New Trek Explores the Jobs that Make the Art World Go Round
Published by Rebecca GoldfineThey were in the city not so much to check out exciting new exhibitions and to learn art history, but rather to meet with the curators, gallery directors, conservationists, and other professionals who work behind the scenes to keep the creative industry humming.
(But they did have a bit of time to enjoy the city's art scene, since it's hard to talk to art people without also seeing what they love to work on.)
The inaugural Arts Trek was one of three career trips offered by the Office of Career Exploration and Development (CXD) this March. Since 2016, CXD has brought students to the West Coast over spring break to tour technology companies in Silicon Valley and San Franscisco. This year, it added two new trips: Arts Trek and InvesTrek, both to New York City.
CXD Executive Director Kristin Brennan said that, based on the popularity and success of the original West Trek, her office decided this year to diversify its offerings."We want to give students exposure to a lot of different fields," she said.
With funding from donors and the College, CXD sent students to NYC for three nights and two days, all expenses paid for every student. The office also received logistical and staff support from the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) and Bowdoin's investment office, as well as relied on the generosity of many alumni who welcomed students to their workplaces.
"I think there is nothing quite like seeing and talking to professionals in their actual space in the middle of their day," Brennan said. "Some of it is a sense of place. The Arts Trek went to museums and galleries, where art restorers can show the piece they're restoring or curators can talk about what they're doing to prepare for an upcoming exhibition."
"You get a sense of work culture, how people interact, what the space is like, and whether this could be a city you see yourself in," she added.
Amy Steigbigel, CXD's associate director for arts, communications, marketing, and sales careers, led the Arts Trek. She was accompanied by Sean Kramer, BCMA's Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral curatorial fellow, and Sabrina Lin ’21, BCMA's postbaccalaureate curatorial assistant.
Before coming to Bowdoin, Steigbigel had a twenty-seven-year career in the NYC commercial and fine arts industry. "I wanted 'art curious' students to understand there is a wealth of fulfilling careers that go beyond curating," she said. "I planned the trip so students would hear from alumni in a diversity of roles in the arts that included public relations, strategic communications, consulting, education, programming, sales, systems and operations, development, registration, conservation, appraisals, art practice and yes, curation."
"Whether you work at a museum, gallery, nonprofit, auction house, PR firm, or consultancy, there really is a role for everyone. The first step is obtaining the strong foundation Bowdoin provides and taking advantage of the myriad of arts resources and opportunities offered here, like the CXD Arts Trek," she added.
Since the trek aligned with their professional goals, Kramer and Lin accompanied the trip as mentors. "Our jobs at the museum are to help students who want to pursue jobs and careers in the arts—which can be daunting," Kramer said.
The trip proved to be an effective way to demystify the arts, Lin added. "There is this perception that the arts can be very exclusive, inaccessible, and impenetrable, especially if you don't happen to be born into the right circumstances or have the right connections," she said. The diversity of alumni they met—who had studied different majors at Bowdoin and came from a variety of backgrounds—helped to dismantle this myth as well, she said.
Between March 14 and March 15, the group met with more than a dozen alumni in NYC, plus their colleagues. "The fact that so many people volunteered to host is a great indicator of the enthusiasm of alumni," Lin said. "These alumni and institutions want to reach out to our students."
The group started the first day by chatting with the executive director of the International Center of Photography David Little ’85 and with Stefa Marin Alarcon. They moved on to Sotheby's to meet with Beth McKeown ’86, registrar and logistics supervisor of Sotheby's contemporary and old masters divisions; Kacie deSabla, assistant vice president, head of contemporary art online sales; and Caroline Yarbrough, associate cataloguer, contemporary department.
They ended the day at the Brooklyn Museum, where they spoke with Anthony Bellavia ’16, manager of systems and operations; June Lei ’18, public programs coordinator, Enrique Mendia ’20, school and public programs fellow; and Catherine Futter, director of curatorial affairs and senior curator of decorative arts.
On Wednesday, March 15, they visisted The Metropolitan Museum of Art to talk with Hannah Howe ’09, deputy chief development officer for individual giving; Sarah Ann Freshnock ’17, third-year preventive conservation graduate intern in the Department of Scientific Research; Amber Orosco ’19, in academic and professional programs; and Cleo de Lasa ’22, a spring intern.
That afternoon, they went to the headquarters of Christie's to meet Joanna Ostrem ’03, co-head of trusts, estates, and appraisals; Victoria Tudor ’06, specialist, head of sales and vice president of design; Julian Sphere Ehrlich ’17, head of post-war-to-present sales; Olivia Muro ’20, account manager of trust estates and appraisals; and Sydney Reaper ’21, client strategy for twentieth- and twenty-first-century art. Finally, they talked with Daniel E. Rechtschaffen ’18, communications manager at the gallery Hauser + Wirth.
Three alumni also met with the group virtually: artist Ben Butler ’00, Sara Griffin ’09 of Sara Griffin PR NYC, and Alexander Glauber ’06, arts consultant for AWG Art Advisory.
Student Perspectives
Chris Zhang ’25, an English major and art history minor, said he had joined the trip to get a sense of possible pathways into the field. "I have an interest in the arts, but from the outside perspective, it is a world so daunting I don’t know where to start. How can I find a day job and a job that can support my own art? I don’t know what I am doing, where I’m going, or where to start!"
He noted that, over the course of the short trip, the group met people working a myriad of jobs: "Curators, executive directors, people working for development and fundraising, people doing communications, people working on education and outreach. Curatorial roles aren't the only jobs out there—this trip exposed us to different jobs that might be overlooked."
Ella Garnett ’23, a psychology major and education minor, wants to have a career in communications. "People sometimes think the only path in the arts means you’re going to a be struggling artist or a writer, and that feels very lofty and difficult to achieve. But we saw that there are lots of ways to make a living and be involved in the arts," she said.
The students also mentioned how much they appreciated the chance to talk to people at different stages of their careers, from young alumni who graduated two or three years ago to people who've had twenty- or thirty-year careers.
Many students interested in the arts find their way to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art at some point during their undergraduate years. During the academic year, the Museum hires upwards of twenty students and in the summertime, runs a robust internship program. Sean Kramer and Sabrina Lin embraced the new Arts Trek as "a great way to partner with CXD, especially since we have shared interests in helping students find success in the arts," Kramer said.
Before the Arts Trek, Kramer and Lin arranged a workshop for trek participants at the Museum, with help from co-directors Anne Collins Goodyear and Frank Goodyear and Curator Casey Braun. "Anne, Frank, and Casey lent their expertise as museum professionals," Kramer said, and "I shared information about graduate school programs—specifically in art history, and Sabrina shared ways to get involved at the BCMA."
Katie King ’23, an anthropology major and government minor, aspires to work in a museum after graduation. She found listening to the career arcs of alumni enlightening. "I learned that the arts are very different from other jobs and disciplines in that there is no set path. It's not like medicine, which has a set and rigid path you follow," she said. "In the arts, it's more that everyone makes their own way." And that, she added, she found reassuring. "You can figure it out as you go along and try to find your place."
Mei Bock ’24, an English and visual arts major and art history minor, also works as a student curatorial assistant at the Bowdoin Museum of Art. She said she's never met so many alumni before, and was impressed by how willing they were to help and engage with students. The majority of them, coincidentally, also worked as curatorial assistants at the Museum when they were undergraduates.
Like King, she welcomed the frankness with which alumni described their career journeys, all of which were unique.
"I think it makes me oddly very hopeful about graduating and getting a job," she said. "I want to do something with the arts, but it always felt nebulous and I have always had a lot of trouble picturing myself there. While it is not totally clear yet, it is starting to come more into focus."
Photos by Chris Zhang ’25 and Amy Steigbigel