Online Doctor’s Hours for Visual & Multidisciplinary Artists

Monday, November 22 and Monday, December 6 Doctor’s Hours events will offer remote one-on-one individual consultations with arts professionals.

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) will host the next edition of its popular Doctor’s Hours program, which is designed to provide practical and professional advice from industry professionals, online on Monday, November 22 and Monday, December 6.

This event will serve Visual and Multidisciplinary artists working in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Video, Film, Photography, New Media, Multidisciplinary, Performance Art, Socially-Engaged Practices, Folk, and Traditional Art.

You can register for 25-minute, remote one-on-one appointments with up to three arts professionals to ask questions and receive actionable tips for advancing your arts career.

How Online Doctor’s Hours Works

• The event will take place in two time slots, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST and 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST.
• Each consultation session is 25 minutes. One artist can sign up for no more than three appointments.
• To make the most of your appointment, please read the entire confirmation email you receive after completing your registration; it includes all the details you need for your session.
• The Online Doctor’s Hours sessions take place through the Zoom platform. Please download the Zoom app before the event.

Details

Title: Online Doctor’s Hours for Visual and Multidisciplinary Artists
Program Date and Time: Monday, November 22 and Monday, December 6, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST and 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
Location: Online through Zoom*
Cost: $35 per 25-minute appointment; three appointment limit per artist
Register: Registration for the December 6 Doctor’s Hours is currently closed, as this event is at capacity. To add your name on the waitlist, please email [email protected]. Sessions are reserved on a first-come, first-served basis, and we will email you if a slot becomes available.

*We are able to offer this support via phone if you are unable to access reliable internet service.

Can’t join us? You can book a one-on-one consultation with arts professionals via NYFA Coaching.

For questions, email [email protected].

Consultants Available on Monday, December 6, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST

Nicholas West, Co-Director, University Museums and Curator, Picker Art Gallery, Colgate University

Prior to relocating to central New York, West held curatorial and administrative roles with several museums in the Los Angeles area, including the J. Paul Getty Museum, the City of Lancaster Museum of Art and History, and the University of Southern California’s (USC) Fisher Museum of Art. In each of these institutions, West has worked closely with collections to conduct art historical research, realize exhibitions, and develop new public programs. As an administrator, West managed the USC Fisher Museum of Art’s successful application for reaccreditation with the American Alliance of Museums and played a lead role in the planning and design of a new facility for the City of Lancaster Museum of Art and History. 

West holds MSt and DPhil degrees in Archaeology from the University of Oxford, where he conducted research on the collection of Greek and Roman bronze statuettes at the Ashmolean Museum, along with an MA degree in Arts Management from Claremont Graduate University. He was the recipient of the Mougins Ashmolean Museum Fellowship at Wolfson College and was the co-organizer of the Art in Antiquity lecture and workshop series, funded by Lorne Thyssen Research Fund for Ancient World Topics. His research interests include the history of collections, the post-antique reception of Greek and Roman art, and how digital technologies are used in museum curating. At Picker Art Gallery, West has originated several collections-based exhibitions and connected them to Colgate’s liberal arts curriculum. He has frequently given talks and guest lectures on topics in museology in Colgate classes and has fostered new collaborations with faculty and staff across campus.

Maymanah Farhat, Independent Artist and Curator

Farhat’s art historical research and curatorial work focus on underrepresented artists and forgotten art scenes. Since 2005, she has written widely on 20th and 21st century art, contributing essays and chapters to edited volumes, artist monographs, and museum and gallery catalogs. Farhat has curated exhibitions throughout the U.S. and abroad, notably at the San Francisco Center for the Book; the Center for Book Arts in Manhattan; Minnesota Museum of American Art; Arab American National Museum; Virginia Commonwealth University Gallery in Doha, Qatar; Art Dubai; and Beirut Exhibition Center. As an art worker, she has held positions at non-profit art spaces, commercial galleries, and publications. Farhat is currently the Editor-in-Chief of Tribe magazine, a leading photo-based publication from the Arab world. 

​​Judy Giera, Program Manager-EFA Project Space, Interdisciplinary Artist, and Arts Educator

Since beginning at EFA Project Space in 2018, Giera has been involved in supporting numerous exhibitions and countless artist projects as well as facilitating several cohorts of the SHIFT Residency for Arts Workers. Her work as an interdisciplinary artist spans painting, video, and performance with her work being shown recently at the Hudson River Museum and in a solo presentation at SPANTZO. Giera has also served as an arts educator for the Whitney Museum, Lehman College Art Gallery, and the Bronx Institute, which included multiple residencies within public schools in the Bronx co-creating public art works such as mosaics and murals. She holds an MFA degree in Art from Lehman College/CUNY, an MFA degree in Theatre from Pace University, and spent a year in the graduate Performance Studies program at Pratt Institute. Giera resides in Brooklyn with her partner and two cats. 

Megan Biddle, Artist and Co-Director of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery

Biddle is a visual artist who works between sculpture, installation, and printmaking. Rooted in glass, she produces experiment and process-driven work with an emphasis on materials and their distinct characteristics. She has attended residencies at MacDowell, The Jentel Foundation, Sculpture Space, The Virginia Center for Creative Arts, Pilchuck Glass School, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and Mass MOCA. She has exhibited nationally and internationally at venues including The Islip Art Museum and the Everson Art Museum, NY; the Reynolds Gallery, Richmond, VA; Space 1026 and the Art Alliance, Philadelphia, PA. Her work was acquired into the American Embassy’s permanent collection in Riga, Latvia. She has taught at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Pilchuck Glass School, Urban Glass, and Oxbow School of Art and currently teaches as an adjunct professor in the Glass Program at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture. She has been awarded grants from the Gottleib Foundation and the Haven Foundation. She is a Co-Director and member of Tiger Strikes Asteroid Gallery in Philadelphia, PA, where she lives and works.

Consultants Available on Monday, December 6, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST

Will Hutnick, Artist, Curator, and Director of Artistic Programming, Wassaic Project

Hutnick received his MFA degree from Pratt Institute and his BA degree from Providence College. Hutnick is a 2021 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellow in Painting, as well as a grant recipient from the Berkshire Taconic Foundation and the Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Recent exhibitions include: 1969 Gallery (New York, NY), Geary Contemporary (Millerton, NY), Sugarlift (New York, NY), Soho Works (Brooklyn, NY, solo), Satellite Art Club (Brooklyn, NY), Craven Contemporary (Kent, CT), Collar Works (Troy, NY), Standard Space (Sharon, CT, solo), and One River School (Hartsdale, NY, solo). He has been an artist-in-residence at Yaddo, Hambidge Center for the Creative Arts and Sciences, Soaring Gardens Artists’ Retreat, Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency by Collar Works, DNA Artist Residency, Wassaic Project, Vermont Studio Center, and a curator-in-residence at Benaco Arte and Trestle Projects. Hutnick has curated exhibitions at SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Ortega y Gasset Projects, Trestle Projects, Pratt Institute, Wassaic Project, and Standard Space. From 2015-20, Hutnick was one of the Co-Directors of Ortega y Gasset Projects, an artist-run curatorial collective and exhibition space in Brooklyn, NY. He is currently the Director of Artistic Programming at the Wassaic Project, a nonprofit organization that uses art and art education to foster positive social change.

Guido Garaycochea, Artist, Curator, and Manager of New New Yorkers Program, Queens Museum

Born in Peru, Garaycochea is a Latino immigrant naturalized American artist who works at the Queens Museum as the manager of the program New New Yorkers. Garaycochea is also the co-founder, curator, and Artist-in-Residence Program director of Expressiones Cultural Center in New London, CT, a non-profit organization that promotes understanding between the Anglo and Hispanic communities through the arts. He studied art at the Escuela Nacional Superior de Bellas Artes del Perú and graduated with several awards and honors. He later received a second Bachelor in Aesthetics degree and a master’s degree in History and Theory of Art in Chile, where he taught for many years. Garaycochea moved to the United States in 2004, and taught from 2004 until 2016 at Mitchell College in New London, CT; the University of Connecticut, Three Rivers Community College in Norwich, CT; and York Correctional in Niantic, CT. In 2013, Garaycochea moved to New York City to resume art studies, graduating with an MFA degree from the School of Visual Arts in 2015. That same year, he was Artist-in-Residence at More Art / Engaging Artist, focusing on volunteering and working with immigrant elders. In 2018, he was Artist in Residence at The Griffis Foundation in Sophia, Bulgaria, and had a 2019 – 2020 Shift Residency at Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, New York, NY.

Alexis Yuen, Art Advisor, Uprise Art

Yuen is an art world professional with a decade of international experience in the Fine Art industry. She has held business development, sales, strategy, project management, curatorial, and research roles at Art Basel, Christie’s, Guggenheim Museum, AEA Consulting, and more. With a strong professional and art collector network in New York, London, and Hong Kong, Yuen creates cross-cultural dialogues, partnerships, and sales. Yuen is currently the Art Advisor at Uprise Art, a Soho/Chinatown gallery and robust e-commerce platform specializing in emerging artists. Yuen works with architects, interior designers, and art consultants on art acquisitions and commissions. Yuen’s lifelong passion is to increase access to the arts, and she spends her spare time leading public art tours and speaking to women about careers in creative industries. In 2018, she founded The Art Diplomat to connect art collectors with artworks they love, highlighting underrepresented artists.

Niama Safia Sandy, Curator and Multidisciplinary Artist

Sandy is a New York-based cultural anthropologist, curator, producer, educator, and multidisciplinary artist. Her creative practice delves into the human story through the application and critical lenses of culture, healing, history, migration, music, race, and ritual. She sees her role as that of an agitator—one who endeavors to simultaneously call into question and make sense of the seemingly arbitrary nature of modern life and to celebrate our shared humanity in the process. Sandy is fascinated by the ways in which history, economics, migration, and other social forces and constructs have shaped culture and identity. Her aim is to leverage history, the visual, written, and performative arts, chiefly those of the Global Black Diaspora, to tell stories we know in ways we have not yet thought to tell them and to lift us all to a higher state of historical, ontological and spiritual wholeness in the process.

Sandy is a co-founder of The Blacksmiths, a coalition forging support for Black liberation against anti-Black racism and its manifestations in the academy and at cultural institutions on the global stage. Sandy is a member of the Resistance Revival Chorus, a group of women and non-binary identifying musicians bringing song to life in the spirit of activism, collective joy, and resistance. She is also an active member of the Wide Awakes, an international open-source network of artists and creatives radically reimagining the future through creative collaboration. She has presented work and spoken at art institutions around the world. Sandy and her work have been featured in The New York Times, Teen Vogue, The Washington Post,  Hyperallergic, OkayAfrica, and more. She has written for outlets including Artsy, Active Cultures LA, and NAD NOW. Sandy is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor in Pratt Institute’s School of Art.

Abby Chen, Senior Associate Curator and Head of Contemporary Art, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco

Leading the newly-established Contemporary Art department, Chen will open the 2021 museum transformation with a new emphasis on contemporary art and dedication to digital enhancement. Over the past 18 months, Chen has overseen nearly a dozen exhibitions and installations at the museum, including: Jas Charanjiva’s Don’t Mess With Me; Chanel Miller mural, I was, I am, I will be; Jenifer K Wofford’s mural, Pattern Recognition; and a site-specific installation from Marin-based artist Zheng Chongbin entitled “I look for the sky.” 

Chen’s curatorial practice, she says, is centered on artists and their process—the thinking behind contemporary art, and not just the finished product. Chen maintains strong ties with experimental artist communities locally and internationally, which has contributed to her wide record of publications and presentations on the intersectionalities of race, sexuality, gender, nation, migration, and technology in both the United States and Asia.

Prior to Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, Chen served for over a decade as the Curator and Artistic Director at the Chinese Culture Center and Foundation of San Francisco. Under her leadership, the community-based organization was transformed into an open and process-driven platform for contemporary art. Multiple initiatives were established during her tenure, including “Xian Rui Fresharp Artist Excellence Series” since 2008, the first of its kind in the country supporting mid-career artists of Chinese descent in America. In 2010, she organized Gender Identity Symposium, a multi-city forum in Guangzhou, Beijing, and Shanghai, followed by the 2011 international exhibition WOMEN我們 on feminism, gender equality, and social engagement in China. A long-time advocate on artists’ autonomy and telling untold stories, her focus on bringing art from and into marginalized communities broke barriers imposed on ethnic institutions and neighborhood. 

Please note all slots for the November 22 event are currently full. To participate in Doctor’s Hours, we recommend signing up for a session on December 6 or emailing [email protected] to sign up for the waitlist for a particular consultant.

Consultants Participating on Monday, November 22, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST

Jess Wilcox, Curator and Director of Exhibitions, Socrates Sculpture Park

Since joining Socrates Sculpture Park in 2016, Wilcox has curated several group and solo exhibitions including Planeta Abuelx; Monuments Now; Chronos Cosmos: Deep Time, Open Space; Virginia Overton: Built; Nari Ward: G.O.A.T., again; and the Socrates Annual exhibitions.  She curated the first single-artist exhibitions in the park’s 33 year history, re-launched the park’s publication program, and initiated a program of traveling newly-commissioned works to other venues. From 2011-2015 she worked at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum organizing public programs and public artworks. While there, she co-curated Agitprop!, an exhibition of historical and contemporary political art. She has curated shows at Abrons Art Center, International Studio Curatorial Project (ISCP), and SculptureCenter, among other venues. She has a BA degree from Barnard College and a Master’s degree from Bard CCS. 

DJ Hellerman, Curator, SCAD Museum of Art

Prior to SCAD, Hellerman served as Curator of Art & Programs at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY and Curator & Director of Exhibitions at Burlington City Arts in Burlington, VT. A native of Ohio, Hellerman began curating and educating people about art while helping Progressive Insurance build a collection of contemporary art designed to encourage innovation and change. He received his MA degree in Art History from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and his BA degree in English and Philosophy from Lake Erie College in Painesville, OH. He loves live music and literature as much as he enjoys visual art.

Daniel Aycock, Founder and Director, Front Room Gallery 

Aycock established The Front Room Gallery in New York in 1999. The space is dedicated to exhibiting artwork by emerging and mid-career artists, with a concentration in photography as well as drawing, conceptual art, video, audio art, sculpture, and installation. The gallery presents work that is innovative in practice and concept, challenging social perceptions while establishing context within the familiar. Aycock has curated exhibitions internationally at universities, museums, artist’s residencies, and art fairs. He has been a guest juror/critic at Association of Media Photographers (ASMP), NY; School of Visual Arts (SVA), NY; International Studio Curatorial Project (ISCP), NY; FotoFest, TX; and many others. In 2001, he started WAGMAG, Brooklyn Art Guide, a monthly printed publication listing all of the arts institutions in Brooklyn, NY. He received his BFA degree in Photography from Texas Tech University and his Master’s Degree from SVA.

Rachel Vera Steinberg, Curator and Director of Exhibitions, Smack Mellon

Steinberg is the co-founder of Blade Study, an online platform launched in 2021 that supports the production of web-based projects by emerging and mid-career artists. Her work focuses on science fiction as well as political, historical, and cultural distinctions between facts and fiction. She is committed to the presentation of time-based media and examining the roles of alternative art spaces and artistic agency. Her research on science fiction as an exhibition-making modality culminated in the group exhibition A faint hum at the Hessel Museum at Bard College’s Center for Curatorial Studies, where she completed her master’s degree. She was the 2019-2020 fellow at the Curatorial & Research Residency Program at the Julia Stoschek Collection in Düsseldorf, Germany, where she curated the exhibition JSC ON VIEW: MYTHOLOGISTS (2021). She was the Director of SOHO20 Artists Inc from 2015-2018 and the Assistant Director of NURTUREart Non-Profit Inc from 2010-2015, where she founded exhibition and event-based programs promoting time-based media and gender equity. She is the co-founder of Custom Program (2017-2019), a micro-gallery in Brooklyn focusing on humor, irreverence, and site-specificity. As an independent curator, she has curated exhibitions locally and internationally and spoken at universities throughout the United States.

Consultants Participating on Monday, November 22, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST

Hallie Ringle, Hugh Kaul Curator of Contemporary Art, Birmingham Museum of Art

At Birmingham Museum of Art, Ringle has curated Celestia Morgan: REDLINE, Wall to Wall: Merritt Johnson (co-curated), and Barbie: Dreaming of a Female Future. She was formerly Assistant Curator at The Studio Museum in Harlem, where she curated Maren Hassinger: Monuments; Firelei Baez: Joy Out of Fire; Fictions (co-curated); Rico Gatson: Icons 2007–2017; Video Studio: Meeting Points; Palatable: Food and Contemporary Art; and Salon Style. She is a fall 2018 Andy Warhol Curatorial Fellow. She has a BA degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MA degree from the University of Texas at Austin. 

Jennifer Gerow, Curator of Contemporary Art, BRIC

BRIC is a not-for-profit cross-disciplinary organization based in Downtown Brooklyn that presents and incubates work by New York based artists. At BRIC, Gerow has curated the group exhibitions Public Access/Open Networks and Reenactment and the solo exhibition Mary Mattingly: What Happens After. She has also co-curated three iterations of the BRIC Biennial. She also leads BRIC’s contemporary art fellowships, residencies, and open call opportunities. Gerow graduated with a MA degree in Art History from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a BA degree in Literature from the University of Virginia. She has previously held positions at the International Center of Photography and the Detroit Institute of Arts. She has presented talks and collaborated with numerous New York institutions including Residency Unlimited, A Blade of Grass, Electronic Arts Intermix, Wassaic Project, Green-Wood Cemetery, Trestle Gallery, and the New York Public Library.

Rachel Raphaela Gugelberger, NYC-based Curator & Guest Curator at Residency Unlimited 

Gugelberger’s curatorial focus is on place-based practices and social-cultural issues. She currently oversees Residency Unlimited’s NYC-based Artist Residency Program, which is dedicated to artists underrepresented in the arts whose practices fill in gaps in historical knowledge. Recent exhibitions include Storying at Andrew Freedman Home and Bound up Together: On the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment at Smack Mellon. As curator at No Longer Empty, Gugelberger directed projects including (after)care in a former emergency waiting room at Kings County Hospital; the inaugural Southeast Queens Biennial; and Jameco Exchange, a socially-engaged exhibition in a vacant storefront in Queens. Gugelberger has also served as Curator at Exit Art and co-director of Sara Meltzer Gallery. She received an MA degree in Curatorial Studies from Bard College, NY.

Dr. Darla Migan, NYC-based Art Critic and Art Professor 

Dr. Migan is an art critic and philosopher working in New York City. Since 2018, Dr. Migan has been a guest speaker at Angewandte, The Cheapest University/After 8 Books with Amy Sillman, The Drawing Center with Curtis Santiago, Städelschule, and UCLA. She has written gallery essays in support of artists in Berlin and New York: Izzy Barber at James Fuentes, Alex Becerra at Weiss Berlin, Marley Freeman at Karma Gallery, Daniel Gordon at James Fuentes, Liona Nyariri at Braunschweig Projects Residency Exhibition, RIDIKKULUZ at Mediums of Exchange, and Jordan Strafer at Participant Inc.

Dr. Migan holds an MA degree from SUNY-Stony Brook’s Philosophy and the Arts program and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Vanderbilt University, where she wrote her dissertation on the philosopher and artist Adrian Margaret Smith Piper. In 2021 Dr. Migan started a DIY online course, “Philosophy for Artists,” and began collaboratively curating with artists through the curatorial venture @VariableTerms. Currently, she is a 2021-22 participant in the Independent Study Program of the Whitney Museum of American Art and faculty at Parsons School of Design. Her writing on the conditions of contemporary art and visual culture can be read in Art in America, Artnet News, ARTNews, The Brooklyn Rail, Cultured Magazine, Spike Magazine, Sugarcane Magazine, and Texte zur Kunst. 

This program is presented by NYFA Learning. Sign up here to receive NYFA News, a bi-weekly organizational email for upcoming awards, resources & professional development. NYFA Learning also offers the free Con Edison Immigrant Artist Program (IAP) Newsletter, if you are interested in opportunities, professional development, events, tips and advice specific to immigrant artists.