Meet Audra Verona Lambert | Curator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Audra Verona Lambert and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Audra, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
As a curator and cultural producer, my focus has always been on bringing people together. Creative people bring a gift into the world that is totally unique: by focusing on bringing platforms to people with fresh artistic vision, I can bring a collaborative spirit and critical eye to the conversation. The arts are for everyone. By bringing expertise and ten years of experience organizing art exhibits to the table, I hope to be a part of the journey that allows these visionaries to take the next leap in their artistic development.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
As a curator, balancing dreams and realities is a paramount aspect of the job. I could start by highlighting how writing my master’s degree thesis prepared me for a life of organizing exhibitions, but it is really life experiences that best anchor curators to be ready for the creative and generative tasks ahead of them. Years of conversations with artists reflecting on cultural memory from regions other than the US and Europe, and making new acquaintances at Prospect New Orleans have been as formative part of shaping my vision as a curator as a stint working during midsummer on a Russian dacha and studying and traveling through Northern Germany and Turkey. Curators often fall between the cracks in the creative landscape: while on paper we organize art exhibitions for cultural institutions, in reality there is a lot of unseen labor that goes into sustaining artistic communities, which comes with being a curator. These tasks range from researching exhibition histories and artistic scholarship (the Metropolitan Museum’s Watson Library and Washington DC’s Archives of American Art have both been incredible resources in my own career,) to meeting artists in their studios to learn about their practice and offer observations and reflections and cultural memory absorbed by these artists’ practices. It’s very fulfilling to be a part of the conversation and advancing the cultural conversation – no exhibition or institutional affiliation is too small to bring awareness or beauty to the world in a new way.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
When it comes to visiting NYC, my guests are going to be toured through Queens: the self-designated world’s borough. Unpretentious yet cosmopolitan, I would make sure visitors get the best of Queens from delightful tastings to outdoor exploration, artistic discoveries and a secret national treasure! First things first: as a Southerner with over a decade living in NYC, I love to host. And having lived the longest in Queens, NY, my hosting extends to exploring all corners of the boro. When it comes to food take a hint from Instagram’s own @JaekiCho and explore the many food cultures Queens has to offer – on my list, Arepa Lady in Jackson Heights, Artion bakery for Greek classics in Astoria and taking cash to explore Flushing’s rich savory and sweet Chinatown offerings. When it comes to outdoor exploring, summer bike rides through Astoria Park and Flushing Meadows Corona Park are rivaled only by walks in Forest Park and around the Ridgewood reservoir. In terms of art and cultural offerings, MoMA PS1 and the Queens Museum offer takes on contemporary culture, while Forest Hills stadium is one of the best music venues in the whole city – not to mention where the Beatles “arrived” in legendary fashion to the US! Finally, the 7 train is one of only 16 designated Historic Millenium trails in the US, established as such by the White House in 1999.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are so many mentors, collaborators and leaders on the path before me to acknowledge and thank. To start, inspiring curators who have come before me – including Marcia Tucker, Okwui Enwezor and Rocio Aranda-Alvarez (who I was lucky enough to work with and study under) have all been sources of study and encouragement. When it comes to groups, I am inspired by collectives and artist-forward nonprofits who bring creatives from emerging opportunities to mid-career successes. Culture Push, Project for Empty Space and the Joan Mitchell Foundation are all inspiring to me – and as someone raised near New Orleans who’s mostly worked in New York City, the foundation is especially dear to my heart. It’s so uplifting to see the shoutout offer a chance to bring gratitude into the creative conversation, so a big shoutout to y’all for allowing creatives to pay it forward!

Website: https://www.antecedentprojects.com/

Instagram: @ante__curatorial

Image Credits
All photos courtesy Audra Verona Lambert