustain Artists Space’s position as a dynamic and relevant force in New York, it feels necessary to evaluate how we function as an institution. We would like to invite artists to mediate and lead this critical work, and for this to begin as soon as possible. We have provisionally titled this project Authorization Sessions.

We would like to extend an invitation to you to oversee a session with the staff of Artists Space. This session should take place between November 2016 and February 2017. We can offer a fee of $████ for participating in this project, along with any necessary associated costs such as travel and other related expenses. You are welcome to interpret the nature and scope of this project however you see fit. The terms and details of this session (duration, budget, documentation, authorship) are open to negotiation with the staff. We hope that these sessions will encourage each other, the artist included, to reach positions and proposals that can have far-reaching consequences for the future of the organization. We intend to introduce this work to our new Executive Director when they start at Artists Space in early 2017.

You are one of four artists invited to lead these sessions. We thought of you because of the breadth of your approach in distinct circumstances: schools, neighborhoods, art institutions, project spaces, higher education, activism, etc. The staff discussed your commitment to education and curatorial work and are interested in how you seem to adamantly hold on to your identity and methodology as an artist even in tackling these new roles. We encourage you to devote your attention to the quality and vigor of the collaborative work that might be possible in this endeavor, over and above anticipating the public display or distribution of resulting records and materials. That said, we envisage this work having a public life in some form and, once again, this should be determined in conversation with the staff.

We would be delighted if you accepted our invitation and are all excited at the prospect of working with you. We are certain that you will have questions for us and we invite you to propose a time for a preliminary meeting with all of us.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

Sent 11/03/2016