Skye has attended UMass Boston since the fall of 2001 and this year she is the director of the Harbor Art Gallery in McCormack. Skye has always been deeply involved with the arts on campus. For the past two years she has worked closely with Arts on the Point (AOP) Director Paul Tucker and AOP Director of Education and Administration Wendy Baring-Gould.
Skye says her art is, “Like a Chihuahua–it’s hyper and it never stops barking.”
Her favorite medium to work in is oil painting. However, she also works in drawing, sculpture, and fashion design. One way in which she combines her drawing talent and eye for fashion is by hand drawing postcards of dress forms. She sells the cards to local retailers and also takes custom orders.
Directing a gallery is not an easy task. The director has the responsibility of choosing exciting and provocative work in order to make the gallery attractive and successful. It is important for directors to be able to recognize good work when they see it and not be afraid to take a chance with new artist. Skye is a firm believer of leaving her ego outside of her artwork and gallery work and avoids letting her own aspirations and tastes get in the way. She is constantly excited and impressed by the work of other artists and loves showing their talent. In fact, her post-UMB plan is to open her own gallery where she will exclusively display the works of recently graduated artists, or young artist in general. By doing this she will be able to help young artists build their resumés and draw attention from other galleries and dealers.
Skye advises upcoming art students to build relationships with their professors and to not hesitate in discussing personal goals and visions. UMB professors Wilfredo Chiesa, Paul Tucker, Ann Torke, and Liz Marrin are people that Skye would recommend to any student because they have helped her in creating some great pieces of art as well as developing her technical abilities. Skye says the great thing about directing the gallery and being part of the art community at UMB is that, “You come into this like a rookie and leave like a star, because you gain real life experience and learn to work with active artists and professional historians.”