Hamiltonian Artists' mission is to build a dynamic community of innovative artists and effective visual art leaders by providing professional development opportunities and advancing their entrepreneurial success. Through a two-year fellowship program they produce group shows and solo shows to help build a solid foundation for emerging artists. A professor from one of my courses works at Hamiltonian Artists and reached out to me at the end of the course if I would be interested in an internship.
During my internship I would report back to my supervisor with tasks I was assigned to and we would discuss program planning for the future. I was involved in a variety of projects like managing donor and board member Thank You letters and learning about the Bloomerang database. I also helped plan programs for kinetic members which is a sales and lending program on cultivating the next generation collectors. The mission of the program is to connect artists and collectors in such ways as conducting studio, managing collections, and creating a more approachable art collection environment. Finally, a big part of my jobs was installation and openings of exhibitions and the day-to-day gallery management.
My biggest takeaway from this experience is understanding how to present myself as an artist and how to represent the organization in the broader art world. I got to be in touch with a board of members, gallerists, artists, and people who are passionate about art in general! I overall understand better how the fine art industry runs and how to make art more accessible from a curatorial perspective. I now understand how non-profit galleries run and I am proud to have been involved in the DC art scene.
This internship experience has helped me to deepen my understanding in ways of supporting artists, especially emerging artists and made me more certain that the care for artists is what I want to carry on in my curatorial practice.
