AWAD is pleased to welcome Pamela Tinnen from High Priestess Project to the NYC Tri-state area AWAD chapter. As is our practice, with new members, we asked Pamela few questions about her background and art business.
What is your professional background?
In addition to High Priestess Project, I am Lead Curator of Kimmel Windows, a unique cultural destination at the heart of New York University providing space for exemplary public exhibits where I have curated and organized exhibitions extensively across departments at NYU since 2011. Prior to moving to New York, I served as assistant curator for the Raymond James Financial Art Collection in St. Petersburg, Florida. I hold an MA in Museum Studies from New York University, and a BA in Literary Criticism from the University of South Florida. My artistic, academic and curatorial interests engage photography, semiotics, dark tourism and tourism for human remains, hotel-theory, aesthetics and visual culture.
What inspired you to take the leap and start your own business?
I had the pleasure of curating booths at Aqua Art Miami in 2019 and 2022 through the American Society of Media Photographers, where I serve as Fine Art Chair. Based on the success of our sales in Miami, and the enthusiasm we experienced from both new collectors and artists shown, I decided it was time to take things to the next level.
What does your business offer, in terms of goods and services?
We represent emerging and mid-career artists with a focus on women artists, fine art photography and multiples.
What excites you about having joined the Association of Women Art Dealers?
So many amazing women have mentored me over the course of my career, including the incredible MK Semos who serves on the board of AWAD. I am thrilled to be in community with an organization whose mission focuses on nurturing women! I hope to learn and grow my business through the many resources, events and network opportunities provided through AWAD, as well as to give back in whatever ways my own experience may be of value.
What brings you joy in your work?
Supporting the creative work of artists. Art is the very essence of any civilization; it enriches our lives, provokes our minds and delights our senses. When creativity thrives, we all prosper. It is a tremendous gift to participate in an economy that allows creatives to make a living from their work. I especially love curating exhibitions where layers of meaning are added by placing works in dialogue with one another.
A just for fun question: If you were a work of art what would you be and why?
Nan Goldin’s Ballad of Sexual Dependency; I feel connected to the raw honesty of these images, the imperfect beauty captured, the love expressed without judgement. I can only aspire to live and create with such courage.
