Marnie Gillett

Marnie Gillett
Born
Marian Newell Gillett

August 13,1953
Montclair, New Jersey
DiedDecember 3, 2004
San Francisco, California
Occupation(s)Gallerist, arts administrator

Marian Newell "Marnie" Gillett (August 13, 1953 – December 3, 2004) was an American gallerist and arts administrator. She was executive director of SF Camerawork for 20 years.

Early life and education

Marian Newell Gillett was born in Glen Ridge, NJ, raised in Scarsdale, NY and the daughter of Ezra Kendall Gillett Jr. and Jean Newell McGraw Gillett (later Brookfield).[1] She attended the Emma Willard School before she earned a BFA from the University of New Mexico and an MFA in photography from the University of Arizona.[2][3]

Career

Gillett was an archivist at Aperture magazine after college.[4] She was a curator and archivist at the University of Arizona's Center for Creative Photography as a young woman.[5][6] While there, she worked on the Edward Weston collection[7] and co-curated Reasoned Space, an exhibition that toured the United States.[8][9][10] She also worked at the Light Gallery in New York City and taught about photography at Columbia College Chicago.[2]

Gillett was executive director of the SF Camerawork from 1984 to 2004, navigating the nonprofit arts organization through significant growth, controversy, and two moves.[1][11][12] She edited the SF Camerawork's journal and exhibition catalogs and developed an education program. Her position gave her prominence in some important developments of the time, including the controversy over NEA funding for photographers, including Robert Mapplethorpe,[13] and the technological effects of video, digital processes, and the internet on photography.[4][14][15]

Personal life

She died at her San Francisco home from breast cancer in 2004, at the age of 51, survived by her partner, Clare Wren.[1][2]

References

  1. ^ a b c Laird, Cynthia. "Memorial Sunday for Camerawork's Marnie Gillett" Bay Area Reporter (January 6, 2005), via the GLBT Historical Society's Online Searchable Obituary Database.
  2. ^ a b c Hoge, Patrick (2004-12-12). "Marnie Gillett -- ran SF Camerawork gallery". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  3. ^ "Photo Show". Arizona Daily Star. 1978-09-18. p. 29. Retrieved 2022-06-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Tromble, Meredith (July 1996). "A Conversation with Marnie Gillett, executive director, SF Camerawork" (PDF). Artweek: 13–14.
  5. ^ "Reasoned space : an exhibition / curated by Timothy Druckrey and Marnie Gillett". Smithsonian Institution. 1980. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  6. ^ "Moving In". Arizona Daily Star. 1977-05-31. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-06-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ Pitts, Terence R.; Schwartz, Sandra; Gillett, Marnie (1980-04-10). "Edward Weston: Photographs and Papers". Guide Series. ISSN 0739-4578.
  8. ^ "Marnie Gillett, Assistant Archivist, Center for Creative Photography, Tucson, Arizona, to Laura Gilpin. November 17, 1977". Amon Carter Museum of American Art. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  9. ^ "Art News". The Los Angeles Times. 1980-08-03. p. 398. Retrieved 2022-06-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ Wilson, William (1980-08-17). "Presenting Landscape in Unconventional Sense". The Los Angeles Times. p. 409. Retrieved 2022-06-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ Jana, Reena (May 31, 2001). "Dot-com Bust Boon to San Francisco Galleries". Artforum. Retrieved 2022-06-10.
  12. ^ Bonetti, David (1992-08-14). "Camerawork, New Langton moving to evolving arts district". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 38. Retrieved 2022-06-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Bay Area Arts Leaders Respond". The San Francisco Examiner. 1997-07-11. p. 14. Retrieved 2022-06-10 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Penley, Constance; Ross, Andrew (1991). Technoculture. U of Minnesota Press. p. 319. ISBN 978-0-8166-1930-6.
  15. ^ Digital photography : captured images, volatile memory, new montage. Marnie Gillett, Jim Pomeroy, San Francisco Camerawork. San Francisco: SF Camerawork. 1988. ISBN 0-940145-00-6. OCLC 18936535.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)