Who am I?
My name is Anna Radigan, and I am a summer 2024 intern at the Center for Italian Modern Art in New York City! I grew up in Hightstown, New Jersey and I am a rising Junior at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, studying Art History and Italian. During the school year, I work at Dickinson’s Trout gallery, where I give tours and teach students in the Carlisle area about art. I love to make art myself and I often take inspiration from my favorite artists like Louise Bourgeois, Leonora Carrington, Senga Nengudi, and Kiki Smith! I am passionate about trying different foods and I want to travel all around the world. I recently visited a handful of big cities in Italy for a school-related research trip that questioned the ‘Made in Italy’ concept and the fashion industry! I hope to continue to work closely with galleries, giving tours, and researching art as a future career!
How did you first become interested in Art History?
My passion for Art History sparked when I was little. My siblings and I would play make-believe school where my role as teacher was to teach my younger twin siblings about whatever subjects we wanted. I briefly remember one of our lessons on an artist like Vincent Van Gogh or Picasso in our silly classrooms located in our bedrooms. But it was not until high school that I took AP Art History, and I learned about the possibility of having a career in art research. To achieve this goal, I am currently majoring in Art History and Italian at college!
What do you like to do in your free time?
In my free time, my love for art does not end. I enjoy crafts like sketching, collage, journaling, and other forms of expression! Most favorably, I love to crochet for myself, friends and family, and I use the craft to make soft sculptures, clothing, and other items. If I am not doing any form of art, you will find me playing volleyball with my family or working on our family friend’s local farm!
If you could purchase any painting, which one would it be? Why? And where would you put it?
If I could purchase any painting, I would spend all my money on Henri Matisse’s Red Studio. I am drawn to many aspects of the painting such as the vibrant, unusual red, works of in-progress paintings, and the surreal, disorienting space. The red color, and also my favorite color, is muted yet still bold enough where the other colors in the work stand out. It is both minimalistic and maximalist in terms of the details, objects, space, and overall composition. The painting itself is close to life-size so if I were to put it somewhere, it would look like a window into another, fauvist world. But because I am in college, I would put the painting right next to my bed in my dorm room!
What do you hope to accomplish throughout this experience at CIMA? What have you liked most at CIMA?
Throughout my internship at CIMA, I wish to gain knowledge about how a non-profit business works and, most importantly, be a part of its community. I hope to see the impact of gallery spaces on the public because of their deep research in specific historical periods, artists and works. Additionally, the internship at CIMA is an experience and opportunity that I hope will shape my future career choices. I really love how intimate the Center for Italian Modern Art is in terms of its research focus, but also the connections
between employees, visitors, and the public. Although I live in a neighboring state, I feel as if I have another Italian family in Soho, New York!
