Up Next... Ashley Spencer
This week, we had the chance to chat with Ashley Spencer (C '87) about her journey after graduating from Sewanee. Enjoy!
What year did you graduate from Sewanee?
1987
Did you have any internships during your time at Sewanee? If so, what were they?
Yes. I received a Tonya Grant for an internship at the National Gallery of Art in DC in their Press department. It was the first Tonya grant awarded from Sewanee that had an art + history interest rather than solely government or public affairs, because the NGA is a public enterprise that is partially funded by the Federal Government.
I also participated in internships at Arena Stage and The National Museum of Women in the Arts the summer before graduating.
What made you decide to major in Art History?
I enjoy studying art history, but I also enjoy creating art. In fact, I took so many fine art classes that I almost didn’t have the slots to get all my art history credit requirements. I also thought art history would be more practical than a fine arts major. I was considering a career in museum work rather than as an artist operating through galleries.
What was your favorite art history course you took at Sewanee?
16 & 17 century art. I enjoy the early Baroque period. Caravaggio was one of my favorite painters. I’m captivated by his chiaroscuro and his ability to render the human body in such naturalistic, exquisite form. I also find his controversial life in such dichotomy with the subjects he painted.
Where did you go after graduating? What’s your story postgrad?
I worked at the National Gallery of Art in the Exhibition Design Department. It was the perfect place to work with academic artists. I photographed objects for upcoming exhibits for their printed publications. Within the first year of working at the NGA, I received an unexpected diagnosis of Hodgkin’s disease, a form of lymphatic cancer. I had married Peter Spencer, after dating long-term at Sewanee and long-distance after he graduated 3 years before me. I was pregnant at the time of my diagnosis. I decided to leave my NGA job to concentrate on my therapy while making sure everything would go well with my pregnancy, which complicated the way I was being treated with radiation and chemotherapy. Piers, my first son, was born 6 weeks early. I focused on motherhood while starting an at-home business illustrating for magazines as well as private commissions. Once Jackson, my second son, was born and both boys were attending school, I began working more outside of the home.
In 1995 my business grew to offer on-site decorative painting and faux finishing, as well as paint consultations, which I still do. I enjoy how this works with interior design and collaborating with clients and interior designers.
In 2009 I started Casart Coverings to offer some of my popular decorative finishes and designs as removable and reusable wall coverings. This allowed me to complete the look of decorative painting for customers without having to be on site. I had to learn a lot about printing, eCommerce, web design and optimization, as well as business and marketing. My company was one of the first to offer peel and stick type wallpaper application for interior design through online purchasing.
After 14 years, I decided at the start of this year to expand my design offerings to include coordinating furniture, home décor, accessories, and art prints. I moved my production to a third-party operation through Society6 and other platforms to handle all the logistics. This helps free up time for me to concentrate more on the design work, which I enjoy the most, rather than the administration of operating a business. I still do a lot of marketing and I’m still in the process of moving all my current designs. This is a lot of digital work to reconfigure my files that used to accommodate 52” wide wallcovering to a format for 24” wide repositionable wallpaper. Once this is complete, I’ll have more freedom to get back to creating additional artwork, which I look forward to doing.
If you had to give one piece of advice to your college self, what would it be?
****Enjoy the academic process and preparing for a lifetime of learning. Not everything follows an immediate single-lane path.
Even with the most strategic plans, life can suddenly be disrupted with unexpected circumstances. It’s important to assess what is most important to you through this process. Eventually, life has a way of getting you back to what you enjoy most. For me it was starting my own business while I needed to be at home and one that I tried to combine art history with fine art. I like to use what I’ve learned about other artists’ work from art history and academia while incorporating this knowledge within my own artwork. For instance, my Shells use scientific illustration and taxonomy within the layout of the artwork in how the shells are depicted. My Birds & Birch design was inspired by Gaman birds, hand-carved by those held in Japanese American Internment Camps during World War II.
Oh, and the National Gallery of Art is still one of my very favorite places to visit.
My work can be seen on my two main websites:
Casartcoverings.com - and purchased through my Casart Décor Shop: https://society6.com/casart?curator=casart
Thank you so much Ashley for taking the time to chat with us about your post-grad experiences. Be on the lookout next week for another conversation with Art History alumni!