Event | Online Doctor’s Hours for Visual & Multidisciplinary Artists

Monday, February 22 Doctor’s Hours event will offer remote one-on-one individual consultations with arts professionals. 

New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) will host the next edition of its popular Doctor’s Hours program, which is designed to provide practical and professional advice from industry professionals, online on Monday, February 22. 

This event will serve Visual and Multidisciplinary artists working in Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Video, Film, Photography, New Media, Multidisciplinary, Performance Art, Socially-Engaged Practices, Folk, and Traditional Art.

Starting Tuesday, February 2 at 11:00 AM EST, you can register for 25-minute, remote one-on-one appointments with up to three arts professionals to ask questions and receive actionable tips for advancing your arts career.

How Online Doctor’s Hours Works

• The event will take place in two time slots, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST and 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST.
• Each consultation session is 25 minutes. One artist can sign up for no more than three appointments.
• The Online Doctor’s Hours sessions take place through the Zoom platform. Please download the Zoom app before the event.

Title: Online Doctor’s Hours for Visual and Multidisciplinary Artists 
Program Date and Time: Monday, February 22, 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST and 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
Location: Online through Zoom*
Cost: $35 per 25-minute appointment; three appointment limit per artist
Register: Register here.

Can’t join us? You can book a one-on-one consultation with arts professionals, in-person or remotely, via NYFA Coaching.

To make the most of your Online Doctor’s Hours appointment, please read the entire confirmation email you receive after completing your registration; it includes all the details you need for your session. 

*We are able to offer this support via phone if you are unable to access reliable internet service. 

For questions, email [email protected].

Consultants Available from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST

Ysabel Pinyol Blasi, Executive Director and Curator, Monira Foundation

Blasi is former curatorial director at Mana Contemporary (Miami, Jersey City, and Chicago) and co-founder of Mana Residencies. She currently curates diverse and ground-breaking exhibitions as Chief Curator at Monira Foundation. Blasi began collecting art more than 20 years ago and from 2007 to 2011 directed a gallery in Barcelona that represented international emerging artists. Her publications include The Bull and the Donkey (Barcelona, Spain: Galeria Ysabel Pinyol, 2008); Trivium (Miami, FL: Mana Wynwood, 2016); and Alt-Art Spaces and the Question of Identity Refusal (Brooklyn Rail, 2017). Originally from Barcelona, she earned an M. Arch degree from Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Barcelona in 2006.

Matthew Lyons, Curator, The Kitchen

Lyons has organized numerous exhibitions, performances, and other programs at The Kitchen since 2005. Recent work includes projects with Chitra Ganesh, Trajal Harrell, nora chipaumire, Xaviera Simmons, Sarah Michelson, Aki Sasamoto, Constance DeJong, Kembra Pfahler, and Katherine Hubbard. Upcoming work includes projects with Moriah Evans and Lea Bertucci. He has worked on group exhibitions including The Rehearsal, The View from a Volcano: The Kitchen’s Soho Years 1971-1985, and One Minute More. Lyons has also worked on the group exhibitions Dance Dance Revolution at Columbia University, Character Generator at Eleven Rivington Gallery, and Two Moon July at Paula Cooper Gallery. He has contributed catalog essays on the work of Mika Tajima and Vlatka Horvat, with additional writing appearing in Document Journal, Flash Art, PERFORMA 07: Everywhere and All at Once, and Work the Room: A Handbook of Performance Strategies. He is Contributing Editor at Movement Research Performance Journal, having edited the “Six Sides, Typologically Distinct: Black Box / White Cube” series, which he initiated, between 2009-2015.

Consultants Available from 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST

Anna Conlan, The Neil C. Trager Director, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, NY

Conlan is a museum worker and art historian who has worked in museums and the arts for more than 20 years, including The Royal Academy of Art, London and The Museum for African Art, New York. Conlan is currently serving as the Neil C. Trager Director at The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, NY.  During her time as Curator and Exhibitions Manager at The Dorsky, she curated exhibitions including Totally Dedicated: Leonard Contino, 1940-2016; Collecting Local; and New Folk: Hudson Valley Artists 2020; in addition to the forthcoming Life After The Revolution: Kate Millett’s Art Colony for Women. She was also a curatorial consultant and catalog author for the award-winning Art After Stonewall: 1969-89 exhibition that toured nationwide. Her research on queer feminist cultural history is published in Feminist Theory Journal and Gender, Sexuality, and Museums: A Routledge Reader. She has an MA degree in Feminism and the Visual Arts from the University of Leeds, UK, and an MA degree in Museum Anthropology from Columbia University, NY.

Gabriel de Guzman, Director of Arts & Chief Curator, Wave Hill

de Guzman is responsible for shaping the visual and performing arts program as Director of Arts & Chief Curator at Wave Hill, a public garden and cultural center in the Bronx. Until February 2021, he was Curator & Director of Exhibitions at Smack Mellon, where he organized group and solo exhibitions that featured emerging and under-recognized mid-career artists whose work often explored critical, socially relevant issues. Before joining Smack Mellon in 2017, de Guzman was Curator of Visual Arts at Wave Hill, where he organized solo projects for emerging artists as well as thematic group exhibitions that explored human connections to the natural world. As a guest curator, he has presented shows at Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs, BronxArtSpace, Dyckman Farmhouse Museum, Rush Arts Gallery, En Foco at Andrew Freedman Home, the Affordable Art Fair New York, Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance, and the Bronx Museum’s 2013 AIM Biennial. Prior to Wave Hill, he was a curatorial assistant at The Jewish Museum. His essays have been published in Nueva Luz: Photographic Journal and in catalogs for the Arsenal Gallery at Central Park, Kenise Barnes Fine Art, and the art institutions mentioned above. He earned a BA degree in art history from the University of Virginia and an MA degree in art history from Hunter College.

Meghan L. Jordan, Curatorial Assistant, George Eastman Museum

In her current position at George Eastman Museum, Jordan organizes portfolio submissions, curates exhibitions, and assists with new acquisitions. Prior to George Eastman Museum, she held internships at the Museum of Modern Art and the Center for Creative Photography. Jordan has a BFA degree in Professional Photographic Illustration from Rochester Institute of Technology and an MA degree in Art History with a focus in photographic history from the University of Arizona.

Susan Thompson, Independent Curator and Writer

From 2009-2020, Thompson worked as a curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NY, where she organized numerous exhibitions including Implicit Tensions: Mapplethorpe Now, Simone Leigh: Loophole of Retreat, and Anicka Yi: Life Is Cheap. In her time at the Guggenheim, Thompson also worked to grow the museum’s permanent collection through the acquisition of works by contemporary artists. Prior to joining the Guggenheim, she held positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art and Columbia University’s Department of Art History and Archaeology. Thompson’s writing has appeared in numerous publications, including Mernet Larsen (2021), Danh Vo: Take My Breath Away (2018), and Adam Pendleton: Black Dada Reader (Koenig Books, 2017).

Yulia Topchiy, Independent Curator of Contemporary Art & Co-Founder, Assembly Room

Topchiy specializes in art curation, creating public programming initiatives, event production, and performances, with a passion for creating intimate, immersive, original, and engaging experiences of art. Topchiy works with an extensive network of emerging and established artists in all fields of practice and advises galleries, non-profits, art museums, and independent curators on special projects and exhibitions.

Juana Williams, Independent Contemporary Art Curator

Juana Williams’ curatorial practice predominantly focuses on deconstructing complex, contemporary cultural issues and attempts to provide a dialogue within which these issues can be discussed. She is passionate about engaging communities, elevating diverse voices, and giving a platform to artists for innovative expression. She persistently advocates for supporting artists and preserving art-centered spaces. Williams previously served as the Exhibitions Curator at the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA) in Grand Rapids, MI. Prior to joining UICA, she held multiple positions at various art institutions including the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, the Wayne State University Art Department Gallery, the Elaine L. Jacob Gallery, and the Detroit Institute of Arts. She has curated exhibitions featuring a roster of artists at various stages of their careers including Wangechi Mutu, Firelei Báez, Devan Shimoyama, Mavis Pusey, and Elizabeth Catlett, to name a few. Williams recently guest curated exhibitions at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art, the Detroit Artists Market, and the Grand Rapids Art Museum. She has also presented lectures at numerous venues and contributed essays to various exhibition catalogs. Her work has been supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs, the Wege Foundation, and the Frye Foundation. She holds a BA degree in Art and an MA degree in Art History, both from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. 

This program is presented by NYFA Learning. Sign up here to receive NYFA News, a bi-weekly organizational email for upcoming awards, resources & professional development. NYFA Learning also offers the free Con Edison Immigrant Artist Program (IAP) Newsletter, if you are interested in opportunities, professional development, events, tips and advice specific to immigrant artists.