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Interviewee:
Gangitano, Lia, 1968-  Search this
Interviewer:
Fialho, Alex, 1989-  Search this
Subject:
Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project  Search this
Type:
Interviews
Sound recordings
Place of publication, production, or execution:
New York (State)
Physical Description:
4 sound files (5 hrs., 59 min.), digital, wav; 74 Pages, Transcipt
Summary:
An interview with Lia Gangitano, conducted 2017 February 5-6, by Alex Fialho, for the Archives of American Art's Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic: An Oral History Project, at Gangitano's home in New York, New York.
Gangitano speaks of growing up in a staunchly Roman Catholic family; the religious interests of her family directly influencing her appreciation for art through formative trips to Italy; her parents' choice to raise her and her sister in suburban Connecticut in an effort to Americanize them; his father's activity in the Democratic party; the high rate of suicide and drug use in her community growing up; becoming aware of HIV through friends who were intravenous drug users; regarding her work study program at ICA Boston as her main education; her involvement in Women's Action Coalition; spending nine weeks painting during a residency at Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture and the realization that she didn't like her own art and instead wanted to support other people's art; the formative experience of co-curating Dress Codes; the path she took from ICA Boston to her own alternative space; Boston School show at ICA Boston; the survey of Mark Morrisroe's work at ICA Boston; her experience at Thread Waxing; navigating the process of starting a business when she founded Participant, Inc.; her desire to establish an artists' space that was non-commercial; the group exhibition Dead Flowers; Greer Lankton's retrospective at Participant; finding that people want a more active role in their art experience through Julie Tolentino's For You show; the unique mission of Participant in the art world; the desire to create and maintain a space for people to remember as well as follow their dreams. Gangitano also recalls Avery Gordon, Gayatri Spivak, Stephen Pfohl, Andrew Tavarelli, Elisabeth Sussman, Mark Morrisroe, Pat Hearn, Catherine Opie, Ron Athey, Frank Wagner, Ramsey McPhillips,.
Citation:
Quotes and excerpts must be cited as follows: Oral history interview with Lia Gangitano, 2017 February 5-6. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
Additional Forms:
Transcript is available on the Archives of American Art's website.
Funding:
Funding for this interview was provided by the Keith Haring Foundation.
Biography Note:
Lia Gangitano (1968- ) is the Director of PARTICIPANT INC., in New York, New York. Alex Fialho (1989- ) is a curator and arts writer and works as Programs Director for Visual AIDS in New York, N.Y.
Language Note:
English .
Provenance:
This interview is part of the Archives of American Art Oral History Program, started in 1958 to document the history of the visual arts in the United States, primarily through interviews with artists, historians, dealers, critics and administrators.
Location Note:
Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, 750 9th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20001
Topic:
AIDS (Disease) and the arts  Search this
Arts administrators -- New York (State) -- New York -- Interviews  Search this
Record number:
(DSI-AAA_CollID)17438
(DSI-AAA_SIRISBib)386086
AAA_collcode_gangit17
Data Source:
Archives of American Art
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:AAADCD_oh_386086