Summer at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts

Hi everyone! I'm Laura and my summer home away from home will be at the Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts (DCCA). My internship at the DCCA will allow me to see what goes on behind the scenes at an art gallery. There is a lot of preparation that goes on before an exhibition can go up in one of the seven galleries housed at the DCCA. So far my job has consisted of contacting artists, helping to create informational materials that are on display during the exhibitions, and researching various topics related to upcoming or potential exhibitions.

The highlights of my first week evolved around Wilmington’s Art on the Town, held on the first Friday of every month. During Art on the Town the galleries at the DCCA are open late and many of the exhibiting artists attend and give gallery talks in which they discuss their current work. Another feature of Art on the Town are the open studios at the DCCA. It was great to get to see not just the works in the galleries but also explore the work and practices of the artist’s who keep studios at the DCCA.

During my second week at the DCCA I sat in on a staff meeting, which was great because I was able to hear everyone talk about their responsibilities and what was coming up in their respective areas. I have also been doing a lot of work centering around an upcoming satellite show the DCCA is organizing called Young Country. Young Country, an exhibition devoted to rural themes in contemporary American art, will open at the Rosenwald-Wolf Gallery, University of the Arts on July 6, 2011 and will run until July 28, 2011. For this show I have been helping Maiza Hixson, Gretchen Hupfel Curator of Contemporary Art, at the DCCA prepare the exhibition catalogue for publication. It has been a really eye-opening experience seeing what goes into putting together an exhibition, from initially contacting artists to hanging the final show.