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Exhibition and Sale of Works Donated by Artists to the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts

February 25–March 2, 1963
Allan Stone Gallery
48 East 86th Street
67 artists (69 works)
1963 Benefit Exhibition Checklist Available

Events at The Pocket Theatre, Summer 1963

In late summer 1963, John Cage curated a series of benefit concerts at the Pocket Theatre in the East Village. He coproduced the concerts with Lewis Lloyd, who had opened the off-Broadway theater with Arthur Conescu in 1962. “Pocket Follies," organized by James Waring, was the first benefit concert held at the Pocket Theatre, and was held on June 10, 1963. Cage followed this event with a benefit series, “New Music at the Pocket Theatre," on three Monday evenings in August and September of the same year.

Feldman/Brown Town Hall Concert, October 11, 1963

On October 11, 1963, the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts held its first publicly sponsored event .The performance, “Music of Orchestra and Chorus by Morton Feldman and Earle Brown," was conceived of by Foundation co-founder John Cage as an opportunity for Feldman and Brown to present four works for a large ensemble. Each composer received commissions for a new work from the Foundation: Brown's “From Here," and Feldman's “Vertical Thoughts."

Drawings: Benefit: the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts

December 14, 1965–January 5, 1966
Simultaneous showings at:
Leo Castelli Gallery, 4 East 77th Street
and
Tibor de Nagy Gallery, 29 West 57th Street (through December 30)
and
Kornblee Gallery, 58 East 79th Street
216 artists (221 works)
Poster designed by Marcus Ratliff and available for purchase

Six Lectures, March-May 1966

In 1966, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts held “Six Lectures," benefit series featuring presentations given by Norman O. Brown, Merce Cunningham, R. Buckminster Fuller, Marshall McLuhan, Harold Rosenberg, and Peter Yates at the 92nd Street YMCA. For six consecutive weeks, the lectures were given to sold-out crowds. Each differed in topic, but were connected through “an interest in positive attitudes in a period of cultural change."

Six Lectures, March-May 1966

Norman O. Brown (1913-2002) read three chapters from his book Love's Body(1967). Merce Cunningham's (1919-2009) lecture “Talk By a Dancer" was a hybrid of lecture and dance performance. R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1993) spoke for more than three hours, during which he challenged the audience with a big picture of global trends and the accelerating evolution of humanity's relationship to “spaceship earth." Media theorist Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) touched on a number of key themes, which would be further explored the following year in his The Medium Is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects. Harold Rosenberg (1906-1978), who was largely connected to Abstract Expressionism, explored the ramifications of media on art-making and the museum. Composer Peter Yates (1909-1976) contributed a talk featuring several musical samples of three-to-four minutes duration.

9 Evenings, October 13-23, 1966

In 1966, Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, in collaboration with Experiments in Art and Technology (E.A.T) hosted the performance series “9 Evenings: Theatre & Engineering." The series was comprised of a set of collaborative performance works between contemporary artists and scientists. Ten New York artists, composers, and choreographers worked for nine months with engineers from Bell Telephone Laboratories to make works that incorporated the new technology. These performances were presented over nine nights at the 69thRegiment Armory in New York.

Prints: To Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts

December 9, 1967–January 4, 1968
Kornblee Gallery
58 East 79th Street
Number of artists and works unknown
Poster designed by Claes Oldenburg and available for purchase

Drawings: To Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts

November 29–December 20, 1980
Leo Castelli Gallery
420 West Broadway
201 artists (209 works)
Poster designed by Ellsworth Kelly and available for purchase

Eight Lithographs to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts

November 28–December 19, 1981
Leo Castelli Gallery
420 West Broadway
Eight artists

The 25th Anniversary Exhibition to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc.

December 8–30, 1988
Simultaneous showings at:
Brooke Alexander, 59 Wooster Street and
Leo Castelli Gallery, 420 West Broadway
70 artists (83 works)

30th Anniversary Exhibition of Drawings: To Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts

December 11, 1993–January 8, 1994
Leo Castelli Gallery
420 West Broadway
187 artists (189 works)
Poster designed by Marcus Ratliff and available for purchase

Prints: To Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts

December 5–December 29, 1995
Brooke Alexander
59 Wooster Street
133 artists (141 works)
Poster designed by Marcus Ratliff and available for purchase

Drawings & Photographs: An Exhibition to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Performance Arts, Inc.

December 8–December 23, 2000
Matthew Marks Gallery
522 West 22nd Street
267 artists (275 works)
Poster designed by Marcus Ratliff and available for purchase

Clarissa Dalrymple's Exhibition of Young Artists to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

Organized by Clarissa Dalrymple
February 16–February 25, 2006
Bortolami Dayan
510 West 25th Street
37 artists (42 works)
Poster designed by Marcus Ratliff and available for purchase

Posters: Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

December 8–December 20, 2006
Paula Cooper Gallery
521 West 21st Street
418 posters
Poster designed by Marcus Ratliff and available for purchase

Photographic Works: To Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

December 11–December 20, 2008
Cohan and Leslie
138 10th Avenue
209 artists (212 works)
Poster designed by Marcus Ratliff and available for purchase.
2008 Benefit Exhibition Catalogue Available

Painting and Sculpture: Exhibition to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

December 9, 2010–January 9, 2011
Lehmann Maupin
201 Chrystie Street
190 artists (192 works)
Poster designed by Marcus Ratliff and available for purchase

December 13, 2014–January 10, 2015 Matthew Marks Gallery 526 West 22nd Street 39 artists (43 works) 2014 Benefit Exhibition Catalogue Available

December 13, 2014–January 10, 2015
Matthew Marks Gallery
526 West 22nd Street
39 artists (43 works)
2014 Benefit Exhibition Catalogue Available

Other Room, May 19-August 7, 2015

In 2015, in keeping with FCA's mission to support artists, the artists on the Board decided to invite an artist to organize a small-scale exhibition in a 496-square-foot space located adjacent to the Foundation's office. "Six Doors," curated by Rachel Foullon, included work by Trisha Donnelly, Andrea Longacre-White, Alex Robbins, Melanie Schiff, Marianne Vitale, and Mary Weatherford. The exhibition opened on May 19 and closed on August 7, 2015. It was reviewed on ArtinAmerica.com and TheArtNewspaper.com, among other sites.

65 Works Selected by James Welling: Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

December 9, 2016–January 28, 2017
David Zwirner
533 West 19th Street
65 artists (65 works)
Poster design by James Welling and Joseph Logan, after Marcus Ratliff

Adam McEwen Selects: Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

November 29–December 15, 2018
Gladstone Gallery
530 West 21st Street
108 artists (108 works)
Poster design by Adam McEwen and Joseph Logan, after Marcus Ratliff

Sonia Louise Davis Selects: Exhibition and Sale to Benefit the Foundation for Contemporary Arts

December 9-December 18, 2021
Greene Naftali
508 West 26th Street, Ground Floor
107 artists (106 works)
Poster design by Sonia Louise Davis and Joseph Logan, after Marcus Ratliff