The Cleveland Institute of Art is home to the Reinberger Gallery, located on the first floor of the institution. The Reinberger Gallery resides at 11610 Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio. The gallery is open to the public the whole week, Monday-Thursday 10-5 pm. Friday 10-9 pm, and Saturday and Sunday 12-5 pm. The Reinberger Gallery specializes in showing art exhibitions from Cleveland artists, alumni, faculty, and students. Nikki Woods is the lead director of the Reinberger.

Being the summer Curatorial Intern at the Reinberger was an excellent addition to my education at Cleveland State University for my master’s in history and museum specialization. Gaining more experience within a gallery or museum reinforced my passion for art within these spheres. This position furthered my understanding and drive for wanting to share art and ideas with all people. It drove home that not only do I love creating artwork myself, but I also love being a part of a team. Curating exhibitions to show to the greater public is fulfilling to me and brings great satisfaction in sharing art and making it accessible to all. 

Starting my education at Cleveland Institute of Art, and receiving a bachelor’s in fine art within the painting department helped me recognize my passion for painting and contemporary art. With this degree, I studied the realms of the creation of art. Furthering my education through CSU’s program in History and museum specialization helped to bridge the creation of artwork to the display and integration of art into public spaces.

During my time with the Reinberger Gallery, it was a pleasure to have the experience of helping bring the show Are We There Yet? to fruition. Working alongside curator Magdalena Moskalewicz, from the greater Chicago area gave me insight into the thought processes and steps to curate an exhibition.

Helping in this exhibition and the curation team allowed me the privilege of speaking to 40 artists. The alumni exhibition theme started with the idea of where the graduates of the Cleveland Institute of Art are taking their artistic practices. Are they creating new work? Are they building off of ideas they formulated and researched within undergraduate or graduate school? These questions helped Moskalewicz ideate a proposition for the fruition of the alumni show.

It was inspiring to see the exhibition come together. The selected artists were all alumni of the Cleveland Institute of Art. Their graduation years spanned from the 1960s to recent years.  This exhibition had artists spanning different generations which led to many interesting, intriguing conversations. The artists were very eager to share their making processes and thoughts behind their work. 

In addition to helping put together the show Are We There Yet? I spent a portion of the internship cataloging and writing about a collection within the Cleveland Institute of Art. The study collection is a collection of pieces from artists who have donated or left their work behind at the CIA. This collection was first to be for students to study but evolved into a program where the art travels around the building each year. 

Helping with the cataloging and assessment of the Study Collection allowed for the understanding of such collections of work. The works of the Study Collection are mainly found on the First, Second, and Fourth floors of the Cleveland Institute of Art. The study collection is on display throughout the institution and is situated in offices and common areas. In offices, Cleveland Institute of Art workers and professors have the opportunity to pick a piece from the study collection for their office to serve as decoration purposes to elevate the spaces. Since people in their respective offices pick their pieces, sometimes the spaces are irregular for the art. The dispersion of art throughout the institution keeps it lively and intriguing, keeping the student’s and faculty’s eyes stimulated while frequenting the campus.

While working through the assessment of each work, there was the team of Amani (a colleague with great knowledge of the Study collection and exhibitions from the past 3 years at CIA Reinberger gallery), Thomas (the preparator, who has extensive knowledge of the handling and displaying of artwork), and I. We walked through the entire institution and assessed each piece taking note of possible damage, degradation, or any other changing qualities. Noting the accession number on the back, helped to quickly identify and find artist information such as title, year, and materials. The accession year was when the piece was acquired into the study collection, most happening within the past 10 years or so. 

From the assessment of the study collection, there was one last part of the internship that helped me closely analyze and affirm my passion for curation. Creating wall labels for certain pieces of the collection was a good exercise. Using research skills, I started at the Cleveland Institute of Art’s library website. I explored their databases and typed their name in to get call numbers for books that I could read to gain more information. I also explored the newspapers and other articles that could be found on the web to give more descriptive information on the specific artist and their pieces. The information I am looking for concerns where the artist went to school, what they majored in, and any major awards. I am looking for major exhibitions and movements they were a part of, from where, and if they taught within their career.  All of these questions can be found by researching the databases and pulling out relevant articles and information.

I am extremely grateful to be able to research artists who I found stimulating to my art practice such as Julian Stanczak and Lane Cooper. Researching in depth about Lane Cooper led to many intriguing insights. In my undergraduate years at the Cleveland Institute of Art, I had Lane as a painting professor. I give her most of the credit for helping me delve into the world of paint and helping me dwell on the relevancy of art history. Channeling Lane Cooper’s drive for art history I articulated the 10 artists in a professorial and enlightening manner.

In all this internship has offered me hands-on work in a gallery. It has solidified my love for galleries, specifically with contemporary art. I have come to appreciate sculptures, 3D, and other work that I have not considered while studying my undergrad since I was primarily a painter. 

Working closely in the Reinberger Gallery asserts that I am making the right decision in following my dreams and goals of becoming a curator. The experience acquired from the Reinberger Gallery will set a strong foundation for my next steps as an aspiring assistant curator. Being privileged to help Magdalena Moskalewicz by giving feedback on my thoughts on the placement of the work before they were installed gave me crucial insight into the career.

Overall, the moving parts of this internship led me to contemplate what goes into the career of a curator and who works at a gallery to make it function. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work within the Reinberger Gallery with Nikki Woods and Amani Williams. It has provided me with many professional connections and opportunities that I will take with me through the development of my career.