Up next... Kate Barlow Clark!
Thank you for all your feedback and comments on last week’s newsletter with Stephen Chambers. This week, for our final newsletter of the semester, we talked to Kate Barlow Clark (C’18), and she has lots of fun and insightful information to share with us!
Did you have any internships during your time at Sewanee? If so, what were they?
“The summer after my sophomore year in 2016, I interned at the Guarisco Gallery, as many other Sewanee students did. It was a Sewanee-funded internship, and I worked under Grace West! Being in DC and working in art allowed me to do a lot of research and explore new opportunities. The gallery had a lot of high-end art, there were lots of different purchasing transactions. I helped with different events, there were a lot of those, and marketing, too. The curator at the gallery let me do research with him. They had two galleries at the time, so I went back and forth.
“In the winter of 2016, after I studied abroad, I went back to Guarisco and helped them out during my break. While I was there I did tons in marketing. Something that was so cool was that I got to write handwritten letters to the Forbes Top 100.
“After my junior year, I had an internship at Monticello in Charlottesville, VA. This was also a Sewnaee position and one of my close family friends was the curator there. I worked partially in the marketing department, and then the database got hacked, so I ditched that. I began working in the curatorial department, which was so cool. I was doing research on Thomas Jefferson and his life. While I was there, I got to write blog posts for them, and I realized I liked museums, but it was a lot of the same kind of work, so I did not go back. I learned there some things that I didn’t love doing.”
What made you decide to major in Art History?
“In high school, I took an AP Art History class, and I loved it. I grew up traveling and going to lots of museums, my dad loves them. I definitely drug my feet as a child, but I still enjoyed seeing things and learning about art and architecture through different references in history.
“I’m a visual learner, so it was so much easier for me to remember an image than other facts and things. Survey of Western Art with Dr. Brennecke was one of my first GenEds, and she was my advisor. I did well on my first test in her class and decided that I wanted to major in it.”
What was your favorite art history course you took at Sewanee?
“Well, I have two. My first one would be British Art with Brennecke. I loved learning about the Royal Academy and Somerset house. I loved the Victorian age. I am definitely an Anglophile.
“The other one would also be with Dr. Brennecke, it was her American Art class. I liked seeing how all the history and artistry grew and developed in the states from Britain.”
Where did you go after graduating? What’s your story postgrad?
“Right before I graduated, Brennecke had suggested applying to the Met. When I was doing Beyond the Gates, I met a cardiologist who knew someone who worked in the Greek and Roman Department there. I got an interview, I swear through the power of networking, I talked to a British man, and did my best. Frankly, the job sounded like something that would make me miserable, and I did not get the job.
“So, right after I graduated I did a Moon Dance adventure and went to Maui. When I got back, I moved home. Then, I decided to move to Charleston, and Dr. Brennecke told me about Allison Williamson, who owned the Charleston Artist Collective there. I went to her and basically begged her for a job, and luckily she took me in. I began working part-time, then after two months, I took over the manager role. I have been there ever since.
“While I’ve been working here, it is not as crazy as the luxury retail industry in DC that I was exposed to. However, all of the artists at our gallery are alive and I can meet and talk with them. It’s really fun getting to know our clients and helping them figure out what they want to buy for their homes and enjoy. This kind of artwork can really enhance their lives, it’s not just a monetary investment. I also really appreciate our collective because we donate a portion of our sales to nonprofit organizations.”
If you had to give one piece of advice to your college self, what would it be?
“Go for it. Apply to everything you see in New York or LA. It doesn’t matter where you end up, and everyone is thinking “What do I do?” It’s not just you.
“Also, you have to put yourself out there. You can do anything you set your mind to. And reach out to Sewanee alumni. Sewanee people want to help Sewanee people.”
What’s your favorite museum/ gallery/ exhibit/ work of art you’ve seen recently?
“Well, I have to do a shameless plug to the Charleston Artist Collective, obviously.
“But actually, I went to an art talk at the Gibbs Museum in Charleston, where Jerry Saltz, an art critic for the New York Magazine spoke. He spoke for about an hour, and I traveled back to the time when I was in school. It was captivating. It was so interesting hearing about somebody who is living in New York and working in the fast pace art scene.
“I remember him saying “art uses us to replicate itself.” He has no formal art degree, he specialized in the classics, and nothing is original. This wasn’t meant in a cynical way, more of a positive way. Art acts as a vehicle to share beauty with other humans. Everyone is just trying to express themselves and some form of beauty.”
How has your art history major helped you in your daily life?
“I think the most important part is the vocabulary I learned through art history. Along with this, I’d say being able to recognize artists, periods, and different styles and inspirations are really useful in my job. It offers me such ease to talk about art with our clients.”
Thank you so much, Kate, for taking the time to chat with us. It was such a pleasure. If you have any questions or interests in what Kate’s up to, don’t hesitate to reach out!
– Sewanee Art History Department