Meet Alexandra Goldman

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alexandra Goldman. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alexandra, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

Resilience is of the most important qualities to have in the art world, a notoriously unstable industry. The market fluctuates, many galleries come and go, and as art professionals we all have to be nimble to navigate the changing trends in how people are viewing, consuming, and buying art. That is why it has always been important for me to maintain my own brand, Artifactoid, where I write about art, curate shows, and create special art experiences for private clients, in addition to the roles I’ve held at galleries and museums. Having Artifactoid as a constant over the years has helped me to be resilient no matter what comes my way externally. If you have your own project, no one can take that from you. For me, it helps me to always have the confidence to know that I can bounce back and contribute regardless of what is happening around me out of my control.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I founded Artifactoid in 2015, as a “creative escape” side hustle, while I was a miserable semi-recent college grad working at a PR agency for tech companies. I was a total black sheep – I felt like I cared about art more than anything we were ever up to in the office, and would escape my desk early to make it to gallery openings as much as I could get away with. No surprise really, I got laid off from that job, which I was upset about at the time because I felt like a failure and out of control. How was I going to pay my rent? But I thought to myself, if I am going back to work, I’m going to do it right and do what I really love. Anyway, one thing led to another, and by that time, I had actually written a solid portfolio of art reviews and interviews with art professionals I admired, and published them all on Artifactoid. I was able to then leverage Artifactoid, and the fact that I was fluent in Spanish, to land my first job at an art gallery, Y Gallery, a Latin American art gallery that used to be on Orchard Street. I really thrived there, and got promoted to Director after I began selling a significant amount of artwork. Now I have been working in galleries and museums in New York City for close to 10 years (2025 will be the 10-year anniversary of Artifactoid). I’ve been able to travel the world for work at art fairs in Lima, Bogota, Miami, and Mexico City. I’ve been able to attend the most fabulous galas and parties in art collectors exquisite homes internationally. And I’ve created an invaluable network of friends, colleagues, and clients in the arts. I also made the decision to go back to school and get my Masters in Art History at Hunter College while working full time, once I knew for sure that I was going to dedicate my career in this direction. Now, with Artifactoid coming up on its 10th year, I am continuing to write for a few art magazines, advise collectors on new artwork acquisitions, curate exhibitions independently, and host art events and experiences for private clients that include bespoke art tours and studio visits as creative alternatives to traditional corporate outings. To me, these facets of what I do are not just work – they are each important ways in which I can share my passion with others, and support the artists I care about and believe in. If you would like to get in touch regarding advising services, press, or special art events and experiences for your company, please email me at [email protected].

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The three most important qualities, skills, and areas of knowledge that have impacted my career have been 1. Tenacity (just keep going no matter what) 2. People skills / emotional intelligence (success has everything to do with great relationship management) and 3. Knowing a foreign language fluently, for real. My advice for those early in your journeys would be to identify the most niche ways in which you can be useful and match-make yourselves with very specific opportunities accordingly. For example, since I knew that I had the skills of doing PR and speaking Spanish, I zeroed in on getting a job as the Communications Director at a Latin American Art Gallery. I couldn’t at the time just get any job at any art gallery, because I had no prior gallery experience and hadn’t formally studied art history yet. But, I had an enormous passion for art, and these two other very specific very relevant skills to a very specific type of gallery, and got my foot in the door. From there, I learned a ton, solidified my new career path, and was able to grow and work on other skills such as selling art and producing art events that led to more sales. Later, I went back to school for Art History. So I would say in a similar way, write down what you know are your specific skills right now, and try to align yourself with opportunities where you can be most helpful with those skills while also learning new things in the direction you want to go. Paths don’t have to go in a straight line. Just keep taking steps toward your goal and keeping good relationships with as many people as possible along the way.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

I feel that there are four books that have been most impactful in my journey. One is “How to Write about Contemporary Art” by Gilda Williams, which has a good sense of humor in teaching distinguishing good art writing from bad. I was happy to meet Gilda and hear her speak when she presented the book at 192 Books in Chelsea many years ago. A second book that was helpful to me early on in my career was a book that my boss gave me while I was working at Y Gallery; “What is Contemporary Art?” by Terry Williams. It helped me become more familiar with the language of how contemporary art is talked about, along with some recent art history. May be a little dated now but still good. Then later, these two books really were fun reads and inspired me on the business end: “You Are A Badass at Making Money” by Jen Sincero, which uses humor to share techniques for attracting financial success in any type of career, and “The Most Powerful Woman in the Room is You” by Lydia Fenet. I really believe in Lydia, who in addition to two decades in leadership at Christie’s, single handedly raised billions of dollars for over 800 organizations as an auctioneer. Her book teaches the invaluable power of being real in business, and has great networking tips. I keep revisiting it, and also had the amazing privilege of meeting Lydia at her book launch for her second book, “Claim Your Confidence.” When I was Director of Membership and Community at Fotografiska New York, an international photography museum, I organized a women’s power breakfast and museum tour with Lydia Fenet as one of our special member events. It brought me so much joy to bring the teachings of her book full circle, and plan this memorable art event alongside her.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theartifactoid.com
• Instagram: @artifactoid
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandra-goldman-b8a0a514/