Susan Krane
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July 9, 2008 | by brett | Permalink
In a building that looks like a giant Cheeto, tucked away in a corner office adorned with artistic works, Susan Krane scrolls over financial numbers for the fourth time of the day. The fiscal year end is only a week away, and she’s been preoccupied with making sure pledges are confirmed and revenue projections are accurate.
It’s not how you would expect the Executive Director of Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) to be spending her time. One might expect her to be attracting artists like Pae White to show off their exhibits to Scottsdale’s curious, creative crowds. Or one might expect her to be smoothing out last minute details for the following night, when fire twirlers, fashion show models, and contemporary art exhibits will entertain stylish SMoCA night attendees.
But then again, art is about looking at the world in a new way.
As a college student, Susan found an interest in art after finding it was the best way to get close to anthropology without having to dig in dirt. Art offered history, religion, biographies, stories, and a visual mesh of material and culture. Susan pursued her artistic interest in school through volunteer opportunities. Out of school she landed low paying jobs in museums that paid dividends to her enjoyable lifestyle.
“For me, there’s nothing worse than routine,” Susan said to us in our interview that started when the majority of work days conclude. “I would die in a job where I had to come in at nine o’clock and leave at five o’clock to do the same thing everyday. Some people thrive on that routine. I think you just have to know yourself.”
With decades of experience in the industry, Susan learned that self made habits can be a blinder for appreciating contemporary art. “If you expect art to be a painting in a frame on the wall,” Susan said, “or a sculpture that sits on a pedestal, your expectations are not going to be met. If you expect art to look a certain way, if you think art does only one thing, that’s just what it will do.”
Art is special because it offers us lessons we sometimes would not recognize without leaving preconceptions at the door. For example, Susan said that people sometimes only look at art validated by history or the market. The prestige of art in the marketplace is what makes people care about the work.
The same can be true for career choice. People sometimes only look at the careers validated by their parents or the job market. People go for prestige in a job instead of a job they’d care for. People expect work to look a certain way and do only one thing. This is when expectations are not met.
Walking into a job search without these self made habits, just like you would walk into SMoCA to appreciate the art, might leave you with more questions than you came with, but it will ultimately get you outside your parameters and into a job you’ll love.
Susan, for all the times she picked the phone and submitted proposals to foundations, received an unexpected letter the day of our interview. It was a $10,000 gift in honor of one of SMoCA’s volunteer tour guides.
The best things always come when we’re outside our parameters, without preconceptions.
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Steve Says:
July 11th, 2008
Her comment of “set a direction and let things happen organicaly” is a great piece of wisdom. Not only for career, but relationships as well. Great interview.
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