Overview
Alanna Heiss is the Director of ArtonAir.org and the Clocktower Gallery and is a leader of the early 1970s alternative spaces movement in New York City. She founded the Clocktower Gallery in 1972, founded PS1 Contemporary Art Center in 1976 and was its Director until 2008. Heiss is known for her ability to transform abandoned spaces into pioneering art centres. She has organised over 700 exhibitions at PS1 and in art spaces around the world. In 2003 she founded Art Radio WSP1.org, the Internet radio station of PS1 and first ever all-art museum station. Heiss was Commissioner of the 1985 Paris Biennial and Commissioner of the 1986 American Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. She is the recipient of the Mayor’s Award for Contributions to the Artistic Viability of New York City, France’s Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres in the Legion d’Honneur, the Royal Swedish Order of the Polar Star, the Skowhegan Award for outstanding work in the arts, the CCS Bard Award for Curatorial Excellence, an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute and an Honorary Doctorate in Humane Letters from Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. Amongst her numerous publications are catalogues of the work of Janet Cardiff, Alex Katz, Dennis Oppenheim, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Katharina Sieverding, and John Wesley.