So far, beyond learning the specifics regarding the history and function of museums, being a part of the museums concentration has helped shape my prospects post-graduation. The continuous exercises of self-reflection, although seemingly tedious, have in fact, forced me to evaluate my practical and museum-going experiences and ultimately decide how involved I want to be in the art world.
As part of a group which has collectively worked in almost all frontiers of the museum/art industry – I have been given a prime insight into each of the jobs that ever spurred my curiosity. Through trial and error, both learning about the possibilities of working in museums and actually working in the field, I have decided what I love/hate. What I would enjoy doing/what I never want to do.
I decided to join the concentration thinking that curatorship was exactly what I wanted to pursue, knowing that I would learn a great deal about the museum as an institution and as a business. It is evident from my statement of intent and my numerous reflections of the work I have done since Sophomore year, that I was never entirely clear on how I would use this knowledge yet keeping an open mind and experimenting with a variety of work experiences has provided me with a sense of direction. Said experiences include gallery management, assistant work at a publishing house for artists books and unrelatedly – a volunteer placement at an organisation defending international human rights.
I have learnt through this process, that my strengths lie in research and translation and that I am an independent worker who can adapt to unfamiliar situations and is excited by them. The cross-disciplinary nature of the work I have engaged with, cutting across issues of international rights, philanthropy and law has been immeasurbly rewarding not just in terms of my education but also in exposing me to number of new possibilities for work in the art industry.
On a secondary note, I’ve become familiar with the work of Middle-Eastern contemporary, and Latin American artists – knowledge that I would have never been able to attain on such a direct level without the practical experiences I sought through the concentration. I’ve been lucky enough to establish personal relationships with Latin American photographers such as Leonora Vicuna and Nicolas Franco, even visiting their studios is Santiago, Chile.
Although Latin American art and photography speaks to me on a specific and personal level, I can assert that legal work is the most important and relevant avenue for me to explore after Smith.
The turning point for this decision occured in the summer of 2014, when I attended a symposium in London lead by Christine J. Vincent of the Aspen Institute who talked about the Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative run by the organisation and the complications of managing art foundations globally: Warhol, Rauschenburg and Mapplethorpe to name a few.
Nonetheless, without shunning museum and gallery work, I have discovered that I am attracted to the legal aspect of the art world and business. I want to work with foundations, estates, issues of recovery and copyright both for museums and private collections- essentially indirectly applying what I have learnt in the concentration for a different gain.