The artists have asked me record my part of this project, which up to this point has been relatively mundane. Honesty, I did not want to bore you all to death with the details! I just kept watch on their progress and maintained communication, answering questions and notifying them of pending deadlines…yada, yada, yada.
Now that we are closer to the opening of this exhibition, I begin working on the PR details. In case you are curious, here is how I described their show in the Press Release, invite and on the museum’s website.
Featuring the new work of Arizona artists Carolyn Lavender, Monica Aissa Martinez and Mary Shindell, this exhibition focuses on the imagery that not only distinguishes each artist but ties them together, just like the ecosystem of our planet. Lavender’s latest drawings depict woodland creatures in constructed landscapes and individualized portraits of various animal species, capturing not only their likeness but inferred personalities. Through her introspective drawings and paintings, Martinez explores the complexity of the human form and gender issues. Shindell’s mixed media sculptures, drawings and prints represent the intricate textures seen in plant forms and other organisms. You can take part in the artists’ process by visiting their blog at https://formalandinformal.wordpress.com/ .
Short, sweet and to the point. I have found that most people will not sit and read a description that is more than 100 words (Granted, this is slightly longer than 100 words, but I wanted to make sure to include this blog.). If an exhibition or object description is too long, people lose interest. In case you are wondering what an object description is, it is included on the label and provides some background information on the object on display.
In an ideal world, the PR for a exhibition would happen much sooner. I have found this is difficult to do with contemporary artists, who are working on their work right up to the delivery deadline. In addition, a curator at one of those big fancy museums will work on a single exhibition for years. I don’t have that luxury and am generally working on the details for 6-8 exhibitions at any given time.
Another dilemma I generally face is what image to use to represent the show. In this case, I have chosen to represent all three artists. I wanted to visually represent their title: CREATURE • MAN • NATURE.
Ah, the life of a curator…exciting isn’t it? At least I have not been killed off like in The Da Vinci Code! No crazy albino chasing me!
FORMAL exhibit and INFORMAL blog 
Early in the month I had brief communication with Tiffany about how she summarized my work. It’s all still new to me writing about this new direction. I should note the blog is a more casual format and easier for me, unlike an artist statement.
…anyway Tiffany responded by pulling up one particular paragraph from my statement and highlighting a few phrases and one particular sentence.
What she didn’t know was how much care I had given the construction of that sentence. I appreciated that she focused there, and was so concise. One might never guess that she is juggling 6-8 exhibitions the way she gives attention to (our-my) details .