Grace Hermez is our first ever Creative Practitioner-in-Residence at NEW INC, the acclaimed cultural incubator of New York’s New Museum. This is year 13 of the program, and we want to follow every step of Grace’s experience.

Therefore, we will take a glimpse into her year and time with NEW INC, with a monthly diary post written by Grace herself.

About Grace Hermez:

Grace Hermez is an Aramean Syrian interdisciplinary multimedia artist and an architect from Helsinki, Finland. She focuses her architectural work on adaptive reuse and socially engaged architecture. Grace also explores some of these above-mentioned areas within her architectural practice, Beito.

Her interests with wanting to explore socially engaged architecture include human-centered design, examining the use of power within urban design and trying to bring attention to how architecture views and impacts marginalized communities within the city. 

Alongside her architectural work, Grace’s main multidisciplinary focus is video and multimedia art, which is playful in nature while exploring chaos, pop culture and surroundings she finds curious.

Throughout the one-year NEW INC program, Hermez will divide her time equally between New York and Helsinki, working with NEW INC remotely as well as locally with Helsinki based projects.

Grace’s NEW INC Diary

September

Hi!

I’ve been living in NYC for a little over three weeks now, and it’s been going by way too fast. The first week flew by with NEW INC camp days, and the rest have been filled with events, exhibition openings, and other NEW INC program. I’ve met so many cute people, averaged 12,567 steps a day, and spotted many many rats. <33 

Stay tuned for next months diary post…

In collaboration with:
The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York · City of Helsinki · Consulate General of Finland in New York · NEW INC