New Standards

The Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice (JGJ) has partnered with the Office of the Arts at Emerson College to bring the multidisciplinary installation, New Standards, to the Emerson Contemporary Media Art Gallery. The multimedia exhibition continues the theme set forth in the book New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers by Grammy Award-winning artist Terri Lyne Carrington, and will be free and on display to the public beginning Wednesday, July 12 to Friday, August 4, 2023, with gallery hours from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (and by appointment), Wednesday through Saturday.

New Standards celebrates the work of women composers and performers who have been either under acknowledged or rendered invisible regarding the creation, perpetuation and overall representation of the art form. The installation will feature visual arts, film, panel discussions, music and information on classic and contemporary jazz composers, and is part of the Jazz Without Patriarchy Project (JWP), an ongoing series of initiatives, established by four-time Grammy Award-winning drummer, producer, and educator, Carrington and the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, which aims to lead a massive cultural shift toward gender equity in the field of jazz. 

“The idea for the book New Standards came out of necessity when I realized there were not enough women represented in the canon of jazz standards,” said Carrington, a multi-Grammy-winning artist, NEA Jazz Master, and the founder and artistic director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice. “It expanded to be an album project and also an exhibition at the Carr Center in Detroit. I am beyond happy to be able to share this multidimensional work at home, and grateful to the Office of the Arts at Emerson College, and New Commonwealth Fund for helping to make this dream come to fruition. The hope is that anyone who experiences the exhibition will walk away transformed and excited about different sonic possibilities, imagining what the music will sound like when gender equity with its creators is accomplished.”

Curated by Carrington, New Standards will showcase works created by multidisciplinary jazz artists Cécile McClorin Salvant, Carmen Lundy, and Jazzmeia Horn – along with works by award-winning visual artists Monica Haslip, Joe Diggs, Yvette Rock, and Ramsess – ranging from print and sculpture, to collage, textiles, and multimedia. The exhibit will also feature a stunning portrait collection of 30 influential women instrumentalists by Sherry Rubel, as well as a film installation by award-winning photographer and video-installation artist Carrie Mae Weems, a film capturing the collaborative work between Carrington and visual artist Mikalene Thomas, and a documentary on the book, New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers (Berklee Press, 2022).