Student Exhibit at the CSI LIbrary "Good Things Come in... Trees" Curated by... Me :)

My first year at the Macaulay Honors College (2019-2020), the Art Club planned their annual Macaulay Arts Night: an event full of art activities and art displays, all planned, submitted, and curated by students.

I was so excited and submitted a painting of a flower, leaving it in my advisor's office for safekeeping until the event. The COVID-19 hit, the event was cancelled for that year and the subsequent 2 years. This past year, it got cancelled again for a different reason.

I had looked forward to showing that art was a big part of my life even though I was a physics major and then a math major. In turn, I had the crazy idea to ask for permission to curate an art exhibit at my host college: CUNY CSI, for my last semester.

I'm so proud of myself for sending those emails of inquiry, and I'm so grateful Amy Stempler, Associate Dean and?Chief Librarian at CSI, said "I believe this can be arranged and am happy to discuss."

We discussed and planned, and I had all the freedom to choose what to put on display, how to tell the story that connected the separate pieces together, and where to place them in the physical space.

I had never curated an exhibit before but someone gave me the chance to try and I loved it, and it turned out so wonderfully :)

And...

That painting I had left in my advisor's office a week before COVID lockdown, finally left the office and made it to a gallery space.

If you happen to be in NYC, or near the CUNY College of Staten island, stop by the exhibit! It will be on display the entire summer of 2023 (End of May- End of August)

If you can't visit but are curious about what's there, find the link to my website in the comments. It will have give you a general overview + a description of every piece on display.

The lesson here is: don't be afraid to ask questions to give yourself the opportunity to build what you know you are capable of!