Author: livyjoy

Giampietro Gallery Post #2

I can’t believe how the time is flying this summer at the gallery! My impression of the gallery remains complete awe and admiration. Fred, the owner, and Katie and Adam, run an incredibly personable gallery that is truly there for the artists. Yes, it is a commercial art gallery and they make a profit, but the artists come in daily just to chat and catch up, or ask for advice of help of any kind, and they are always welcomed with open arms. It is a truly wonderful place, and the kind of gallery that I hope to own one day.

Install Shot of Gallery from one angle

I have to say, the most surprising thing about this internship, was really just how much one needs an internship to truly learn. I absolutely love my time at Brandeis more than anything and I wish I could stay there forever! But, I have learned so much in this internship that I could never have learned in school. It is, in some ways, a very physical, hands on job. Since my last post, I finished pulling and labeling all the pieces from the back, which is no easy task because paintings can be really huge and you are on a ladder and identifying paintings based on brush stroke and common themes, much like an art history test actually, so I thoroughly enjoyed that. We had new shipments of paintings come in and documented them, there was an install and a de-install where I bonded with a few of the artists that I deeply respect such as Elena Herzog who is so incredibly talented. I learned how to wrap and ship paintings, the proper ways to handle different kinds of art, and completely mastered the system in which we inventory our work, and update the website, which is the same software used by most galleries and museums nationwide!

Me installing an Elena Herzog piece for the Opening

While this might seam like a rather banal skill-set when it’s phrased like “how to wrap and ship a painting”, let me just tell you how many layers and how important it is to get them right. Little things like, if the bubbles of the bubble-wrap (which is the third layer) face inwards on the first layer of bubble wrap, they could indent the surface and you could end up with faint circular indents all over the surface of the painting. So, you must wrap bubble out, then bubble in. There are also very specific instructions for hanging, and the various power tools involved, and heights, and aesthetic choices made in hanging shows that I will carry with me for the rest of my career. All of these skills are SO incredibly important when entering the gallery or museum world post-graduation, which is closer for me than I would like to admit, and I can now put all of these on a resume, skills that I did not even know I needed to possess!

I’ve also realized that my courses at Brandeis prepared me for this internship. Had I not taken and thrived in all of the art history courses I have taken at Brandeis, identifying the artist who made the unlabeled paintings in storage would have been nearly impossible. I truly have so much to be thankful to Brandeis for.

Olivia Joy ’18

First weeks on the job post

FRED.GIAMPIETRO Gallery

Hello everyone! I am so excited to keep you all posted about my incredible summer internship! I am an intern at the FRED.GIAMPIETRO gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, right across the street from the Yale Art Gallery and the British Art Center, where all the museums are in dialogue with one another. The Giampietro Gallery is an incredibly special kind of gallery, which unfortunately is fading in the art world. All of the artists represented, and the pieces in the collection, are carefully, and lovingly handpicked by the owner, and he specializes in discovering up-and-coming and local artists, as well as folk art. The gallery’s vision merges folk art with contemporary art, to reintegrate contemporary art with art that has traditionally not been recognized as Fine Art, and giving these artists a place in the art historical conversation.

I was very excited and nervous to begin working at the Giampietro gallery, because my plan has always been to work in the art world as a painter, and potentially open my own gallery, however I did not know how these two could merge, and even if the gallery world was the right place for me. After working two weeks at the Giampietro Gallery, I can confidently say that the gallery world, and opening up my own gallery someday, is exactly the place for me! I have already learned so much. I have mastered the inventory program used by most galleries and museums in the country which is an incredibly beneficial skill to have upon entering this world, learned the cataloging system, have formed relationships with many of the artists and other well respected gallerists, updated the website and artist’s pages, managed the press and publications for the Gallery’s blog, learned the intricate process for packaging and shipping art, and even played an integral role in the installation process, as a new show just opened last Saturday! All of these skills are CRUCIAL when working in the gallery world, which is an intimidatingly elitist industry.

As sad as it is, art and artists really do not receive press, and therefore, much respect in this world unless they are in New York, but Giampietro gallery is the only gallery in Connecticut, and one of the only galleries outside of New York that is honored to participate in many art fairs in New York.

I have learned so much about the art world’s atmosphere, and about which kinds of galleries or museums I would best fit in, and I can clearly say now that I have a vision for what I want to do when I graduate, which was my biggest goal for this summer. I am so incredibly excited to continue throughout the summer and gain more and more experience and responsibility in the gallery! I already have a key and have been trusted with opening and closing the gallery, and I am so excited to take on even more responsibility and absorb as much information as I possibly can in order to open my own gallery, and learn the next steps for me.

Here’s a sneak peek at the show that just opened on Saturday with artists: Becca Lowry, Elana Herzog, and Jane Miller.

Olivia Joy ’18