Backstage Pass Game Gallery: Unpacking the Art of Curating

As the exhibitions coordinator at Art Center Sarasota, Emma Thurgood knows that curating art is not just about hanging pictures on a wall. It's a labor of love that requires attention to detail, creativity, and dedication. In this backstage pass game gallery, we take a look behind the scenes with Thurgood as she prepares for the launch of Art Center Sarasota's new season.

Thurgood's day begins like any other, with a trip to the back room where boxes of art are waiting to be unpacked. She carefully opens each box, layer by layer, taking photos of each layer so that she can send it back exactly as the artist intended. The packing process is her biggest headache, but Thurgood knows that it's all worth it in the end.

With the help of a 10-person volunteer committee and Director Lisa Berger, Thurgood decides on the season's exhibitions. She then takes charge, doing the legwork to bring each show to life. Her dedication is impressive - according to her pedometer, she walks seven miles a day during a change of exhibitions.

The latest exhibition, 'Pulp Culture,' is a departure from what Art Center Sarasota has done in the past. It examines all the other ways that paper can be used as art, from paper installations and sculptures to origami and bookmaking. Thurgood curated one of the exhibits, 'Pulp Culture: Of and About Paper,' which she says is 'so different from what we've done.'

As the exhibitions coordinator, Thurgood's office is filled with remnants from past and upcoming shows. She picks up a plush navy and pink polka-dotted egg sculpture that she made herself, and smiles as she thinks about all the hard work that went into bringing it to life.

Thurgood's passion for art began early in her life. Ringling College of Art and Design brought her to Sarasota, where she is now thriving as exhibitions coordinator at Art Center Sarasota. She could have studied art at her parents' expense if she had graduated with straight A's and made the dean's list, but Thurgood chose to bet on herself and pursue her passion.

As we get ready to launch the season at Art Center Sarasota on Thursday, November , Emma Thurgood is proof that with hard work and dedication, anything is possible.

Backstage pass game gallery