Street: So, you’re an intern. What are you doing?
Clare Sandlund: I’m working at an art gallery downtown in Philadelphia, the James Oliver Gallery. I’m also working on campus (to get some money to pay for my gallery lifestyle) and taking a class. I’m working currently like 2 days a week, and trying to help out with special events. But in July, hopefully I’ll work more hours. It’s sort of flexible, so we said initially I might be there for a six month option, and I’m going to kind of test the waters and see if it’s something I want to stay with, or just a summer thing.
Street: How many interns total are there?
CS: There are about seven at the moment. I’m the only one from Penn, but there are people from Temple, or that live in the area, or that are here from the summer. We’re all kind of from different backgrounds, which is fun. We have a regular Monday meeting where all the interns come and catch up with everyone and present an article we read over the weekend about contemporary art. We’re all kind of educating ourselves on the contemporary art world.
Street: What is a basic day like? What kinds of responsibilities do you have?
CS: I’m working on remarketing and revamping an art class that we have, so I’m working on how we’re going to advertise, how we’re going to attract new people. Everyone’s kind of working on different things, either curation or event planning or what not.
Street: An art class? For kids or adults?
CS: My current idea is to make it into a class that works on three levels: a social space, where you’re getting to meet people, there are drinks available—an adult event for young people to meet other young people. But it’s also a creative space, as well as interacting with the gallery, Kind of just a new way to interact with people but also to interact with and create art.
Street: If you could dream up a perfect exhibit, what would you have it feature?
CS: My personal interests are sort of in the cross-cultural realm of things. I grew up in Asia, so I’m always kind of interested in the cross-cultural web and the way that figures into art. I was reading about this artist who was like, “How can you reincorporate Buddhism and Buddhist beliefs into contemporary art?” and was taking old paintings and reinterpreting them. That was from an art gallery in Hong Kong—I like to see things taken to a global level.
Street: What exhibit is on display now?
CS: It’s an exhibit by John Y. Wind called “The Makings Of A Modern Man.” It’s sort of a collage, I’d say—a lot of collage work and contemporary sculpture making and appropriation of art and kind of a window into his mind and his development, both as an immigrant and as a gay man, and also as an artist. It’s a really colorful installation, and it’s really fun and I think everyone should come through. It’s really unique and interesting.
Street: Has there been any really shocking art?
CS: When I went to my first day of work, they were installing the current show, and there’s a lot of…adult content, aka porn, incorporated into a lot of the collage. It’s kind of interesting after the shock factor, but coming in I was just like, “OH! Hello, there’s lot’s of penis everywhere!” Some of my friends came to the gallery, and I was showing them around, and by that time I’d kind of been, not numbed, but used to it, so it was just like, “Yeah, there’s lots of penis, FYI.”
Street: What events have you gotten to help out with so far?
CS: The first event I worked with was at the gallery opening itself, which was really fun. I was working at the front for the first part of the night, and it’s just really fun to see the spectrum of people that came in. There are the artists and musicians, that are probably around our age, that were coming in and checking out the art, but then there’s also the obvious Philadelphia high society types that would come and potentially be buying the art. It’s just a huge spectrum of people from all different walks of life, and it’s just really fun and colorful.
Street: What other kinds of events occur at the gallery?
CS: I think there will be another show or two…I’m not totally sure what’s upcoming. But we do have fashion shows that different designers will host at the gallery and First Fridays on the First Friday of every month, which is when all the galleries in Philly are open.
Street: Will you be there during First Friday? Does the gallery do anything special for it?
CS: I hope so! I’m sure they’ll want all hands on deck. My boss was telling me how it definitely brings in a different kind of crowd. A little more rowdy. You kind of open doors and let the crowd come through! Usually, we’ll have drinks.
Street: Would you recommend this internship?
CS: Yeah, for anyone interested in getting involved in the art world, it’s fun, it’s really laid back. It’s definitely a different work environment than I think a normal Penn student is used to. I’m definitely adjusting to the “go with the flow, don’t stress about it but still get things done.” I’m just like, “I need to stress! Why are there not a million deadlines and Google Calendars?!” It’s great to work in a different way and still do high quality stuff, just with a different spin.
Street: So you’re in a very creative space, any big personalities?
CS: Just some of the crazy characters that walk in! I guess the one who stands out the most is Miss Lisa. My friends were saying that they tried to call her Lisa, and she was like, “No. It’s Miss Lisa.” And she was kind of ridiculous and eccentric.
