Amy Eva Raehse One important phenomena of the Maryland-DC-Virginia area today is our celebration of all things local. Homegrown businesses, native cuisine, resident art stars, and the DIY visual arts movement provide an account of our collective culture—a zeitgeist, if you will. As shared experiences, juried exhibitions are by definition unwieldy. They purport to highlight a collective vision and spirit that speaks to trends and permits jurors to acknowledge a synergy represented in a brief period of time. The idea of a collective culture does not, of course, negate the expansive mix of sensibilities that are representative of the diversity of the public at large, but instead articulates the connection that a group of artists may share. In this way, juried exhibitions, especially regional ones, can be vehicles for Shakespearean-like reflection. They provide a mirror onto what we cannot—or are not always willing to—see: ourselves. Thus, from the conception to the conclusion of a juried regional biennial, the most instrumental constituents are the contributing artists—both those who have been selected and those who have not. As curators, we endeavor to propagate and interpret the talents, visions, and voices of contemporary artists, creating a dialogue among art, the market, and the increasingly globalized landscape of audiences. With this in mind, thematic development is an important implement on the curatorial tool belt. Jurors, however, seldom consider overall thematic principles, but rather allow methodology to live within the union of quality and invention, taking cues from the art itself, but always leaning on the side of quality. There are indeed recognizable standards of aesthetics regardless of style, and there are, therefore, genuine opportunities to learn from the language revealed within this type of barometer.
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Amy Raehse has been both the subject and author of various articles, press pieces, interviews, catalogues, and books. Currently she is the chief curator and executive director at Goya Contemporary Gallery and executive director of Goya-Girl Press in Baltimore, Maryland. She received her MFA and BFA from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She also has a certificate in arts management from Amherst College, Massachusetts. She has lectured at the Worchester Art Museum, Mount Holyoke College, American University, Maryland Institute College of Art, and the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore on topics such as collecting art, gallery and curatorial practices, how to approach galleries, the history of Goya Contemporary, and shifts in digital art within galleries. A seasoned art professional, she has curated the works of artists such as Joyce J. Scott, Hermine Ford, Timothy App, Madeleine Keesing, Ford Crull, Diana Jacobs, and Luis Flores. She serves as a member of the board of trustees of the Creative Alliance at the Patterson, a member of the host committee for the Maryland Institute College of Art’s ArtWalk and the Friends of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Baltimore Museum of Art, a curator for the Creative Alliance Marquee Ball Exhibition, and a mentor for Maryland Art Place’s Curators’ Incubator.