Thomas Torres

In the spring of 2007, Bard College's, Center for Curatorial Studies Dean, Norton Batkin, asked me if I wanted to coordinate the MFA third year shows. Since I was staying in the Hudson Valley that summer to intern with Fluxus artist Alison Knowles, it made sense. In hindsight, the project was one of the most enriching of my graduate school experience. Collaborating with the MFA students reinforced what I suspected, that artists are the reason I keep curating.

The exhibition was a challenge because the students were under immense pressures and were constantly responding to and considering critiques from professors and peers. Works and titles were changing within a day or two of the opening reception, and the physical gallery got an overhaul -- a curatorial fitness program of ladder climbing, floor painting, etc.  My role was to assist them in presenting final projects in a (largely) shared space with the goal of accentuating their accomplishments, not mine.

The project was intensive, rewarding and a lot of fun.  Several of the MFA students I worked with became dear friends.