Amy Pekal ’15

Class of 2015, Art History and Business Management double-major, Studio Art minor

“On the first day of economics class, we were taught that time is limited and resources are scarce. My solution: make art, a lot of it, in whatever form. Marymount Manhattan makes it easy for students to curate their own paths.”

About

Amy Pekal ’15 vividly recalls an important lesson from early in her MMC academic career: “On the first day of economics class, we were taught that time is limited and resources are scarce. My solution: make art, a lot of it, in whatever form.”

With a dual major in Art History and Business Management, along with a minor in Studio Art, Pekal pursued coursework that spanned 3,000 years of art history. Her research led to study abroad opportunities in Italy and Poland. Pekal coupled these creative pursuits with courses in fundraising and marketing.

On her internship:

I was an intern for On Art with artist and curator Viviane Silvera.  On Art specializes in taking collectors to galleries and artists’ studios, where Viviane gives talks on the artist and attendees have the chance to meet and speak with artists and learn about the contemporary art world. As an intern for Viviane Silvera, I took away many professional experiences lessons, and I grew as a person. I’ve learned to become a fast, adaptable learner, to take things as they come and to never doubt myself. I had the extraordinary opportunity to go for 5 days to Art Basel Miami Beach, the most important international art fair in the U.S.  The experience furthered my passion and determination to create a career in the art world.” 

In the year following graduation, Pekal enrolled in the New York Academy of Art in pursuit of a certificate of fine arts. There, she narrowed her focus on developing a body of work that included drawings, paintings, sculpture, and a site-specific installation.

After several years in Brooklyn, Pekal moved to the Netherlands where she works as an artist and as a gallery assistant for Willem Baars Projects, a fine art gallery in Amsterdam.

This spotlight originally appeared in the Winter 2017 issue of MMC Magazine and has since been updated.