My name is Michael Bussell and I am a junior Photography major. My internship took place in Chicago at Thomas Robertello Gallery. The gallery was established in 2006 and shows emerging and mid-career contemporary artists. My supervisor and director of the gallery, Thomas, informed me during our interview that he would be out of town for the first two weeks of my internship and that my introduction would be provided by his gallery assistant, Aaron Smith, who interviewed me as well. He showed me how the art was packaged and stored, as well as how the gallery communicated with artists, other galleries, curators, museums, and writers/publications.
When Thomas returned, I began photographing installation documentation of the show as well as project space, which included detail shots that were also used on the website in place of his original studio photos that were up. The project space was particularly challenging to photograph as it was very small, but it provided a good introduction to working
with the environment.
Along with subsequent openings and other pieces that I was asked to re-photograph for the gallery’s inventory, I was given various research projects related to marketing and promoting the work. I compiled lists of works on paper curators in conjunction with a show of Molly Springfield’s graphite drawings. I was also asked to write a press release for a show of photographs that would open after I left, as well as find a new mass email service for the gallery to use.
