Growing an Arts Career

Barbara Cohen-Stratyner has developed exhibitions on all aspects of performance, women’s herstory, photography, fashion history, and design at NYPL for the Performing Arts and has co-curated for the Museum of the City of New York, Carnegie Hall, Barnard College and Times Square. She taught in evening programs at the Parsons School of Design and City College/CUNY. In the museum field, she promotes inclusion and equity. For AAM, she was an organizer of the AIDS Network and Diversity Coalition, and a member of the steering committees of Museums & Race, and of the LGBTQ+ Alliance, where she co-edited the LGBTQ+ Welcoming Guidelines for Museums (2019) and develops Toolkits on LGBTQ+ Inclusion. Cohen-Stratyner holds an MFA in Theater Design, a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from New York University and an MS from Bank Street’s Leadership in Museum Education program.

Career Advice:

Ambition and focus are good, but know that you can also use your Barnard skills to adapt to change. 

Ama Kwarteng is a writer based in Brooklyn. She is currently the beauty director at Coveteur. She has previously held editorial positions at Cosmopolitan. She is a graduate of Barnard College, where she received a degree in Anthropology.

Jeannette Sharpless has been an Associate Registrar for Drawings & Prints at MoMA for the past two years. Previously, she worked in the registrar departments of the Guggenheim, and The Frick Collection, and served as Registrar/Gallery Manager at Moeller Fine Art. She studied Art History at Barnard and graduated in 2013. When not at MoMA, she likes making cakes and cookies inspired by famous works of art and exploring Ithaca with her dog.

Career Advice: 

Whenever you're networking and meet someone new (like at this event) write down their name, where you met them, and one thing that you talked about. That way, when you reach out to them in the future you can clue them in to where they know you from, and show them you were paying attention/remember a bit about them.

Taylor Bluestine is a practicing interdisciplinary artist working primarily between painting and sculpture. She currently serves as the Communications and Programs Associate at A.I.R. Gallery, a historic feminist artist cooperative located in Brooklyn NY. She is a graduate of Barnard College.

Romina Jiménez Álvarez was born in Santiago, Chile, raised in Washington D.C., and moved to New York City in 2014. After she graduated from Barnard College at Columbia University, In 2020, she pursued academic studies at the Louvre in Paris. She traveled the world with stints in Santiago, Mexico City, Oslo, Rome, and Berlin. Her experiences working in blue-chip galleries and with an NYC art advisor spanning over 30 years has allowed her to cultivate relationships with rising to established artists, galleries, and institutions. Based in NYC, she leverages innovative approaches to champion Latin American artists and build community. Romina is rapidly expanding her artist and collector network, planning exhibitions, and operating a private viewing salon in Brooklyn, New York.

Career Advice: 

Mentorship is so important!

Natalie Kawam '19 is the founder and CEO of Gesso House, an art consultancy. With a professional background in strategic partnership management and brand strategy, her focus lies in facilitating collaborations between artists and business clients of all kinds for exhibitions, campaigns, and more.