We recently connected with Veronica Cianfrano and have shared our conversation below.

Veronica, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Looking back on your career, have you ever worked with a great leader or boss? We’d love to hear about the experience and what you think made them such a great leader.

I’ve been very lucky to work for some incredible humans. I worked for a dear friend of mine who started a small business with her partner. Like many creatives, she has had her share of terrible jobs so she used that as a guide for what not to do as a boss. Her empathy made her a really communicative team leader. She also took the time to get to know everyone and let them take on roles that their strengths would let them excell at. The other person that comes to mind ran the pre college program at the University of the Arts. I worked for her for over 8 years as a studio art instructor. She was a tireless advocate for the teachers and students in the program and really fought for us to get the resources we needed to do our best work. She always gave thoughtful feedback, acknowledging my strengths and success and taking the time to engaged with me thoughtfully about ways I could improve. I had some of my best teaching experiences in that program as a result.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a curator, artist, teacher, the youngest of three daughters, and a first-generation American.
In 2010, I received my MFA in Painting from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where I discovered the need for better access to the arts. There I started CHER (Champions of Empty Rooms) with fellow artist and collaborator, Jessie Clark. CHER was.a collaborative pop-up gallery; the mission of which was to bring thematically relevant contemporary art exhibitions to communities that don’t normally experience them by organizing temporary events, happenings, and exhibitions in alternative spaces.

In 2011 I also co-founded Manifesto-ish, an online artist in residence program that allowed artists of merit from any background and in any location to realize a project with the help of a team, receive critical feedback on their work, participate in panel discussions, and exhibit their work digitally.

I have been, and in many ways will always be, an educator with over eight years of experience teaching studio art and art theory courses to pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate students nationally and internationally.

Coming from a blue collar background with limited access to the arts, I am very proud of the work I’ve done in trying to make art more accessible. I have held that as a goal in each of the roles I’ve had over the years, as a teacher, an artist, a curator and now as a gallery director.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I am still teaching myself that I belong in the art world. For many years, I felt like an imposter in every room I entered. In graduate school, I was always expecting them to realize they made a mistake and kick me out of the program. Just like many people who don’t feel good enough, I worked ten times harder than I had to just to prove I belonged there. It can be very isolating when you feel you are surrounded by people who have had more advantages and resources than you. I worked from this place of inadequacy for many years until I became a gallery director with a team of staff members. It was only in advocating for them that I realized how cruel I had been to myself. I still sometimes slip into old habits but I am much better at knowing my worth these days.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

Be a patron of the arts. What we need most are people who are willing to change their spending patterns to help boost the creative economy. Unfortunately, becoming a strong economic force is the art sector’s only hope of having any advocates on the state and federal level. Especially now, we are dangerously close to losing the national endowment for the arts which is the main source of income for nonprofits that offer vital community arts and educational programming. Look up your neighborhood gallery or art studio building. Buy one thing per year and it will make a huge difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Veroniacianfrano.com
• Instagram: @veronicacianfrano
• Linkedin: Veronica Cianfrano