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Dennis Elliott recently stepped down as Executive Director of the International Studio & Curatorial Program (ISCP) which he founded in Lower Manhattan in 1994.
ISCP was the fifth NYC visual arts program Elliott administrated starting in 1980 with the Nova Scotia College of Art & Design (NSCAD). In 1985, he initiated the Alliance of Independent Colleges of Art’s (AICA) New York Studio Program. AICA was a consortium of 18 US and four Canadian colleges. In 1992, when the NSCAD program was discontinued, Elliott was recruited to coordinate the Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation’s Space Program, which he shepherded for the next 21 years. These programs hosted approximately 1,200 artists and art students for extended residencies in the New York City art community.
In addition, ISCP hosted approximately 2,000 artists and curators from 64 countries including the US. ISCP currently has 35 studios, two gallery spaces and generous common areas for its participants. The ISCP model was unique at its inception and since then, has been replicated all over the world.
Elliott, a Canadian, graduated from the California College of Arts and Crafts (CCAC) with an MFA in painting in 1971. He received the Northern California scholarship to attend the Showhegan School of Painting and Sculpture the same year. As a young artist, Elliott, attended several residency programs, which ultimately gave rise to his proposing that he initiate similar programs in New York City.
Building and sustaining these programs came to demand all his attention at the expense of being in the studio. Currently, he lives in New York and has returned to painting after a hiatus of 20 years.
