Long Island art gallery director shares her experiences, advice to students
Beth Giacummo directed a “walking tour” for the Patchogue Art Council where pieces of art were hung in empty shop windows across town.
March 14, 2019
GaelVentures welcomed Beth Giacummo, an artist and art curator, on March 8 to speak to students about her experience directing art galleries and using the arts to revitalize her community.
Giacummo is from Long Island, where she has planned various art galleries.
Giacummo notably worked with the Patchogue Arts Council, an art organization in Long Island. There she arranged a space for artists to live and work on their artistry.
Giacummo organized several events at the Patchogue Arts Council. Her first event was a “Walking Tour” in which art was placed in empty storefronts in Patchogue and people toured the village to view the pieces.
“It was really cool to see how she has used the entrepreneurial process to disrupt the art industry,” junior Maimouna Mbacke said.
Giacummo also helped put on the Patchogue Arts Biennial with the Patchogue Arts Council at Briarcliffe College. During this time, she was also working as an adjunct professor at the college.
She later worked full time at Briarcliffe College and coordinated its art gallery.
Giacummo moved on to work at the Islip Art Museum, where she coordinated numerous art exhibitions with full creative control.
One such exhibit was “Print Up Ladies,” which highlighted work from female artists with different ranges of experience. In this exhibit, work from newer artists was placed near the work of the experienced artists who inspired them.
While working at the Islip Art Museum, one of Giacummo’s goals was to make the museum more accessible to the town. She did this by expanding museum hours and including more straightforward exhibits in addition to experimental contemporary exhibits.
While working at the Islip Art Museum, Giacummo successfully fought to stop the museum from closing.
She later returned to work with the Patchogue Arts Council. According to Giacummo, the work done by the Patchogue Arts Council, such as the walking tour and curation of several galleries, has increased business in Patchogue and has earned the village the reputation as a center of the arts on Long Island.
