SPECIAL FEATURE: REFLECTIONS
REFLECTIONS ON 2018 BY CAITLIN BERRY
Gallery Director, Washington DC
Hemphill Fine Arts
WFU Class of 2009
Next up in our special ‘Reflections’ series is gallery director Caitlin Berry. This heartfelt recap on 2018 is both inspiring and encouraging. Read on and enjoy!
2018 has been quite a year. Personally and professionally, I’ve been busier and more fulfilled than ever. I kicked off the year by marrying my best friend and ended it with an inspiring trip to Miami for Art Basel and its satellite fairs. The market itself inflated to epic proportions with the auction of a seminal David Hockney painting that sold for a price approaching $100 million dollars while middle market galleries across the world closed at an astonishing rate. We’ve seen the work of women artists and artists of color come to the fore commercially and curatorially. It feels as though we have arrived at a watershed moment in the art world and I hope that we take a turn for the more supportive and inclusive. No one’s ever accused me of being a pessimist!
In October, I hosted the Wake Forest DC area alumni group, inclusive of Wake Washington’s crop of students from the Art History department, shepherded by Dr. Bernadine Barnes, at Hemphill Fine Arts. Exhibiting artist Reneé Stout spoke to the group about her exhibition “When 6 is 9: Visions of a Parallel Universe” which takes viewers on a journey through her world of voodoo and hoodoo, laden with references to African and Caribbean spirituality, music, and the tumultuous political environment in which we find ourselves today.
At year’s end, I joined the board of Greater Reston Art Center, run by the indefatigable Lily Siegel. It is a jewel of an institution in Reston, VA. Their robust programming and cutting edge exhibitions are due in no small part to Lily’s vision and breadth of depth of art historical expertise. I’m excited to see what is on the horizon for this small but mighty organization.
Perhaps more than anything this year, I’ve been struck by the strength of the women in my life from artists to colleagues to friends to family members. Magnifying this sentiment has been my commitment to ArtTable, as co-chair of the Washington, DC Chapter, alongside design dynamo Ruth Abrahams. As a former New Yorker, I was a bit adrift when I landed in DC 5 years ago. Joining ArtTable instantly connected me to the broad network of women arts leaders here in DC and now I consider many of those women my close friends. Particularly now, it is absolutely essential that women bring each other up as they advance professionally and grant access to women from a diverse range of backgrounds. We have everything to gain from each other. The art world is notorious for vaulting men to positions of power at the top of institutions and galleries while women hold the majority of positions in supporting roles beneath them. ArtTable is working tirelessly to provide support and access to women leaders to change this dynamic. I hope to see what people are calling “the year of the woman” turn into the first of many.
-Caitlin
