Framing a Career
 Tom
Gitterman '90, director of the Howard Greenberg Gallery in New
York City (www.howardgreenberg.com),
came back to IC last October to share with art history and photography
students his love for his work and inspiration on how a degree
in the liberal arts can shape a successful career. The Howard
Greenberg Gallery is one of the top exhibitors and sellers of
classic vintage photography, an art form that Gitterman became
inspired by as a student.
Gitterman, who graduated with a major in art history and a minor
in sculpture, remembers taking Contemporary Photographic Issues
at the same time he was studying fin-de-siècle painting
in an art history course. He learned that early in the 20th century,
photographers like Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen had to
prove to the public that photography was an art form. There was
no doubt for Gitterman; his appreciation for the medium gave him
a sense of purpose.
"By my junior year I was seriously thinking of the future and
the job market. Teaching or museum work were obvious choices,
but I wasn't ready for another degree," Gitterman told the students.
While at IC he had helped hang exhibitions at the Handwerker Gallery
and interned at the DeWitt Historical Society of Tompkins County.
Through his adviser, Nancy Brcak, art history, he had met art
dealers and hung shows for local artists. The idea of gallery
work took form. "I was concerned about my ideals and about the
valuing of art, but these contacts pointed out that being an intermediary
between artists and collectors is an exciting place to be. I realized
that in a gallery, there's a constant flow of art. You're always
being moved by something new." The summer after graduation he
broke his ankle rock climbing and learned the art of gallery sitting.
He was ready for his first internship in New York City, at the
Pace/MacGill Gallery.
"I did everything --- xeroxing, filing, running errands, and
meeting a lot of top photographers like Irving Penn, Robert Frank,
and Nan Goldin. It was great, but the internship came to an end.
Peter MacGill helped me with my résumé, and I got
a lot of interviews, but nothing panned out." At a party he met
a friend who asked him to help with a mailing at the Zabriskie
Gallery. In doing so he discovered there were two part-time positions
open, and he talked himself into being hired for one full-time
position. "I worked there from winter '91 through May '95, and
it was like getting a graduate degree in gallery work. By the
time I left I had handled the front desk, installed shows, worked
with interns on matting and framing, and done mailings, registrations,
and sales."
His apprenticeship complete, he took a sales position at Gallery
292, a small, intimate space that functions as an extension of
the Howard Greenberg Gallery. Three years later he moved into
the main space and became director. His skills are all at work:
he chooses shows; buys and sells inventory; meets with artists,
museums, and estates; and manages a staff of 12. He also travels
to art fairs throughout the year --- Paris in the fall, Los Angeles
in January, New York in February, Chicago in May, and San Francisco
in July.
As Gitterman shared his career path with students at IC, he emphasized
one point: "It's easy to get isolated in college and think that
because you have this great college degree you deserve a great
job right away. But you have to prove yourself. You have to work
hard." Clearly, this IC graduate framed his career through hard
work and love of his field. His passion for art continues to give
him energy and motivation, and he is, as he said, "continually
moved by the work in the gallery."
Photo by Steve Clancy
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