After 25 years of teaching at NKU, Paige Wideman has now been given the position of director of galleries and outreach, following the exit of Sso-Rha Kang. Making it through a couple rounds of budget cuts and low enrollment, Wideman will be recognized for her flexibility and patience.
This position grants her the opportunity to decide what shows will be featured in the galleries in between standard student and faculty shows. Working with a committee of four art and design faculty members, she has the final say on what is put into the gallery.
With over 15 years of curating experience, she has taken this as an opportunity to connect with students and their work, just as she had done when she was teaching. Before beginning work as a curator, she found herself taking a critical look at how galleries were set up.
“I found myself always looking at shows, whether they were museums or galleries, and going, ‘I don’t know why they put that piece in there or why they would put it next to that,’” Wideman said.
Reflecting on her realization, she decided to give curating a try. Working at previous galleries, like Off Ludlow in Clifton, as well as a couple of other local galleries as a volunteer gave her the experience she needed to work as NKU School of the Arts’ (SOTA) gallery director.
As director of galleries, her position is to not only curate shows that art students will be interested in, but also engage the NKU community as a whole, she explained.
“We always try to think about more than just our scope on what would be interesting for art and design students. We want to think about SOTA as a whole, but also branch out and consider all of our campus as well,” Wideman said.
She said that this opens a door for any and all students to engage with art, either to just come and look at it, or use it as a “teaching tool rather than their normal lecture or books to engage in conversation.”
Not only does Wideman curate shows for the gallery and choose what is presented, she acts as a “preparator” to organize the space in a way that makes sense to the viewer.
Evey Cooper, senior BFA photography major, explained the importance of having Wideman in the gallery given her past teaching experience, as she is able to truly understand student’s visions.
“I think that she treats us more like artists and young professionals rather than students,” Cooper said.
Prioritizing art above all else
Given budget cuts and decreasing enrollment, Wideman has had a difficult time maintaining a position on campus after her role as an art appreciation professor.
Per her contract, she had to teach a certain amount of classes. She picked up ART 135, a foundation class in SOTA, as well as drawing and Advanced Studio Seminar for several years, but as she explained, she was “no longer coordinating anything or anyone except myself.”
“They could save a lot of money by letting me go. So, I didn’t make the last round and that was back in March of last year when I was told that I was no longer going to be teaching at the time,” Wideman said.
At this time, Director of SOTA Matt Albritton found a position for her as an academic specialist within the school, allowing her some stability in maintaining a position at NKU.
“It was a definite pay cut, but within my mind it was a soft landing in a place that I love working. I knew it was a struggle for him to let me go as an instructor,” Wideman said.
She was happy to stay at NKU, but adjusting to her position as an academic specialist came at a cost, realizing that she would have to face her colleagues after this change.
“I think I had a two week break after spring semester last year to that academic specialist position and that was awkward where my colleagues were starting to come in towards the fall and I’m in this different role,” Wideman said.
She reminded herself that “they are the same people and I’m just in a different position,” which helped her adjust to roles beyond that of being an instructor.
After previous director of galleries Sso-Rha Kang acquired a position as the gallery director at Carnegie Art Center, the spot opened up and Albritton asked her to be on the search committee.
Realizing her potential to become the next director given her experience, Albritton took her off the search committee and guided her through the interviewing process.
“I applied. They had to select four people to interview and then I made the cut to the next level, which was three people, where they bring you in and you interview and do presentations. The next thing I know, I have the position,” Wideman explained.
Going from the Off Ludlow gallery, where she previously worked, to a much larger gallery space has been an adjustment, but Wideman explained that it still has been easy to prepare and hang pieces for viewing because there is so much more you can do with it.
Though Wideman was released from teaching duties for the traditional classes at NKU, she has remained a mentor and teaching to students in her gallery internship class, who meet multiple times a week before shows in order to prepare art for viewing.
Specifically for senior BFA drawing student Kelly Carnes, she has learned that if she chooses to pursue a gallery internship elsewhere, this class can open a door to other opportunities.
“I feel like being in the gallery just setting it up and even the simple stuff like nailing and hanging is experience,” Carnes explained.
While the kinks to this class are ongoing as Wideman learns the ropes, she noted that improving her communication with students on how to use tools and install the temporary walls will be in the works for next semester.
“I’ve learned a lot about how I need to articulate the process. I know it’s hard to retain that, but I think that, as visual learners, it helps if you can actually see something happening,” Wideman said.
Looking to the future
With her first semester in her new position winding down, Wideman believes that the future looks bright for her time as director of galleries as she plans to make needed changes to the space.
“The light switches are on a really good wall for hanging artwork and then about three feet over are the HVAC thermostats, so we lose almost five or six feet of what I call ‘real estate’ for hanging. I want to get those moved,” she explained.
Beyond this, Wideman hopes to change the lights in the gallery to be the same temperature, as some are a few hundred kelvins off, as even this small detail can affect an artist’s gallery space.
“One thing I’m going to do I think that’ll make a big difference that I don’t know if people will pick up on when they walk in, they may just sense that something is different, is painting all of that trim black because there is so many roller hits on it and when you are walking around it’s so easy to see that stuff,” Wideman said.
With her goal of becoming a program that will be of more interest to those on campus and in the community, Wideman expressed that a collaborative exhibition between all facets of SOTA could help with this notion.
“One goal of mine is to not only have the art and design gallery committee but have a SOTA gallery committee and have somebody who is like-minded from each program to help generate ideas and then attempt to do a collaborative exhibition every three years if possible,” Wideman said.
She also noted that engaging with other schools within NKU, like mathematics, could be a great way to get students involved on campus with art.
“There seems to be some interest across campus to do that in some different fields, so I’d like to try to nurture that. I’m just redefining what we do a little bit,” Wideman explained.
The lasting impression that Wideman left on her students has stuck with Cooper, as they noted that there are many lessons they can take away from her teaching method and assistance during a show.
“How to keep your composure. She was great about, even if we were in a moment of panic, she seemed like it was going to be fine and she was very good about executive decision making. I think that by watching her remain calm under a strict deadline and also be able to make quick, decisive moves will be helpful,” Cooper said.
Understanding the ideas that Wideman has in creating a better flow to the gallery and making the space that much more accessible to students and artists, Cooper believes that Wideman will truly make a difference in the gallery.
“I think that with her being the director, I think it’s going to give the artist a lot more of a voice. I think that she prioritizes the vision of the artist more so than a different director would,” Cooper said.