Ninth Street Collective is a group of art administrators, gallerists, curators, writers and critics who want to help artists succeed. With a focus on professional development, we offer one-on-one consultations with artists in-person and online, and serve as a hub for resources for artists. Founded by Melinda Wang in April 2019, the collective has worked with over 650 artists to identify exhibition opportunities, create press strategies for exhibitions, revise artist statements to reflect new bodies of work, develop social media plans and more.
Ninth Street Collective Launches Platform to Provide Professional Development Services for Artists
Women-Led Initiative of Arts Professionals Offers Combined 50 Years of Experience in the Contemporary Art World
New York, NY, April 10, 2019 – Ninth Street Collective announced a new platform for professional development services for artists. The founding members – Courtney Childress, Audra Lambert, Shama Rahman, Melinda Wang and Heather Zises – have combined their 50 years of experience in the art world to advance the standing of emerging and mid-career artists. Services offered include portfolio reviews, revising artist statements, editing grant applications, drafting project plans and budgets, preparing for studio visits, creating outreach strategies and coaching for presentation skills. All services can be booked directly through the web platform at www.ninthstreetcollective.com and are available to artists around the world.
As art administrators, gallerists, curators, writers and critics, the collective’s members have worked directly with over 1100 artists in their careers. Their professional backgrounds include positions with Pace Gallery, On Stellar Rays, Equity Gallery, yours mine & ours gallery, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Art in Odd Places, The New York Times, ANTE.mag and Phillips. Founder Melinda Wang stated, “By bringing together our different areas of expertise, we aim to provide artists with practical and strategic professional development advice on all facets of their art careers.”
The professionalization of the art world has created challenges for artists. Ninth Street Collective makes more accessible the services that are typically reserved for artists who are working directly with galleries, dealers and museums. Artists will receive specific and actionable advice from the collective’s members so they can spend less time on the business aspects of their careers and more time on their work.
Ninth Street Collective will have three areas of focus, rolled out in phases, starting with one-on-one consultations, expanding with curated online resources for artists and then growing through multi-channel programming to become an online destination for artists seeking advice.
About Ninth Street Collective
Ninth Street Collective is a group of art administrators, gallerists, curators, writers and critics who want to help artists succeed. With a focus on professional development, we offer one-on-one consultations with artists in-person and online, and serve as a hub for resources for artists. For more information about the collective and its members, please visit www.ninthstreetcollective.com.