The Inner Cogs of Curating the ARTiculate Time Exhibition

I've been so busy over the last several months working on various creative projects and so I thought I would write about one in particular that I'm very passionate about. For those of you who know me, you know how passionate I am in my life, especially when it comes to the arts and my artistic endeavors. I put my whole heart and soul into my creative projects. I've spent the last 8 months curating the ARTiculate Exhibition which is presented by the Bay View Arts Guild (BVAG). I thought it would be interesting to share the behind the scenes of how a curator puts together an art exhibition from my perspective. I have been wearing many hats working on this project; I'm also one of the artists featured in the exhibit. I'll be writing about my photographic work and poetry in a separate blog for those of you interested in how my creative brain ticks.

This is the fourth year the ARTiculate Exhibition is being presented, art inspired by words--words inspired by art. I'm so excited to be curating this unique exhibit because it melds two passions of mine, art and poetry. Each year a theme is chosen for the exhibition. The artists and poets then interpret the theme through their artistic vision. This year's theme is 'Time'. My artwork and poetry have been featured in this exhibit in the past, but this is my first year taking on the role as Curator of the exhibition. Jumping into the role was effortless for me, since part of it involves event planning. I have 10 years of experience as a Special Event Planner. I've had a hand in planning some high profile festivals known nationally here in the U.S. I was the Talent Buyer for the summer concert series Jazz in the Park. I booked all of the local, regional, national and international musical acts and worked with those bands on a CD I helped produce for Jazz in the Park which supported an endowment fund for kids studying music here in Milwaukee. I also worked as a Special Event Planner for the nationally known Bastille Days Festival which is the largest French festival in the United States. Over 300,000 people attend the 4 day street festival. The event celebrates French heritage and kicks off with the Storm the Bastille Run; celebrating in the streets with buskers, musical acts on 4 stages, French faire and market place. I produced the Live Arts Project and a cabaret show for the festival. I knew with my background in event planning I could organize and put together and exceptional exhibition and successful art opening.

So what does a curator of an art exhibition do exactly? A curator wears many hats putting together an exhibit. They select the artwork for the exhibition, catalog the artwork and organize art exhibits in galleries and public spaces. Often times they will oversee the planning of the opening reception for the exhibit. You will find more and more curators also performing administrative tasks such as planning exhibition budgets, fundraising and writing grants.

I had a specific vision for ARTiculate this year. I knew I wanted to incorporate a performance art element in the exhibit which included spoken word by the poets intermingled with the artwork, as well as live poetry readings the night of the opening reception. With the blessing of the Bay View Arts Guild, I already had a specific gallery in mind to showcase the exhibit. After 4 years I felt it was time for ARTiculate to make a bigger impact in the arts community here in Milwaukee. Last August I put together a proposal outlining my vision for the exhibit and presented it to Christopher Roze the Gallery Director for Gallerie M. Gallerie M is a unique space because of its high visibility and the gallery is open to the public 24/7. The gallery is situated in the heart of the theater district at the InterContinental, downtown Milwaukee. Theater-goers seeing the symphony, ballet and the repertory Theatre pass by the gallery daily and often stop in before or after a show to view the exhibits at the Gallerie M. Business travelers attending conferences at the InterContinental also regularly walk through the gallery; perfectly capturing the audience I had in mind who would be interested in this type of interactive exhibit.

The gallery director was very impressed with my vision, presentation and enthusiasm about ARTiculate and agreed it would be a great exhibition to have at Gallerie M. Once the March-April 2015 dates were confirmed for the exhibit, I began to create the marketing materials and submission guidelines so I could approach various arts groups in Milwaukee which included BVAG artists. My goal was to inspire some of the most creative minds here in MKE to submit their art and poetry to the exhibit. Milwaukee has a rich and vibrant arts community with some very talented artists, so it was exciting for me to see the artwork being submitted. Submissions for ARTiculate were open to all art mediums.

This year BVAG and I decided ARTiculate was going to be a juried exhibit. Artists and poets had 3 months to create their artistic pieces interpreting the theme 'Time'. While artist submissions were coming in, I began the marketing and PR campaign for the exhibition. In late January I worked with BVAG member, Anita Burgermeister who designed the electronic invite, postcards and posters used in marketing the exhibition. During that time, I began writing the press releases to go out to various media groups. Using the media (print, radio and TV) is an important tool and crucial in the marketing and promoting of an event. This also includes social media, which is one of the most powerful tools we have today to promote an event because it's instantaneous and reaches a much broader audience. Announcing the ARTiculate Exhibition to the public was my main focus so I could begin to create some excitement and buzz around the exhibit. As soon as the news releases went out, I began receiving inquires both by artists and the media expressing interest in ARTiculate.

The jurying process of artist submissions began in February. Each piece was evaluated and judged based on one criterion. Did the artist or poet use the theme 'Time' in their artwork? I wanted the exhibit to be diverse and represent a range of different mediums along with the poetry. We spent a week reviewing all of the artist submissions and with some thoughtful deliberation selected 25 pieces which best interpreted the theme to be featured in this year's exhibition. The mediums represented in ARTiculate this year are photography, drawing, painting, pen and ink, mixed media, three dimensional art, fiber art, poetry and prose.

It's fascinating to see the artist's and poet's interpretation of 'Time'. Artists are always expressing what they feel on a particular subject be it personally or socially. World events influence art without us even being cognizant of it. The same can be said for the way art influences us as humans. We're exposed to it every day. We hear it on the radio, watch it on TV or the internet; we read it in books, magazines and newspapers. We even see it on billboard advertisements daily driving in our cars or using public transportation. This is reflected in the artwork in this year's exhibition.

I am very pleased with the artists and poets selected for ARTiculate this year. Each artist's work is unique as a stand-alone piece yet shares the common thread of 'Time' with the other artwork; making for an effortless flow in the group exhibition. I think out of the four years ARTiculate has been presented, this year's artists are very diverse in their interpretation of the theme. Everything from mindfulness, music, mortality, existentialism, realism, to fantasy is being expressed in the artwork. The artists and poets take you on a journey through their interpretations. Some of the pieces are quite thought provoking, while others exude a bit of whimsy and humor.

Early in March after several meetings at Gallerie M we decided how the show was going to be hung. I always find it interesting once you see all of the artwork and start to visualize it in the gallery space when mapping the show out before installation of the exhibit begins. To me, it's a bit like composing a photograph. It's important for the artwork to look aesthetically pleasing in order to capture the eye of perspective art collectors. The proper flow and layout of the art also draws the viewer into the exhibition. This was especially important for ARTiculate since the exhibit is interactive. This year in ARTiculate the viewer is able to listen to the artist's interpretation of their poetry through audio recordings specifically created for the exhibit while viewing the artwork.

I always find the process of creating or putting an event together so exhilarating and inspiring. There's an art to putting together an event and one needs to be open to where the process takes you. Just like creating a piece of art, sometimes what you see in your mind turns out to be something different. Your vision evolves, it changes either because something isn't working or you're feeding off the creative energy of other people. A few things did evolve and change during the process this year, but I'm happy with the final result which is pretty true to what I had originally envisioned. Seeing the artwork and poetry on the walls of the gallery is a bit surreal. I've been working on ARTiculate for 8 months and now it appears in physical form. It's very rewarding not only for me, but also for the artists featured in the show. There are both seasoned artists and up and coming artists represented in the show. Some of the artists are just breaking into the art scene here in Milwaukee and this is their first big art exhibition! I'm so excited that ARTiculate can be the springboard that launches some of their art careers.

And so, I'm writing this blog on the eve of the ARTiculate Exhibition closing. What a FANTASTIC run of the exhibit! It has been successful in so many ways. ARTiculate had the largest art opening Gallerie M has ever seen! Over 150 people attended the champagne reception back on March 20th. Several pieces in the exhibit sold within the first hour of the opening. I played hostess that evening, welcoming everyone and introducing the poets in the exhibit who performed their spoken word. At one point there were so many people in the gallery you couldn't see the artwork! I stood quietly in the corner of the exhibit smiling taking everything in. All of my hard work over the last 8 months came down to this final moment. I felt such a sense of accomplishment seeing so many people there supporting local art here in Milwaukee. The Shepherd Express, one of the newspapers here in MKE did a really nice write-up on ARTiculate which only enhanced the success of the exhibit. Tomorrow de-installation of the exhibit begins and I am already thinking about next year's exhibit. ARTiculate will be celebrating its 5 year anniversary and I already have some fantastic ideas up my sleeve.