Today we’d like to introduce you to Veronica Cianfrano.

Hi Veronica, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?

It’s hard to know where to start. Professionally, I got started after graduate school. At the time, I didn’t think of it as a profession though. I was putting on pop-up exhibitions throughout Philly with Jessie Clark, who co-founded CHER with me. We just kind of threw ourselves into it and learned by doing. Around that same time, I began teaching at various universities which worked out to be pretty symbiotic with the gallery because the students would key me in to things that I hadn’t thought of and that would present itself in my curatorial practice. By the way, Jessie Clark is a fabulous artist that people should know about. Her site is thejessicaclarkshow.com.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?

Hell no. But who has had a smooth road in the arts? I don’t know anyone. I just couldn’t make enough money to survive for a really long time. At one point, I was literally a starving artist, rationing my food. Most of my struggles were self inflicted so I feel weird going ‘woah is me’ because I could have stopped and done something else that made more money and offered more stability. Graphic design was a possibility for a while there but I found it to be mind numbingly boring. Waiting tables was sometimes lucrative but I don’t like being treated like shit so I stopped doing that. Anyway, I’m very stubborn and I suck with my passions for better or for worse. I guess I chose logistical struggles over existential ones. I would rather be hungry and cold than feel I’m not being authentically me.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

My art is weird and a little or a lot creepy. You know, I’m pretty weird and creepy too so it makes sense. People don’t like to think about death and loss but I have never had the luxury of looking away from those things. I experienced a lot of that so that’s what I make work about. I used to be embarrassed when someone said my work was strange or moross but now I’m like ‘yeah that’s exactly right’.
In my job as a gallery director at the Da Vinci Art Alliance, my priority is offering space for people to explore and learn rather than controlling a pristine white cube. I have no interest in controlling things.
As far as what I’m most proud of, that’s a really tough one. I don’t often sit back and reflect like that. I will say that I’m still figuring out how to just live a good life and be a good person above all else and I’ve made some good strides in that area in the last five or so years. Life is so very short and so precious that whatever I’m spending time on has to be of real value to me. Having that outlook has helped me get my priorities straight and not focus on the small stuff or stuff I can’t control.

Do you have any advice for those just starting out?

It’s okay to say no. It’s okay to be silent. It’s important to be flexible. Your value as a person has nothing to do with what you are payed or how productive you are. Eat. Drink water. Sleep. Go outside and look at a tree once in a while.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Veronicacianfrano.com
• Instagram: @veronicacianfrano

Image Credits

Tuft the World
© Veronica Cianfrano