WITH KATIA ZAVISTOVSKI
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SFR: You've been the education co-ordinator and facilitator for the Young Curator's Program at SITE Santa Fe for almost a year. How did you get involved with this position?
KZ:
I've actually been working at SITE for three years. I started at SITE after graduating from college and I was an intern. After the internship was over, they offered me a position in the education department. The Young Curators Program started in 1999, and it was kind of by chance that I was offered the position as education co-ordinator. I started doing it and loved it.
Tell me about the program itself. How does one enter the Young Curator's Program?
It's a totally free and open program. It's a group of teenagers who meet weekly for an hour or so with an aim to set up an art exhibition. It's an open program; anyone that has a passion for art and is able to show up to our meetings can join. Right now we have eight curators, but it always fluctuates. Two or three of them are leaving after the summer to go to college. So we're looking for more people to join.
How has the program evolved under your supervision?
When I first started, it was a transition period for SITE in general. A new group of administrators came in. There were only about two or three young curators, which was tough because it's a lot of work for two people. I'm happy that I brought the number up. Ideally there would be 10 to 12, so I would like to see more people join. The other thing in the works right now is a Young Critics Program, which used to exist as an extension of the Young Curators. The Young Critics involves a writing component-they would go and see shows, write reviews and be published. That program had dissolved when I was first hired but I'm hoping to start it up again.
Are the young curators taught about art through lectures or events or are they individually responsible for such knowledge?
It's a little bit of both. A lot of them are artists themselves, or have taken art history classes. They meet with staff at SITE before we start the curating process. For example, they meet with Laura Heon, who is our director/curator, and she dialogues with them a little. Before we do the press release, they meet with Anne Wrinkle, our public relations consultant. It gives them an idea of how those professionals got to where they are now. In the off-time, we visit other galleries and museums, see shows. They are always welcome to come to our lecture series.
Describe the selection process and how the exhibit's theme is chosen.
We usually send an open call for entries to all high school and college teachers in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Within the last couple years, we decided to send calls to other art academies and programs around the country. Whoever is interested, between the ages of 13 and 21, can submit. It's all anonymous. The curators rate the submissions on a number system. They look at each work several times, and there is a lot of discussion, a lot of compromising and a lot of talk about how it fits into the theme. As for deciding on a theme, I may throw out ideas, help them think about themes in general, but they choose the theme. It's never up to me. I always have my own opinions, but they don't matter. It's really centered around them.
Tell me about this year's exhibit and its theme-Semantics: The Words of Art.
This exhibit's theme involves language and visual arts and how they influence one another. The curators threw out a whole bunch of ideas and that was the one that stuck with everyone. We received really interesting submissions. This is the first year, that I've been facilitating, that we received video submissions and installations, all different kinds of media. So it's just an idea of text and language and visual arts.
What do you think of the caliber of art that was submitted this year?
This is the third exhibition that I have worked on. Every year I am amazed to see what comes in. The youngest artist in this show is 14. It really blows my mind to see the type of work these kids are doing. It's exciting because there are so many young artists in this town, and all over the country really; it's nice to give them opportunity and encourage them to keep doing what they're doing.
Is there a different standard when you're looking at a youth-curated art show? That is, do you expect less?
People think there is and, of course, older artists have more experience, perhaps more training. But we try to make it on an equal level. The curators try to consider all the different factors that go into the work, and why or why not it should be accepted. It is of high caliber. We don't want to do some salon-style hanging of work that you might see in a hallway at a school. We want to see something professional and clean. Presentation is a big part of it.
Why does it make sense to teach younger people about curating versus making art?
A lot of the curators are artists themselves. Frequently, the artists included in the show will be interested in later joining the Young Curators Program. In this current group, there are two curators who had their work in previous shows. They both said the program helps them with their artwork. It helps them think about what people are looking for and how to present their work when they submit proposals. When people think of the art world, especially young people, they think of being an artist and nothing else. There is a wide range of things you can do in the art world. In our program, we meet with artists and curators around town, aside from people here at SITE, to give them an idea of all the things you can do. It opens their eyes a bit to the art world.
