Art in New York

Larsen Husby ’12

Lexington, Mass.
Studio art

Internships: Curatorial intern for nonprofit exhibition space in New York City and assistant for three New York artists

On the internships: My main internship was at Art in General, a nonprofit exhibition space in Manhattan that specializes in showing up-and-coming New York artists. The organization runs two galleries, publishes books in conjunction with the artists they showcase, and runs an artist-in-residence program as well as an Eastern European artist residency exchange. I was technically a curatorial intern, but I did a little bit of everything. I helped construct a large-scale installation with the artist collective AUDiNT, staffed the gallery and greeted visitors, researched artists to be approached for future shows, inventoried our publications, and performed various office tasks. In my other internships I was an assistant to several New York artists. I worked with Brooklyn artist Meredith Pingree in creating one of her kinetic sculptures for her latest show. I also worked with artist Anne Percoco in Jersey City, writing a press release for a show she’s curating, helping her design a booklet for another project, deinstalling a gallery show, assisting her in a workshop, and editing a video project. For Brooklynite Yashua Klos, who works mainly in collage and woodcut printing, I helped prepare paper for his collages and pulled proofs of his prints.

What I liked: At AiG I enjoyed learning about the workings of the New York art scene. Because part of my position was researching contemporary artists to approach about showing their work, I’ve seen a lot of work by up-and-coming artists. I’ve also learned how a gallery like AiG finds artists and works with them, and what opportunities they can provide. Through working with individual artists I’ve learned how they run their own studio practice—often in cramped New York apartments while still holding day jobs. I also learned about the business side of being an artist: curating and promoting shows, finding galleries to exhibit in, and transporting and storing artwork.

What was most surprising? How much a tiny nonprofit gallery can do. Before arriving in New York, I didn’t even know that AiG runs an artist-in-resident exchange with four Eastern European countries, and publishes a book in conjunction with each artist they show in their gallery. With only six permanent staff members, they do a lot.

What’s next? I want to keep making my own art and to create a portfolio for applying to graduate schools.