THIS IS NOT A RETREAT! NXTHVN Through the Years

Curated by Marissa Del Toro

Since 2018, NXTHVN has catalyzed the careers of 41 artists and 12 curators through a 10-month intensive Fellowship Program of mentorship, professional development, and hands-on training. Co-founded by Titus Kaphar and Jason Price, NXTHVN is a space where creatives expand their skills, network, and confidence. This presentation of artworks created by NXTHVN alumni artists is a reminder of the strength and power of network, camaraderie, and support founded through art education and residencies. At a time when initiatives and support for the arts are being eliminated, NXTHVN stands firm in supporting the work of talented artists and curators from around the world. 

THIS IS NOT A RETREAT! underscores the work and history of NXTHVN as an arts model that empowers artists and curators through education and access to a vibrant ecosystem. Each year at the beginning of the fellowship program, Kaphar advises the newly admitted fellows that their time at NXTHVN will be quick but special with a reminder that “this [experience] is not a retreat.” Instead, it is a space where artists and curators learn to fortify themselves with entrepreneurial knowledge, deeper creative purpose, inspiration, and greater community. This exhibition honors the individuals who have contributed, experienced, supported, and made NXTHVN into a prominent institution where access, knowledge, independence, excellence, artistic liberation, and innovation flourish. 

This presentation brings together a grouping of NXTHVN’s alums from Cohort 01 to 05 through a selection of artworks from supportive collectors who have acquired significant pieces from these artists. Presented in ode of a salon hang, the included artworks converse on a variety of topics and styles, from repetitive vibrational healing energy to expressive strokes of subconscious world-building. Through a range of media, including painting, large-scale drawing, sculpture, and photography, THIS IS NOT A RETREAT! highlights the distinct impressions of these artists within contemporary art.

Exhibiting artists: Felipe Baeza, Layo Bright, Allana Clarke, Alexandria Couch, Kenturah Davis, Anindita Dutta, Daniel Tyree Gaitor-Lomack, Merik Goma, John Guzman, Eric Hart Jr., Fidelis Joseph, Alyssa Klauer, Africanus Okokon, Esteban Ramón Pérez, Jamaal Peterman, Alexander Puz, Patrick Quarm, Athena Quispe, Daniel Ramos, Ilana Savdie, Alisa Sikelianos-Carter, Vaughn Spann, Capt. James Stovall V, Warith Taha, and Vincent Valdez.

Image detail: Patrick Quarm, So We Dey, 2024, Mixed media: acrylic and oil on African print fabric, wooden cornice, 75 x 58 x 30 inches, 3 layers. Courtesy of the Artist.

About the Curator

Marissa Del Toro is Assistant Director of Exhibitions and Programs at NXTHVN in New Haven, CT. Since 2021, Del Toro has also worked with Museums Moving Forward, a data-driven initiative to support greater equity and accountability in art museum workplaces. Previously, she served as 2021-2022 Curatorial Fellow at NXTHVN and as the 2018-2020 Diversifying Art Museum Leadership Initiative (DAMLI) Curatorial Fellow at Phoenix Art Museum. She holds an MA in Art History from the University of Texas at San Antonio, and is originally from Southern California, where she received her BA in Art History from the University of California, Riverside. 

About NXTHVN

NXTHVN is a groundbreaking institution that combines the best of arts and entrepreneurship. Through access, education, programming, and impact investing, NXTHVN launches the careers of artists and curators and strengthens the livelihood of its local community. Located in the historically African American Dixwell neighborhood of New Haven, CT, the expansive adapted-reuse campus houses gallery, studio, library, office, coworking, performance, and living spaces in addition to a forthcoming storefront cafe. Cornerstone programs include a renowned fellowship to educate and accelerate emerging and underrepresented artists and curators, paid arts apprenticeships for local high school students, and business incubation to nurture cultural and capital value in the neighborhood. Co-founded in 2018 by acclaimed visual artist Titus Kaphar and private equity investor Jason Price—both longtime residents of New Haven—NXTHVN represents a new national arts model for developing an equitable society. Learn more at www.nxthvn.com.