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Amy Smith Stewart: Owner, Smith-Stewart, Post-war and Contemporary Art, London, 2007
Peter Costanzo: Specialist, Bloomsbury Auctions, American Fine and Decorative Art, New York, 2007
Monica Bowman: Director, The Butcher’s Daughter, Detroit MI, Contemporary Art, Spring Semester Student, New York, 2008

Amy Smith-Stewart

Programme: Post-war & Contemporary Art
Campus: London
Year: 2000-2001
Current city: New York, NY
Current place of work and title: Owner, Smith-Stewart, NY, www.smith-stewart.com

What attracted you to apply/attend Sotheby¹s Institute of Art and what was the most important part of your experience?
Surprisingly, there were no grad programmes in the US at the time that offered a concentration in post-war and contemporary art. So I started looking abroad and a friend (a former student) introduced me to the Sotheby's London programme. It sounded perfect -- to study in London, which is a huge art market, like NY, and to be at Sotheby's, which has a long and important role in the art world. So it was an easy decision to go, and I haven't looked back.

Did you always know you wanted to work in galleries?
It was always a dream of mine to start my own space. But it didn't happen at once. After I graduated, I worked at P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, a MoMA affiliate in the curatorial office for four years. I started as a project manager and ended as a curator. I was a curator for Mary Boone after P.S.1 but I did not work in the gallery. I acted in an advisory role, curating shows and introducing a new generation of artists to her gallery. So it was actually only after doing all of this that I decided it was time to try out my own gallery, Smith-Stewart.

What are you doing now and how did you get here?
I am the owner of Smith-Stewart, a gallery in NY, formerly located on the Lower East Side and now a nomadic curatorial project.

Who are some major players (artists, collectors, dealers) for us to keep an eye on?
Artists Kate Gilmore, Mika Rottenberg, Lorraine O'Grady, Huma Bhabha, The Bruce High Quality Foundation, Marilyn Minter, Wangechi Mutu.

Who are your mentors in the field?
Former P.S. 1 Director Alanna Heiss, now P.S. 1 Director and MoMA Curator Klaus Biesenbach, Independent Curator and Writer Bob Nickas and all the artists I had the great pleasure to work with!

Do you have any advice for someone trying to break into your field?
Follow your passion.

Peter Costanzo

Programme: American Fine & Decorative Art
Campus: New York
Year: 2007
Current City: New York, NY
Current place of work and title: Specialist in the Books & Manuscripts Department at Bloomsbury Auctions

What attracted you to apply/attend Sotheby’s Institute of Art and what was the most important part of your experience?
I was attracted to the American Arts Course at SIA for two reasons:
1) The survey course in art history that I took in high school ignited my interest in the stylistic changes apparent in art over time. At Reed College, thinking critically about art led to a deeper understanding and appreciation for the meaning and implications of art and expression and its undeniable importance in our lives. In finding the American Arts Course, I was excited to re-visit the survey format in a specialised field (American Fine & Decorative Art) over a finite period of time (1600-1950), and thus my interest in the advancement of style in art and critical thinking about art were unified in the programme.

2) After college, I worked a few years for my father, a general auctioneer who handles about 5 estate sales a year. I loved digging around peoples attics and basements pulling out long forgotten pieces of history. I would often find myself at the end of the sales feeling picked clean by local dealers who would swoop in, buy what they wanted at their prices, and leave me questioning if I had done the best possible job for my client. I knew I needed a multi-faceted education that would not only teach me about objects but also about the market and its players. At Sotheby's Institute I learned what is what; I learned what separates the good from the better and the best; I learned about the market from the auction house, dealer, and collector perspective; I met many professionals and passionate collectors in the field that have become friends, colleagues, and a network of professional contacts who, have remained willing to help, instruct, and conduct business as I continue to mature.

Did you always know you wanted to work in Auction Houses?
Yes. Having been raised the son of an auctioneer, the time schedules, psychology, and specialised business skills of the auction business have always appealed to me. Being on the fence between buyers and sellers allows the auctioneer to be objective about art when consigning items to a sale or in selling it to a collector.

What are you doing now and how did you get here?
I am currently a specialist in the Books & Manuscripts Department and the Principal Auctioneer for Bloomsbury Auctions in New york City. I have been a part of Bloomsbury since the expansion of the company to the United States from London in 2007. Initially I was brought on for having auction house skills such as client service and auctioneering and over time I developed the cataloguing and specialist skills which have led me to the point of holding my own sales every season.

Who are some major players (artists, collectors, dealers) for us to keep an eye on?
In the current market I believe institutions are to be watched. Some libraries and art museums may be forced to de-accession duplicates or lesser works in order to maintain the parts of the collections that they are best known for. Also, a downturn in the market may allow institutions that have been priced out of the market during the boom years to purchase again.

Who are your mentors in the field?
My mentors in the field are the other specialists I work with now. All auction house veterans, these mentors have taught me how to look critically at items for their true value in a sale, how to value them appropriately and attractively to buyers, and of course how to auctioneer in the specific market of rare books and manuscripts.

Do you have any advice for someone trying to break into your field?
The rare books and manuscripts field is easy to learn but very difficult to master. I've been told it takes at least 10 years to become comfortable with assesing the values of things and understanding the marketplace and collectors. I have found this to be true to my experience as every collection that comes in requires an entire new set of specialised knowledge. To the advantage of someone trying to enter the field, every major auction house has several catalogued books and manuscripts sale a year, dealers at book fairs are usually willing to teach a little, and there is an abundance of information easily accessed online in the form of library holdings, bibliographies, and items for sale by dealers.

Monica Bowman

Programme: Contemporary Art, Spring Semester Student
Campus: New York
Year: 2008
Current City: Detroit, MI
Current place of work and title: Director, The Butcher's Daughter, www.thebutchersdaughtergallery.com

What attracted you to apply/attend Sotheby's Institute of Art and what was the most important part of your experience?
When applying to graduate school I was searching for a programme that could provide balance between traditional academic study and practical commercial experience. Georgetown University’s curriculum was based on national museum standards whereas Sotheby’s exposed me to the business of art. Access and familiarity with New York galleries provided insight I would have otherwise never had.

Did you always know you wanted to work in the gallery field?
I would have never guessed I would own a gallery. The story goes…my grandfather, father and brother are butchers: hence, my gallery’s name, The Butcher's Daughter. My Midwestern values would have had me believe that with earnest effort I would end up working in a museum or teaching. Paradoxically, that is the model I employ in my gallery: contextualise the art and educate the audience.

What are you doing now and how did you get here?
I own The Butcher's Daughter. It is a contemporary art gallery in Ferndale, Michigan (20 minutes outside Detroit). After I left Sotheby’s, I was living in Harlem writing the catalogue, The Seminal Works of The N’Namdi Collection of African American Art, for an exhibition happening at my undergraduate alma mater in Michigan. The collector owned galleries in Chelsea and Chicago was expanding his art complex in Detroit. There was a brief time I thought I would become a part of it. Although it didn’t materialise, it opened my eyes about what was possible. You wouldn’t believe it, but Detroit is an entrepreneur’s playground: all you need is a great idea and earnest effort.

Who are some major players (artists, collectors, dealers) for us to keep an eye on?
Currently, I am working with some great artists that are gaining traction: Michael Anderson, Kate Gilmore, Wendy White. In Detroit we have great emerging talent such as Chido Johnson, Michael E. Smith, Cynthia Greig and George Rahme.

Who are your mentors in the field?
From an academic standpoint, Martin Irvine of Irvine Contemporary, in Washington, D.C.. He was a professor of mine at Georgetown. He is the founding Director of the Communication, Culture, and Technology Program there and we have remained close over the years. His business acumen and aesthetic preferences inspire me to think outside established systems and networks. Also, I mentioned earlier, George N’Namdi has influenced my awareness and sensitivity to alternative gallery models and the potential of entrepreneurship.

Do you have any advice for someone trying to break into your field?
Don’t underestimate the power of a good business plan.


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