Next up... Grace West's Postgrad Story!
Many thanks to everyone who has been supporting and connecting with our newsletter thus far. And, thank you for the record-breaking stats in our interview with Kate Driscoll last week! This week we are chatting with Grace West (C’14), who has lots of interesting insight to share.
Did you have any internships during your time at Sewanee? If so, what were they?
“The summer before my senior year I interned with the Guarisco Gallery in DC, through the ACE internships at Sewanee. I really enjoyed living in DC and working in the business, curatorial, and technical art handling side of the art scene.”
What made you decide to major in Art History?
“I took AP Art History my senior year of high school and loved it. I didn’t really think about it for a major at first. I was thinking I wanted to be an English or History major, but I ended up not loving those classes as much as I thought.
“Dr. Brennecke was on sabbatical when I first came to Sewanee, and I had heard great things about her courses. So, I waited for her to come back, and I took one class. I fell in love. I fell in love with being able to study history and the world, not just through stories in a book, but being able to see people who lived around the world. I love seeing how the artists saw events of their lives.”
What was your favorite art history course you took at Sewanee?
“It is so hard to pick just one. As always, I loved Dr. Clark’s classes. Also, I loved modern art with Dr. Thompson. The people in that class were really incredible. And, I can’t forget 19th-century art with Dr. Brennecke, that one was a classic.
“There was also a visiting professor from Spain during my senior year. He was a professor for the Camino trip and met up with the students from Sewanee in Spain. He came back to Sewanee and taught Islamic Art and Architecture. It was so intriguing to get to study culture and world history through someone else’s eyes. It was one of the first classes I took that was non-Western. I’ve loved seeing the growth in the department since I left.”
Where did you go after graduating? What’s your story postgrad?
“I technically graduated from Sewanee in the fall of my senior year, but I stuck around and audited a few classes in the spring. I loved working at Guarisco the summer before because it allowed me to figure out what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to be in DC after college. I originally started working at the Phillips Collection, one of the first modern art museums, it is a curatorial museum. I was a museum assistant, which was basically a security guard. In this position though, I had the opportunity to share a lot of information and get my foot into the door of the art world. It provided me with good connections.
“Then I had an internship with the American curator at the Phillips Collection and worked on a show called “American Moments.” It was a photography show in the spring of 2015, which exhibited images from during and after the Great Depression. One of my favorite parts of working on it was seeing all the advertisements in the city: on buses, on billboards, and all over.
“While doing all of that, I was working part-time at Guarisco, and in May 2015, they offered me a full-time job. I was there until December 2018. So, after being hired back to Guarisco, I worked as a Gallery Assistant, then Collection Manager, where I worked on the care and history of different paintings and objects. I worked on cataloging, and other kinds of work like framing, cleaning, touch-ups, etc. I was then the Managing Director for 2.5 years, and I loved it. I was managing Sewanee interns, which was my favorite part of the job. I picked up on what the owner liked and disliked, worked with vendors, had the opportunity to go to different shows around the country, and was introduced to an international clientele.
“Around the time I was leaving, the gallery had gotten a lot smaller. So, in 2019, I moved back to North Carolina to be closer to my family, even though I loved the art world and DC. I started working at Duke University in their Annual Fund. It was a great experience working with alumni on philanthropic and class gift campaigns.
“I was recently promoted to a new role, the Director of Next Generation Philanthropy at Duke University. I run their programming and work with around 20 alumni. My goal is to eventually find my way back to the art world, possibly at the Nasher Museum at Duke, which focuses on collecting outside of the art historical canon and collecting female, Eastern, and Black art.”
If you had to give one piece of advice to your college self, what would it be?
“I’d probably say “go to fewer parties, haha.” But, actually, I’d say take advantage of your relationships and time with your professors. They are such wonderful resources and have incredible connections and relationships with alumni. They have such a wealth of knowledge and are so eager to share.”
What’s your favorite museum/ gallery/ exhibit/ work of art you’ve seen recently?
“I went to Bentonville, Arkansas in April for a wedding and made a stop at Crystal Bridges. There is an interesting backstory to the entire city where the museum is located. It is where Walmart is headquartered, and the children of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, have gone and created their own spin on the town. The daughter built a huge, incredible museum, which is one of the best modern American art museums. The collection is astounding. It was such an amazing experience.
“When I went in April, the exhibit at the time was about black, Souther art, called “The Dirty South.” It had a lot of intriguing and thought-provoking art. I highly recommend a visit out there. It is built into the banks of a gulley. There is also a huge art sculpture trail to hike through.”
How has your art history major helped you in your daily life?
“As I’ve been noting throughout this interview, I just love the way art history has allowed me insight into how to view the world, conversations, and different world events through a different lens. I’m not just looking at things face-on, but I am able to say what the different views are and get a good picture of the world as a whole.”
Thank you so much, Grace West (C’14) for sharing all of your experiences with us. It is always a pleasure to hear from everyone. If you are interested in connecting with Grace, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Be on the lookout for our conversation next week with Stephen Chambers (C’13).
– Sewanee Art History Department