Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Barbara Pollack of ‘Art at a Time Like This’ Is Helping To Change Our World
Leadership is all about being productive and collaborative even when you are under duress. Never see the organization as a tug of war between us and participants, but a collaboration where more ideas strengthen the whole. Leadership also means not repeating the mistake that traditional arts institutions have made. For example, we lead with diversity from the outset, rather than as a corrective measure. That made a big difference in the tone of our relationships with artists.
As part of my series about “individuals and organizations making an important social impact”, I had the pleasure of interviewing (Your name here) Barbara Pollack.
Barbara Pollack — writer, curator, educator — is the co-founder of Art at a Time Like This Inc., an arts organization that provides a platform for artists and curators in the midst of crisis, both online and public art interventions. Having worked in the art world for almost 30 years, she felt a new kind of “museum” needed to exist that can respond swiftly to global change. She is the author of several books on contemporary art and has curated numerous shows, both in the U.S. and China including an upcoming exhibition at Asia Society in New York.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?
I would not call this a “career”. In fact, if you are looking for a career, stay away from creative pursuits. Honestly my whole career is the story of one passion leading to another, fueled by my endless supply of curiosity. I started out as an artist, supporting myself as an arts journalist writing for publications like the New York Times and Art in America. This brought me to travels around the world, particularly China where I spent extensive time since 2004. Then covid rocked my world, with all my trips and projects cancelled at the beginning of 2020. Though I was tempted to roll up in a ball and hide in bed, the logical next step after the galleries and museums closed was to launch a website. My co-founder, Anne Verhallen, really prompted this move. Together we soon had over 200,000 viewers in more than 100 countries.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began leading your company or organization?
At the beginning of the pandemic, we launched the platform with an inaugural exhibition titled, How Can We Think of Art at a Time Like This? Within two days we already had a waiting list of artists that wanted to participate, really well-known artists and also emerging artists from many different countries. Yet this was not an “open call”. We were carefully designing and curating the show being selective about who we featured. I guess the most interesting story is how fascinating curating became when conducted in the middle of a crisis, as the first wave of the pandemic clearly was. There was no time to plan out the exhibition for two years, as is usually the case.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The mistakes we made were technical and clerical, nothing too amusing. But the funniest part of the project were the mistakes we avoided, being careful not to repeat “business as usual” in traditional museums and galleries.
Can you describe how you or your organization is making a significant social impact?
Art at a Time Like This has made a significant impact in the lives of artists and curators, and we know that partially from the press we’ve received and the compliments we get from our participants and our audience. For example, our current show is Before Silence: Afghan Artists in Exile, curated in cooperation with a leading human rights organization. One reaction to the show we had not anticipated is the number of artists stranded in Afghanistan who have reached out for help and we have put them in touch with an organization that can provide support and aid. Most art exhibitions don’t usually boast of such an impact, but we have experienced this over and over again.
Can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted or helped by your cause?
A typical example of how we helped artists even at the very beginning of our project in March 2020 is what happened to Shirin Neshat, an Iranian American artist who is world famous. She had created a film and an extensive number of photographs for her series, Land of Dreams. It was supposed to be shown at a major gallery in April. When all the venues were cancelled, she turned to us and we introduced the world to this remarkable body of work, one year before it was able to show publicly.
Are there three things the community/society/politicians can do to help you address the root of the problem you are trying to solve?
Listen to artists and curators who are citizens and thought leaders with creative ideas for the future.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is all about being productive and collaborative even when you are under duress. Never see the organization as a tug of war between us and participants, but a collaboration where more ideas strengthen the whole. Leadership also means not repeating the mistake that traditional arts institutions have made. For example, we lead with diversity from the outset, rather than as a corrective measure. That made a big difference in the tone of our relationships with artists.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
Don’t expect to get paid
Work as if there’s a deadline every June, so you are fully prepared when opportunity presents itself.
It’s a big world out there to explore!
Not all great ideas are made in isolation.
Try to imagine another person’s point of view
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I wish I could inspire people to be less concerned with their own ideas and more engaged with others’ experiences. Art at a Time Like This aspires to allow people from around the world to express their ideas, fears and hopes through this creative outlet. It would be wonderful if it converted people to see art as a communal experience, rather than a commodity.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
I would love to meet up with Faith Ringgold, a black feminist artist who gave me my first job in the art world many years ago. In the late 1980s, few galleries or museums were interested in the work of black artists or any people of color but Faith knew how to survive and endure. She taught me many lessons that have helped me forge on when obstacles appeared. Now she is the subject of a New York Museum retrospective. I hope to reconnect with her.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
@artatatimelikethis.com
This was very meaningful, thank you so much. We wish you only continued success on your great work!
Social Impact Heroes: Why & How Barbara Pollack of ‘Art at a Time Like This’ Is Helping To Change… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.