NEW PALTZ, NY.- The Museum of Modern Art has acquired five prints by the influential Hudson Valley artist and revered former SUNY New Paltz professor Ben Wigfall (1930–2017) for its permanent collection.

Born in Richmond, Virginia, Ben Wigfall was an artist, educator and community organizer whose work bridged abstraction, printmaking and social engagement. He taught in New Paltz’s Department of Art from 1963 to 1991 and founded the Communications Village art space in Kingston, New York.
The MoMA acquisition includes the following works:

• “Tall Man Just Long and Tall” (Intaglio, 1971)
• “Nine Part Black Theme” (Viscosity print, 1971)
• “Signs” (Intaglio, 1993)
• “Ever Since” (Intaglio, 1973)
• “Car Car” (Intaglio, 1993)

This marks another significant milestone in the rapidly increasing posthumous recognition of Wigfall’s artistic legacy, in which the Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz has played an important role.

In 2022, The Dorsky presented “Ben Wigfall & Communications Village,” a retrospective exhibition that later traveled to Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Torggler Fine Arts Center, where it expanded its national reach and was accompanied by a major scholarly catalog published in 2023.

“It is breathtaking to realize how rapidly recognition of Ben’s art practice has grown,” said Anna Conlan, the Neil C. Trager Director of The Dorsky. “Just a few years ago, Ben’s work was largely absent from broader art historical conversations. To now see his prints enter MoMA’s collection is both moving and deeply deserved. The Dorsky celebrates this exciting recognition and looks forward to the continued rediscovery and scholarship surrounding Wigfall’s extraordinary life and work.”





Beyond the 2022 retrospective exhibition, The Dorsky has remained deeply committed to continuing work around Wigfall’s legacy. For several years, the Museum has organized the Ben Wigfall Perpetuity Project, a partnership with Miller Middle School and Midtown Kingston Arts District. The Project brings bring local teenagers into the Museum and into SUNY New Paltz’s printmaking program, which Wigfall helped establish and where he taught for decades, and later supports them in creating their own prints using Wigfall’s original press.