Our latest venture for the zine is to find out about the other side of the art world and one that is equally important to the artists, this is to ask questions to the curators, gallerists, and gallery owners about how they got to where they are, what paths they choose and why, who helped them along the way, and how do they decide on an artist when there are so many out there…
Our first gallery is The Hannah Peschar Sculpture Garden - which is at Black & White Cottage - Standon Lane - Ockley - Surrey - RH5 5QU - UK This gallery is managed by Curator Victoria Leedham whom each season has a different arts assistant and is a place I loved working at when I was an assistant there.
Telephone: 01306 627269 Email: hannahpescharsculpture@gmail.com https://www.instagram.com/hannahpescharsculpt/
Q & A
with
Victoria Leedham
Gallery owner/curator is not a career path that is ever talked about when we are growing up, what drew you to it as a career choice?
To be completely honest, I stumbled into my career without any forward planning. I grew up very close to the Sculpture Garden I now curate, and when I reached the end of my degree in fine art I knew that I didn’t want to become a practicing artist - but was still interested in the art world. I wrote to Hannah Peschar herself and asked if I could do some work experience (just cleaning sculptures or anything to get a glimpse at how a gallery worked) It so happened that her assistant was leaving and they didn’t have a replacement, so I came in for a chat and we just clicked. Over time I took on more responsibilities whilst working in other galleries, and in 2015 when Hannah retired I took over the running and curation of the gallery with Hannah’s husband Anthony Paul.
What is your opinion on a curator, gallery owner & artist being one person? Or do you think it is important to have these roles ran by separate people?
I feel that it is important for curators and gallery owners (or ‘gallerists’ as they are sometimes referred to) to understand and empathise with being a practicing artist. I have heard horror stories of curators who have been trained purely on the management side of things, and have no sympathy for the artists with whom they work. I do, however, strongly believe that a good curator must have their head firmly on their shoulders and be able to step back to look at things from a pragmatic and critical point of view, which can sometimes be difficult if one is more emotionally invested in the work.
How far in advance do you decide on who is showing in your gallery?
Gosh, that’s a tricky one. Our main exhibition runs for 7 months each year - so we generally start looking for new artists late summer of the previous year. Saying that we have discovered new artists and invited them to show and install in a space of a mere few weeks. For the most part, new artists are approached 4-6 months in advance.
Do you run an open call to bring in new talent or do you only exhibit artists you represent?
We do not run an open call, instead, we tend to approach artists whom we feel would be a good fit for our exhibitions. We do receive a large number of submissions throughout the year, but more often than not their work is not suitable. You wouldn’t believe the number of painting submissions we receive, which given that they’ve had to type our email address (which features the words ‘sculpture’ and ‘garden’) always bemuses me. I know all too well the struggle of getting work exhibited, so I’m always very polite and, if I can, suggest an alternative outlet.
How would a day go? In your galley can you give us a day in the life of your gallery?
Gosh - every day is so different! A typical summer day would start with a quick walk around the whole garden to make sure all the sculptures are looking good, and no branches or debris has appeared overnight. It’s a great way to start the day - a breath of fresh air, and an excuse to take any photos in the morning light. If we’re open to the public, the fountains go on and the reception is opened ready to receive visitors. Since the start of the pandemic, we introduced a pre-book-only system, which has worked well and proved popular with visitors, so even with the ease of restrictions we have kept it in place. We are generally fully booked every open day, so a quiet check in the morning shows how many bookings to expect within each segment of the day. We strive to give each and every visitor a personal and welcoming experience, making them feel that we are genuinely pleased to welcome them to the Sculpture Garden. It doesn’t matter if they are clearly just a day-tripper, or a potential or repeat client - everyone is given time. Open days are generally interspersed with admin, which isn’t terribly exciting to explain. Earlier in the week, we have a mixture of booked groups and schools and use the quiet time to deliver to clients, install new pieces, and generally do any bigger jobs in the garden and gallery
As a woman in the art world, how much easier or harder have you found it? What were the struggles? And what were the highlights?
I was fortunate enough to start my gallery career under the wings of the great Hannah Peschar herself. Hannah started the Sculpture Garden in the early 1980s, and she was always such a powerful and enigmatic character. She never took any nonsense from anyone. Hannah taught me to be tough - although I must admit I have always struggled with confidence. Even though I have now run the gallery for 6 years, and have been on a number of public-art selection committees, I still find myself dealing with ‘imposters syndrome’ on occasion. I look younger than my years, and do find that a handful of times a year a gentleman (usually of a certain age) will assume that I am just the “Saturday girl”. BUT, I have to say - I really enjoy being a woman in my role. Especially given the nature of our gallery - which can be a very physical job, I love getting my hands dirty and surprising the men I encounter in our field. Cue me in the pond hauling a sculpture about in my waders, or being the one to climb a tree to hang a piece….
Do you think the bigger a gallery gets the less in touch they are with ground-level art and artists?
I think it completely depends on what the curators’ priorities are - I don’t doubt that it can be the case, but equally I know that curators will use that growth (which brings increased presence and clout, money, and popularity) to feed programs to support emerging artists. We have always sought to offer opportunities to emerging artists within our yearly exhibitions, and this year with the growth and success we have achieved over the past few years we created our first student sculpture award - offering a group of students from Camberwell College of Arts the opportunity to create and exhibit a piece of sculpture especially for the Sculpture Garden.
See https://www.hannahpescharsculpture.com/sculpture-award-2021 for the full story!
What do you look for when searching for new work or artists?
The most crucial is that the work is suitable to be exhibited outside - material, quality of the work, and scale. From there we look at whether it will work within the overall exhibition and the garden itself. It’s quite hard to explain exactly what we look for - we just instinctively know what works and what doesn’t.
Do you think artists should respond to what is happening around them within their work, or change what they do to suit an open call?
Yes and no. Thinking about various public sculptures with which I’ve been involved, when looking at the applicants’ prior work it is great to see the diversity of their work - how they are able to tackle and develop their practice to fulfill a brief. However, it is important to keep the underlying language of your work throughout your practice. A signature as it were; that makes your work unique and recognisable as yours.
Who would be the three artists you could curate in a perfect world?
Can I choose some I already work with?! I love the relationship I have with some of our artists - we have a professional friendship, and it gives me great pleasure to exhibit and sell their work. I have also surprised myself in recent years by approaching a couple of big sculptors whom I expected to say no to exhibiting with us, but they were thrilled to be approached!
I’ve gone off-topic - sorry.
- Clichéd, but Anthony Gormely (visited his studio 5 years ago and it was so inspiring).
- Louise Bourgeois. ‘Maman’ was the first large (well, monumental) contemporary sculpture I ever saw when the Tate Modern first opened, and it clearly fuelled my love for sculpture.
…..is it bad that I can’t narrow down the third? Top 30 maybe!