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Arts & Entertainment

McLean Project for the Arts' Exhibitions Director Reveals the Secrets to her Talent

Nancy Sausser talks about being a curator

The McLean Project for the Arts’ (MPA) galleries exude flow, rhythm and communication.

With a keen eye and an artist’s sense of spatial awareness, Nancy Sausser, the Exhibitions Director for the MPA, has an innate ability to curate each show.

While gearing up for the fall exhibition and MPAartfest and scouring the area for artistic talent, Nancy Sausser took a break to discuss her background as an artist and what lead to her career as a curator.

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McLean Patch: What is your background prior to coming to the MPA?

Nancy Sausser: Originally, I’m from Maryland… I got a BA in studio arts at Kenyon College (in Ohio)…I did a lot of writing…this was helpful…now I write curatorial essays, for arts publications and catalogues for shows…Then I got an MFA from the University of Washington in sculpture…I had a studio in Seattle for four years...then worked in small businesses…Seattle Tent and Fabric – a specialty store that sold fabrics to other businesses…We’d work with large amounts of recreational fabrics….This got me interested in running things and gave me administrative experience.

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MP: How did you learn to be a curator?

NS: I came back home and looked for ways to combine arts and administrative experience. I started working in arts non-profit doing PR and press releases... I worked at the Montpelier Art Center…and was given a chance to curate a show…I learned to be a curator there, on the job...combining administrative and business skills with arts…because I’m a sculptor it’s easier for me to work with space…easier to work with artists… What I bring as an artist to being a curator is the process of making art – as a sculptor, piecing works together in space…like a big installation piece.

MP: How long have you been at the MPA?

NS: Six years.

MP: Do you still create sculpture?

NS: Yes… I have studio in my house and exhibit once in a while…I showed at GRACE (Greater Reston Arts Center) a couple of years ago. My work is landscaped-based.

MP:  Does your work influence the type of art you select for your shows? How do you select the work?

NS:  I try not to show work like my work. I try and show different kinds of work…not necessarily my personal taste.  I bring in work that is interesting – cutting-edge. What we [MPA] aim to do is show a broad mix of styles and approaches to making art.

Once a year we do a juried show. Every other year is Strictly Painting. The other year there is a theme I make up. I think about interesting topics and approaches…a response to looking at art and thinking about it - coming up with an idea.

MP: Where do you find artists? Do you have to do much travel?

NS: Mostly day trips…I go to Philly…I’m connected in Baltimore…about one day a week I’m in and around DC….Also people send me things.

MP: Do you install the shows yourself or do you collaborate with the artists?

NS: Sometimes I work alone and sometimes with the artist…I prefer to have the artist bring the work in and let me do it.

MP: How do you know what to do – how to exhibit the work?

NS: Partly from being an artist and sculptor and years of doing it and knowing your space…I always try to show works that somehow make some kind of sense together, enhance or speak to each other…a Gestalt…The smaller galleries can be difficult to work with because of fire codes and traffic considerations.

MP:  Do you have any specific memorable exhibit at the MPA?

NS: The Georgia June Goldberg exhibit…Seeing the Unseen: Light, Shadow and Air in November/December 2008…There were separate pieces…a lot of transparencies…that worked together to transform the space [Emerson Gallery].

MP: Any difficulties you’ve had?

NS: Every once in a while you get an artist who is too attached and wants to put too much in a show…[We] struggle to weed out pieces…You make compromises.

MP: Any special exhibits on the horizon?

NS: Really cool show in September/October – Seth Rosenberg: The Cleveland Years…It’s traveling from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Cleveland…We have a partnership with them…Rosenberg was a painter and a longtime, very active member of the Washington art community and ran a gallery…He supported artists through his gallery and was generous with his time and expertise...He passed away…This show is exciting because it includes work that the D.C. community hasn’t seen…There will be a panel discussion…This is a big thing.

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