We recently connected with Nuria Richards and have shared our conversation below.
Nuria, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
Many people close to me know that I identify with the concept of “opportunity cost,” the value of the next-best alternative when a decision is made; it’s what is given up. It’s a brain twister but relates to something that we have all done at some point in our lives: thinking what would have happened if we had chosen the other option… the other career, the other partner, the other city, the lives we live in parallel worlds.
I started Clandestina (an independent art easter egg) in 2019, I had moved from the West Coast to Miami for a job that didn’t survive but during that period I became part of a community, and the sense of belonging drove my decisions. Clandestina was the next risky business I got myself into. See, I make high-risk choices as a consequence of choosing personal values, over personal benefit. In this case risk is not a gamble, it is more like a catalizer of results.
Clandestina went from being a gallery in my apartment to an art fair / festival that challenges art market standards of participation for artists and independent projects. It all started when I decided to park myself in an empty apartment and figure it out.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I got into the art world by choosing a personal value – I was interested in culture and how it is discussed through art, the origin of an artist’s proposal, and the context for art to happen, and eventually, I started thinking a lot about its value (not to be misunderstood with its price).
My parents were very strict about academic education, I attended the same catholic school from first grade until graduating High School. My school required all Senior students to apply to the National University to test our academic level; the exam tests your knowledge and patience, about 90% of applicants are rejected. I passed the exam and got a spot to study Visual Arts.
During my last year in college, I was writing a paper about art collecting and bumped into a book about Inés Amor, a pioneer who founded the commercial structure of the contemporary art market in Mexico. I got a rush that never left me; I started drifting and finding my place, playing a role as part of a chain of art professionals in a global art playground.
Conversations with artists became disruptive ideas about the relationship between emergent art and the market. Eventually, similar conversations with business people, collectors, and other art players turned into me building an art fair that challenged the rules of what Miami is during the art week, educated participants, and visibility for artists and independent projects. That’s Clandestina.
In 2023, I joined Locust Projects as Development Director, my job is to raise funds to provide local, national and international artists with the time, space and resources to experiment and create ambitious new work. LP is the longest-running alternative art space in Miami, MAKING ART HAPPEN, it’s inspiring and ambitious. I work with an amazing team, but Executive Director Lorie Mertes, has become a role model. For me, it’s important to still find those as a grownup.
As part of my commitment to developing stronger sources of opportunity for art professionals, I started (this year) my service as Board President of ArtTable, an organization dedicated to advancing the leadership of women-identifying and nonbinary professionals in the visual arts.
I’m an eight-week-old mom, and… it’s not easy. This period of my life has required more from me mentally and physically than anything I’ve ever done. The sharp, fast-on-her-feet individual I was a year ago took a break. My body has gone through a strong process to create another life, the hormone drops affect my memory and stamina – and I want to tell any woman going through pregnancy and post-partum: it’s ok! The top of your game it’s in a different place now and that doesn’t make you less of a pro in whatever you do.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
Una mujer en el arte mexicano: memorias de Inés Amor and El arte de vivir el arte by Felipe Ehrenberg
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
When I started my professional career in the arts, the world was not connected in such a fast way, and with the many degrees of transparency (and opacity) it is today.
I learned most of what I know through conversation. I wish I had taken better notes of my conversations. The record of memory gets glazed by the distance between who we were and who we are. I started a dedicated journal process just recently for a personal purpose, but I’m transferring that to my professional practice.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.clandestina.art/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nuriarichards/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artmarketspecialist/
- Other: https://www.locustprojects.org/ https://www.arttable.org/about/