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I am enormously grateful for the support of Ms. Gail Todgham for making this internship possible. My experience at Galerie Nicolas Robert has been transformative and career-shaping, and I owe it to the generous support of this award and the Arts Internship Office for this opportunity. This fall, I will enter my final year of studies in Art History at 9IÖÆ×÷³§Ãâ·Ñ, and will write my Honours thesis, inspired by my experience at this contemporary art gallery. I intend to pursue a career in gallery and museum work, focusing on contemporary Canadian art which I feel warrants far more academic and public attention than it receives.

As a contemporary gallery with locations in both Montréal and Toronto, Galerie Nicolas Robert displays the work of over twenty emerging and established artists and collaborates with many more annually. The gallery plays a powerful role in both Canadian and international art communities, and participates in many international art fairs, including: The Armory Show, NADA New York, Dallas Art Fair, Feria Material, Untitled, Art Miami Beach, Plural and Art Toronto.

As an intern, I dove into nearly every facet of the gallery’s operations. A large portion of my job involved greeting visitors and providing them with information about the exhibitions. As a commercial gallery, we are customer-facing, and therefore I improved my ability to be both professional and convivial with clients. Next, a large portion of my job revolved around answering our emails. This could include emails from artists, clients, and other industry professionals. I was also responsible for organizing the shipping of numerous works across the country and globally, as well as creating invoices for clients. Aside from these administrative tasks, I also curated social media posts for four to seven days a week and continuously updated our website to include new documentation and information about our current exhibitions.

As an art history major, my ability to write and talk about art was indispensable to working at the gallery. In writing content for our website, I used my analytical skills to communicate visual links between the exhibitions’ thematic elements and the works of art. Aside from getting to meet and talk with artists whom I deeply respect, such as David Elliott, I also learned about the practices of many new artists emerging into the art world.

On July 10^th, the gallery opened three new exhibitions, and the vernissage was certainly a highlight of my experience. At this event, I was able to speak with and meet numerous industry professionals, artists, and collectors. But most impressively, I garnered a sense of the symbiotic relationships of the art world, which is an accepting community of intelligent, passionate creatives. Another significant moment during my internship occurred when I made my first sale. I sold a painting from a solo exhibition by the artist Nicholas Zirk, and the client happened to be a famous singer in town for an Osheaga performance. Although I was a tad star-struck, naturally, the experience more importantly reinforced my conviction that I enjoy and thrive in a gallery environment.

The most major challenge of my experience was overcoming my anxiety towards my spoken French. As someone who has studied French in school for over ten years, and is able to read and understand French, it was my spoken French that required both work and confidence. However, the requirement of speaking French daily forced me to get over this fear, and I improved along with my confidence.

This internship has provided me with an initial foot in the door into an industry that is extremely competitive. Jobs in the creative industry are hard to come by – let alone internships, which few cultural institutions have the financial means to provide. However, having worked as an intern in a gallery once, I now have both the experience and the connections to assist me in landing future jobs in the art industry. I plan on pursuing a master’s degree in either art curation or art business, and once again, the experience of working at a contemporary gallery provides a crucial launch point to help me in these future studies.

The funds I received from this award have helped me afford to live in Montréal and contributed towards my university tuition. The financial support provided by the Arts Internship Office and the Gail Todgham Arts Internship Award gave me the chance to work the most fulfilling summer job I have ever had the pleasure to do yet.