22 THE QUEENS COURIER • JANUARY 28, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
CUNY Grad, Kayla G. Coleman ‘11, Fills
a Blank Canvas with an Extraordinary
Career in the Arts
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Queensborough alumna Kayla G. Coleman gives
100% of herself to the Arts, more than 10 years
after her start in Queensborough’s Gallery and
Museum Studies program and volunteer at the
QCC Art Gallery.
The Deputy Director for New York City's Percent
for Art program oversees hundreds of
site-specific art projects in a variety of media
by artists of all backgrounds, whose mindsets
reflect the diversity of New York City. New York
City's Percent for Art law requires that one
percent of the budget for eligible City-funded
construction projects is spent on public
artwork.
One of her favorite projects is by artist Jim
Drain, We are the Bronx River, an installation at
PS 46 in the Bronx, located at the top of the
school’s grand staircase in front of the
auditorium.
“It’s a spectacular handmade ceramic mural
celebrating seasonal flora and fauna as well as
animals from the Bronx,” said the former
educator, born and raised in Harlem.
“I love art as an education tool!”
Project selection at Percent for Art begins with
an extensive list of art. Percent for Art starts
hosting panels comprised of stakeholders such
as school principals and architects.
Semi-finalists then create and present their
proposals. The finalist enters into a contract
with the school authority.
Projects had been paused due of Covid but now
Percent for Art is moving forward because so
much of the work is based on construction, and
construction restrictions have been eased.
“There are many considerations that determine
who the finalist will be,” said Coleman.
“Materials, technical demands, age (audience)
appropriateness, and the space requirements. Is
the project of the highest caliber? Does it fit
into our sensibilities? Is it durable? We want it to
last 100 years.”
Coleman’s remarkable journey started a decade
ago at QCC, after she had moved from Harlem to
East New York, Brooklyn.
“I called the commute from Brooklyn to
Queensborough the bus to the train to the bus
routine!”
Though the commute was long, Coleman said
she “wanted Queensborough”.
“I am a strategic thinker and wanted to study in
the Gallery and Museum Studies program, which
had just started,” said Coleman, who was also
the first intern at the QCC Art Gallery.
“The Gallery internship changed my life. Lisa
Scandaliato, Assistant to the Artistic Director,
Faustino Quintanilla taught me how to run a
space, how to hang a show. These were skills
that helped me enormously in my career.”
She continued, “I learned to write copy, edit and
conduct research. I worked in the African Art
collection and applied that knowledge to
research that I later conducted on southern
born black artists at the Johnson Collection in
South Carolina.”
Coleman mentioned several excellent art
professors she studied with, or were acquainted
with in the department including Hayes P. Mauro,
Anne-Marie Coffey, Jules Allen, and Professor
and Chairperson Kathleen Wentrack.
Coleman transferred to Brooklyn College where
she graduated cum laude in 2014 with a B.A. in
Art History, Criticism and Conservation. Coleman
then pursued her Master’s degree at the City
College of New York (CUNY) where she was
named an Archive Fellow at the Studio Museum
in Harlem. She is currently writing her thesis to
complete her master’s degree.
Coleman, who worked her way through school,
commented, “I’ve worked for 21 years since my
first babysitting job when I was 11 years-old. This
is the first time in my life that I have had just
one job!”
She recalled her experience years ago as an
unpaid intern at MOMA.
“My early impression was that the art world is
elitist, and not friendly to people of color. I
worked with people at MOMA who were always
available, while I had another job to go to. Who
can work on an unpaid internship for an entire
year? Being motivated by realities in life helps
me in my long run. That unpaid internship at
MOMA was my last.”
Her many career highlights include that of an
Administrator at Asymptote Architecture, an
international, industry- leading architectural
practice; Collector Relations Liaison at the
Carrie Able Gallery in Brooklyn; and Director of
BronxArtSpace from January –September, 2019.
She also worked with underrepresented
international artists at White Box, a non-profit
gallery in Harlem where she was in charge of
operations and writing grants.
“I’ve been lucky to secure positons that allowed
me to get another step-up. I’m a good writer
and fundraiser. If you can cultivate grant
writing, it can take you far.”
She added, “Everybody wants to be a curator but
a lot goes into that. I took an alternate route in
my curatorial practice.”
Coleman has also given back to others so they
too may get a step-up.
She was an SAT Prep Instructor for two years
(2017-2019) at the New York Historical Society.
She remains in contact with several of her
former students, some of whom she has helped
with college essays.
“Eventually, I walked away from the classroom to
focus on art,” said Coleman, who moved back to
Harlem this year.
NYC Percent for Art is part of the Department of
Cultural Affairs, a national initiative that has 131
projects in process in every borough. These
projects will be completed over an extended
period of time; anywhere from 2 years to a
decade.
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