New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, in partnership with the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, is pleased to announce the opening of working on it, our Winter/Spring-2013 exhibition at the Gallery Space at Wagner. Staged in commemoration of Black History Month, working on it features oil paintings by celebrated artist and New York University alumnus Danny Simmons. The exhibit is cosponsored by the NYU Wagner Black Student Alliance (BSA) and curated by NYU Steinhardt faculty Ann Chwatsky and NYU Wagner’s Frankie Crescioni-Santoni. An opening reception featuring live music by the NYU African Percussion Ensemble will be held on Wednesday, February 20th, 6:00-8:00pm, and is open to the public via RSVP at wagner.nyu.edu/events.
Daniel “Danny” Simmons, Jr. is a painter, author, philanthropist, and art scene visionary. He earned a degree in social work from New York University and was the recepient of a master’s in public finance and a honorary PhD in fine arts from Long Island University. Older brother of hip-hop impresario Russell Simmons and rapper Joseph Simmons (“Reverend Run” of Run DMC), he is founder and president of the Rush Arts Gallery in Chelsea and the Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn. He also founded and serves as vice-president of the non-profit Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, and until recently was a chairman for the New York State Council on the Arts. Along with his brother Russell, he established Def Poetry Jam, which has enjoyed long-running success on HBO. In 2004, he published Three Days As The Crow Flies, a fictional account of the 1980s New York art scene. He has also written a book of artwork and poetry called I Dreamed My People Were Calling But I Couldn’t Find My Way Home. Simmons’ artwork has been widely exhibited both nationally and internationally and in several world-renowned collections, including those of the United Nations, Chase Manhattan Bank, Deutsche Bank, and the Schomburg Center for Black Culture. Further samples of his work may be viewed at dannysimmons.net.