I never wanted to be an astronaut. Whenever I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up as a child, I always said a writer, a chef, or an artist. It seemed logical to me even at a young age to choose a career path that would allow me to engage with and critic some form of creative medium. As an Honours Art History major and Communication studies minor, I realize now that my interests at a young age continue to impact my studies today.
Art, and the social culture that revolves around it, ceases to fascinate me. The art market is a delicate dance between gallery owners, art dealers, and their cliental participate that is impossible to fully understand unless you are on the inside. Through this internship I wanted to learn more about this dance, and how I could play a participating role in the future. If anything, my experience at the gallery could be viewed as a rehearsal of this dance for a future career in the arts.
I hoped that through my internship I would learn what it was like to work an art gallery, and what kind of communications and public relation roles a gallery might have, because these are the career paths that interest me the most. This summer I spent six weeks at the Ronin Gallery, a Japanese and East Asian contemporary art gallery in New York City. The Ronin Gallery is home to the largest collection of 17th – 21st century Japanese prints for sale in the United States, with an extensive collection of ukiyo-e that rivals the collections of many museums. My position for the summer was as a Senior Gallery Intern, which held many responsibilities. Over the summer I worked alongside staff in the handling, storing, framing and cataloging of woodblock prints, which allowed me to engage with the gallery’s collection firsthand. I simultaneously managed the gallery’s database and their ARTSY account during my tenure at the gallery, alongside managing the social media account for Ronin Globus Onbeat (@ronin_globus_onbeat_air), the gallery’s annual artist-in-residence program. I was situated in a desk alone at the front of the gallery, so I was also the one who was responsible for welcoming guests into the gallery and answering the phone.
Although my internship came with many responsibilities and was exhausting at times, my experience was incredibly rewarding. Being at the front of the gallery, I would greet any walk-in guests and engage with them to see if they were interested in purchasing anything. The workers at the gallery gave me the freedom to try to sell works to lower-level clients, but if a big fish walked in or had an appointment scheduled, it was all hands-on deck. The prints that they were interested in would be laid out in advance, and my boss (David Libertson) would emerge out of his office and I would work as his assistant, unrolling works and holding prints. I found out this summer that I’m decent at selling art (I almost sold a print one of my days at the gallery) and I enjoyed watching the delicate dance that my boss would play when he would sell works to clients. The artists I met while at the gallery and the works I was able to see and handle, along with the knowledge I now know about woodblock prints were the highlights of my internship. Some of the things I now know about Japanese prints I could have never been learned in a classroom setting.
I am receiving academic credit for this internship, and I hope to make the topic of my research the sustainability of the current gallery system in relation to the rise in crypto art and the interest in the decentralization of art. My supervising professor will be the professor who is assigned to ARTH490, and there is not yet a professor assigned to the class.
This internship allowed me to realize the real-world applications of my university studies, which at times, is easier said than done for an art history major. Through my time at the gallery, I also learned a lot about art sales and about my own aptitude for sales. I will always treasure my time at the Ronin Gallery.
I would like to thank the Arts Internship Department for awarding me the Dean of Arts Development Fund this summer to support my internship at the Ronin Gallery. The funds supported my daily transportation, living expenses, and travel to New York City. I am very appreciative to have received this award and that McGill supported me in helping to make this internship possible.
