Related institution Artist and Homeless Collaborative (1990 – 1995)

Something Lost, Something Gained

1993

Mixed media on canvas

Overall (Main Panel): 15 ft. × 7 ft. 6 in. (4 m 57.2 cm × 228.6 cm)
Part (Smaller Panel): 6 ft. 8 in. × 50 in. (203.2 × 127 cm)

Gift of Robin Tewes

2023.32.1ab

Bridging art and activism, the Artist & Homeless Collaborative (A&HC), a public art project founded in 1990 by the multidisciplinary artist Hope Sandrow, joined women from the Park Avenue Armory Shelter for Homeless Women with artists, curators, and activists. Shelter residents worked on projects with Sandrow and other artists in weekly sessions, giving them an outlet for self-representation and creative expression. Through initiatives like a shelter newsletter and participation on the A&HC’s board, the women voiced their opinions on the program's direction and shelter life. Making art together gave participants and professional artists the opportunity to build relationships, engage in self-reflection, and aesthetically modify the shelter space. The artist Robin Tewes distributed squares of canvas to artist friends, relatives, and A&HC participants, asking them to reflect upon and interpret the phrase "something lost, something gained." Tewes sewed the completed squares together into a tent, with the colorful outside leaving a peaceful interior. Evoking the often-precarious nature of housing, and drawing on her personal experiences, Tewes intended the tent format to inspire a dialogue about homelessness. The project participants were: Anonymous women from the Artist & Homeless Collaborative, June Ahrens, Aida, Bette Alexander, Nancy Becker, Stephanie Bernheim, Lois Borgenicht, Ronald Counts, Petah Coyne, Laurel Crook, Kerry Cubas, Jody Culkin, Nichelle Daniel Regent, Jackie Davis, Yvonne Dawson, Michelle Del Guercio, Myasia Delo, Alice Dodson, Coretta Dolphus, Beverly Donofrio, Susan Etkin, Rochelle Feinstein, Gloria Friedman, Anna Garcia, Mavis Gayle, Katie Gass, Judy Glantzman, Judy Goldman, Janet Goldner, Mark Green, Sherie Green, Sarah Greer Kleeman, Kathy Grove, Guerrilla Girl “Alice Neel,” Joannie Hassell, Nikki Hayes, Dina Helal, Antonia Hernandez, Mikal Hernandez, Teddy Hernandez, Oliver Herring, Kathrin Hilton, Barry Holden, Karen Hube, Johanna Jardo, Hettie Jones, Kenell Judd, Sheresa Judd, Deb Kass, Jane Kaufman, Louis Kellam, Jessica Kellam, Diana Kurz, Kevin Larmon, Sarah Mack, Peggy Levinson, Jocelyn Lieu, Thi-Linh Le, Vera List, Charles Long, Sarah Mack, Dylan Marcus, Esther Marcus, Curt Marcus, Elizabeth Margid, Dolores Marengo, Lawrence Markey, Jermaine Meneil, Emanual Merced, Sonia Mideres, Brenda Miller, Winnie Munden, Joan Nelson, Ronald Nelson, Pamela Newburg, Filip Noterdaeme, Linda Peer, Ken Polinskie, Lonzetta Poole, Rondog, Charles Russo, Jennifer Russo, Christy Rupp, Tucker A. Sabath, Mona Salana, Hope Sandrow, Chrissie Schlessinger, Joan Semmel, Theo Sharps, Larry Silver, Terri Slotkin, Lyndal Smith, Pearl Smith, Duston Spear, Andreas Sterzig, Sara Stites, Carol Sun, Sur Rodney (Sur), Eileen Sutton, Regina Szeto, Claire Tankel, Polly Tessler, Jason Tewes, Jennifer Tewes, Melanie Tewes, Robin Tewes, Hally Thatcher, Olivia Trapp, Bonnie Van Allen, Jim Van Kirk, Betsy Ver Plank, Chuck Wachtel, Lillian Walton, Jaiquon Washington, William Wegman, Rita Williams, Tina Yagjian, Nina Yankowitz, Brahna Yassky, Jerilea Zempel, Shaliek Ziemoore, Vivian Z.

DescriptionTent and smaller panel consisting of sewn canvas squares; squares are individually decorated and signed on their reverse; tent has canvas border at top and bottoms, and six metal grommets tied with rope and eye bolts along each bottom edge; three detachable panels secured with hook-and-loop tape; smaller panel includes square painted red with credit information written in black ink, bordered on either side by plain canvas rectangles.

ClassificationsMIXED MEDIA