Emerging Arts Curatorial Internship

Under the instruction of the Ann M. Barwick Curator of American Art, Theresa Papanikolas, the Emerging Arts internship at the Seattle Art Museum grappled with the concept of American Art. Through collaborative efforts with conservation, curation, and the voices of underserved artists, The Stories We Carry endeavored to interact with SAM’s American art collection to refigure history. Aiding in curation, organization, and writing, three art labels were produced, as well as archival research to the collection. Thomas Eakins, Kehinde Wiley, and Alexander Phimister-Proctor were the primary artists of research in the collection, thereby prompting a venture to historicize the academic notions of portraiture. While contextualizing Wiley’s figure against a display of reverence towards a physician, Proctor’s Indian Warrior label challenged the idea of the craftsmanship of the noble savage. Towards the latter part of the internship, research of Alberto Giacometti engaged parts of existentialism and emotions looming over World War II. The research edged to create a new definition of the qualifications of American art; a jest at its participants for the past and present.