Recess

Recess is an artist-run venue in Clinton Hill that operates as both gallery and studio, offering artists six to ten weeks and 1,200 square feet to develop inquiry-based projects on their own terms.

Recess has operated on the principle of refusal since 2009, inviting artists and communities to challenge the status quo, experiment boldly, and prioritize process over product. The storefront at 46 Washington Avenue functions neither exclusively as a gallery nor a studio, but gives artists the ability to set the terms of their work in a location open to the public, creating a shared space for artists, viewers, and the work. Session provides artists a 1200-square-foot workspace and 6-10 weeks to develop an inquiry-based project meant to push the boundaries of their practice. Alongside Session, Assembly offers system-impacted young people aged 18-26 an inroad to art and connections to working artists while serving as an alternative to incarceration; the curriculum empowers young people to take charge of their own life story and envision a future through art. Recess believes in the human capacity to imagine fundamental change and that artists must lead this process, working with system-impacted individuals and community partners to foster a holistic effort toward abolition.