Artist Spotlight: Kwesi Budu-Arthur, curator of the Paul Dietrich Gallery

Kwesi Budu-Arthur, associate at the Cambridge Seven architecture firm, also acts as the curator of the firm’s art gallery. The Paul Dietrich Gallery is located inside the walls of the firm itself, and it is up to Budu-Arthur alone to curate the exhibits that he and his co-workers work with everyday. The Harvard Crimson sat down with Budu-Arthur to discuss the history of the Paul Dietrich Gallery, the unique challenges he faces as he curates within a workplace setting, and the intersections of art and architecture. His next show, featuring photographer JJ Gonson, will open July 23rd.

The Harvard Crimson: What is the history of the Paul Dietrich Gallery?

Kwesi Budu-Arthur: The gallery was named after one of our founding partners, Paul Dietrich, while he was an active partner here at Cambridge Seven. The original space that was set aside for the gallery was originally intended to showcase architectural models, being an architecture firm, and Paul had the brilliant idea that rather than us … patting ourselves on the back and showcasing our own work, a much better use for the space would be to showcase the creativity of the people that we work with, and the design community at large we interface with via consultants, clients, and also the artistic community in the greater Boston area. Paul was active in the gallery for its first few years, and then when he passed away is when we named the gallery the Paul Dietrich Gallery in his honor.

THC: Where do you find works to display in the gallery?

KBA: A lot of the artists that I show come through the greater Boston design community. It could be that I meet an artist at an opening of another artist here—that’s happened quite a few times. Or I might go to First Fridays and see somebody’s work … because of the nature of our work here at Cambridge Seven, we’ve had a long history of collaborating with creative people. The first project that the firm did was the New England Aquarium, and we followed that with the National Aquarium in Baltimore, and the Boston Children’s Museum here, in Boston. So through both architecture and exhibits, we would collaborate with a lot of artists right at the beginning. The original scope was to showcase the work of these people that we were working with, and now it’s grown beyond that original scope. But that was the impetus.

THC: How does the presence of the gallery impact the day-to-day life of the office?

KBA: The space is transformed with each show. The last show was a very different feel, and we get to live with that vibe for three months at a time. I think that the works that I like to show are works that may not really be directly architectural in nature, but they’re works that allow my colleagues to be able to step away. They are works that allow my colleagues to either step away from something that they’ve been doing that seems daunting, or when they’ve hit some sort of creative roadblock themselves, and try to resolve some of the problems they’re working within architecture, and sort of go through the gallery and disconnect from the architecture and look at how somebody else is dealing with problems. And then come back, hopefully, refreshed.

THC: What has been your favorite show at the gallery?

KBA: I’m in love with pretty much every show that I’ve put up. The next show that I’m about to do may end up being my favorite show, it’s possible. And it is a photographer by the name of JJ Gonson. She photographed the underground rock-and-roll scene in Boston in the 80s. And I think it’s gonna be a fabulous show … the photograph that I’m using for the invitation is a photograph of Kurt Cobain when he wasn’t really that well known yet. What JJ does spectacularly well is she not only would photograph the artists, but she would photograph the audience. And this is the heyday of the mosh pit. So there’s just pure visceral energy, unbridled energy that she’s able to showcase in her work, and I’m really excited to bring that here, to bring some chaos to our order. It opens July 23rd and goes to October 20th, and the opening reception is Thursday, July 26th.

THC: What have been your biggest challenges as the curator of this gallery?

KBA: As a curator, probably the biggest challenge I have is being able to look at a body of work…and you can’t show it all. The editing process is probably one of the bigger challenges. Most artists will want to use all the space, which is understandable, but I think as a curator, you have to balance the positive space that the work is on and the negative space that the work is not on, and make sure the two work well with each other, and that means maybe having to reject work that an artist really likes. That’s probably one of the tougher things.

—Staff writer Ajibabi O. Oloko can be reached at ajibabi.oloko@thecrimson.com