A Look at Bennington (Eva Respini)
Last week we made our way back up to Vermont, to the quaint, picturesque hills of Bennington. It was a healthy break from New York. My lungs exchanged the scents of dog urine, car exhaust and city smog for lilacs, grass, and mountain air. Instead of New York architecture, my eye got to take in Vermont’s green mountainous nubs. It was good to be back for the day.
Before her VALS lecture, we sat down with Eva Respini on Tishman’s balcony, taking advantage of the good weather and the site of a nesting turtle. Respini recently ended 14 years at MOMA to take over as the chief curator of the ICA in Boston. The ICA is a big change from MOMA; smaller with less resources but more flexibility than MOMA.
Respini was really open with us. Coming from a non-artistic background, she studied art history and comparative literature in her university years. It was refreshing to talk with someone who never thought of herself as a practicing artist. She began her foray into the art world by working as a front desk girl at a gallery then moved on to become a junior curator at MOMA. Respini is of a generation of people who could work their way up the ladder rungs of promotion, and eventually found herself as curator in the Department of Photography. Most people consider MOMA to be the pinnacle of their careers, having succeeded in the best of the best. Respini, having gotten to the top and wanting something different, decided to make a different move: leaving for the ICA. Though she hasn’t been at the ICA long (about two months), Respini is looking forward to a fresh new look at the world she’s been in for the past two decades.
Respini had a lot to say about what it takes to join the path to a job at an art institution. One of those steps is a Master’s degree, which is a common theme we’ve heard all term. Another is to decide for ourselves where we really want to be. There’s a huge difference between larger institutions like MOMA, and smaller ones like the ICA. More resources, more money, more prestige but less flexibility, less career maneuverability, and less ability to respond to present happenings. These are great things to ponder on, and will hopefully help me guide my own future.
