Profile

For years this industry has been run by privileged blue-bloods, art collectors and dealers with connections. But that’s changed a lot, and I’m a good example of the new breed. My students see in me someone from a working-class background who worked her way up to success in a world that was completely off-limits to me when I was growing up. This program is another sign of the times. You could argue that the FIT program is pioneering, because we are a SUNY school. The fact that we are a state- and city-funded institution offering this program encourages people from every background to find a voice in the art world. The other programs are at NYU, Sotheby’s, and Christie’s. That’s some expensive company for us to be keeping. I had one student from a working-class family in Tennessee who very quickly after graduating became a sales director at a major New York gallery. The common denominator of students in this program is very interesting. It’s mostly women from backgrounds that don’t entitle them to access, or information about professions in the visual arts but who have a passion to make their way nonetheless—to make a contribution.