At the North Carolina Museum of Art, we are surrounded not only by extraordinary works of art but also by extremely talented colleagues. On view through February 13, 2022, Talent Within: The NCMA Staff Art Exhibition features 24 works by staff members in departments as wide-ranging as security, exhibition design, and programming and in practices as diverse as drawing, photography, and sculpture. Three participating artist-staff members spoke to Circa about their contributions to the show.
Christopher Ciccone:
Working in a museum and spending a lot of time with art is a joy and a privilege. For a picture maker, it can also be both inspiring and daunting. I don’t have much formal training in art, but I have been around it and in it for most of my life. For a while after I had read On Photography by Susan Sontag for the first time, I kept thinking, “That’s it; no one can make photographs anymore! It’s all over, it’s all purely semiotics and artifice.”
But then I just had to keep doing it for whatever reason. My father, whom I didn’t know, was a fashion photographer, so there’s probably some murky Freudian-flavored goings-on somewhere in my subconscious. I just try to make pictures that aren’t embarrassing.
Talent Within: Julia Caston
In her fascinating art installation featured in Talent Within, artist and NCMA staffer Julia Caston explores the connection between mental ...
Talent Within: Michael Klauke
Artists on staff at the NCMA are featured in Talent Within, the first show of its kind at the Museum. ...