A Rotating Exhibition Showcasing Emerging Artists and Novice Curators at sk.ArtSpace

Meet our Art Pawn Directors and Volunteers

 

Ethan Minsker, Head Director, Curator

Mr. Minkser is a producer of independent documentary films focused on art and contemporary culture. His experience in scriptwriting, video shooting, audio transcoding, film editing, post-production, coloration, and digital animation have played a key role in documenting the project, Art Pawn. Mr. Minsker has been active in community engagement for over twenty years and continues to make film an integral part of each project. In developing the original concept for Art Pawn, Mr. Minsker organized group discussions, delegated tasks to team members, created promotional displays, and arranged for the space to host artists permanently throughout the exhibition.

 

Helixx C. Armageddon, Head Director, Curator

Artist, musician, and storyteller Helixx is intrigued by exploring the human condition through performance art and experimental/avant-garde Hip-Hop. She weaves poetry, music, and fashion together to shift her audiences from observers to participants. For the latest, Art Pawn, Helixx organized, designed, and coordinated information through email blasts, kept a calendar of weekly events and curated her own group of artists.

Known for impassioned performances, Helixx channels a space for community, connection and dialogue. For her, words are powerful and create more than narrative; words create action and momentum. Helixx has performed in notable venues around New York City including Nuyorican Poets Cafe, Bowery Poetry Club, Joe’s Pub at the Public Theatre, Hammerstein Ballroom, Knitting Factory, Gene Frankel Theatre, Howl! Happening, Blue Note Jazz Club, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, Tibet House US and the Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art.

Cynthia Ruse, Head Director

Cynthia Ruse lives and works in Brooklyn, NY. She creates quiet spaces of duality that are intended to both mirror and question a relationship to a shared world. By illuminating the interrelation of the small and large, and the many ways both can be inhabited, her mixed media works explore ongoing and evolving narratives of boundary and place.

Cynthia assisted in running day-to-day operations in the space and helped organize the tabletop residencies and strategies for the upcoming season of Art Pawn.

 

Jody MacDonald, Assistant Director Curator

MacDonald graduated with a BFA in Visual Arts from Emily Carr University in 2011 (Vancouver, BC, Canada). Her fastidiously crafted work has been exhibited in galleries and artist-run centers across Canada and the U.S.

MacDonald’s art practice explores identity, hierarchies, and stereotypes characterized by dark humor, multiples, and obsessive attention to detail. Her works on paper and sculptures are featured in private collections throughout Ontario, British Columbia, and New York.

MacDonald curated one week of events and covered the hours of operation. She helped develop strategies for future versions of Art Pawn and assisted with installing and de-installing the space.

 

Soren Stockman, Curator

Soren Stockman is a poet and performer based in New York City. His poems appear in Bellevue Literary Review, Bennington Review, BOAAT, Columbia Journal, H.O.W. Journal, The Iowa Review, The Literary Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Narrative, Painted Bride Quarterly, PEN Poetry Series, Redivider, St. Petersburg Review, Southword Journal, Tin House, and Tupelo Quarterly, among others, while his prose appears in The Fanzine, Kenyon Review Online, and Playboy.

Through curated events, Stockman developed new relationships and opportunities for artists. As a result of his promotion, he had a strong opening and closing.

 

Hannah Hightman, Assistant Director

Copywriter for a small branding agency by day, Hightman has a deep appreciation for the arts and devotes most of her free time to volunteering at various art spaces and exploring different artistic communities. She is the head docent at Morbid Anatomy Library and a symbiote at The Living Gallery in Brooklyn. She is also a journalist and runs a  blog that highlights up-and-coming artists, and recently launched a series of publications about the art of the uncanny. 

 

Hannah helped to maintain the space during live events which included coverage on the door making sure that the gift shop was operating. She has been working with other volunteers to develop strategies for panels for next year's events.

 

 

Jose J Carmona, Assistant Director

Mr. Carmona is a master tasker, not only in his professional work but also in CFA’s latest, Art Pawn. Tasks include art handler, social media video producer and promotion, and digital coordinator. His personal art style is within the digital illustration medium and focuses on magic realism, surrealism, afro-futurism, and portraiture.

 

Jose helped with the installation and de-installation of weekly shows. He was in charge of the LinkedIn page helping to identify each week's artist on social media. Mr. Carmona was an integral part of strategizing new ways that technology could benefit Art Pawn moving forward. He has been essential in keeping the space running smoothly.

 

Shannon Daugherty, Administrator

Ms. Daugherty lives in Austin, Texas, and is the remote administrator managing finances for Art Pawn. Shannon is a graduate of Pratt Institute and one of the founding members of Citizens for the Arts (CFA). Ms. Daugherty has worked extensively curating projects and cultivating relationships with other artists via CFA and its sister organization the Antagonist Art Movement since 2009.  

 

Ms. Daugherty is a printmaker by trade but is also proficient in tattooing and tattoo history. Folk art stories and interpersonal relationships with others heavily influence her work. She has worked in studios nationwide and showcased her art in countries such as Ecuador, Australia, Portugal, Germany, and the United States.