Meet Leslie Fram | Art Curator, Educator + Advocate

We had the good fortune of connecting with Leslie Fram and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Leslie, why did you pursue a creative career?
Did I pursue a creative career? If I did, it wasn’t a conscious decision.

Growing up in a cosmopolitan capital like NYC—it seems inevitable that I would be drawn (pun intended), to the creative spirit and beauty in all its guises. Starting very young, dancing with the New York City Ballet, I marveled how ballet incorporated dance, drama, set design, music, to produce an ineffable magic. A lifetime immersed in art was inescapable. I was hooked.

My infatuation led me to study art history at Columbia University, attend art school, start a women’s fashion design company and become a trends editor at national women’s magazines. Not to mention, the burgeoning gallery art-scene in NYC—the energy was infectious. I discovered that an exploratory life is a creative life.

When I moved to Los Angeles 20+ years ago, my art mania led me to collecting, and from collecting art to interacting with artists. In pursuing my passion, my heart led the way.

In tandem with my artistic enthusiasms, I also graduated Columbia Business School, working in various executive and entrepreneurial ventures. I found business to be extremely creative when innovatively administered. As was inevitable, I was intent on integrating my business acumen with art. And because of my varied career path, the results tend to be out-of-the-box—an unconventional mash-up. For me, my creative trajectory embraced my life holistically.

In joining an artist’s sensibility with a marketer’s touch– it is here that I most feel in the zone. The collaborative nature of creation, the artistic community, the potential for making something radical, a new curation, helping people see the world with fresh eyes, witnessing an artwork placed in the right space and how it brings joy to the collector and the artist whose work is valued– these are rewards for me that deliver the high I want to experience again and again.

So, going back to the original question: why did I pursue a creative career? It wasn’t a choice. It’s an addiction.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
What are the important factors behind my success?

Enthusiasm. Passion. Industry. I am driven by my love for the arts, the people in them, and the need for art to thrive. I try to see everything and meet everyone so that I can be of service, connecting, inspiring and creating opportunities that have yet to exist. I fucking care. I care that everyone involves succeeds, that each artwork finds its perfect home—and I’ll do what it takes. (I was recently called “scrappy” and took it as one of the best compliments anyone ever gave me!) While I one-on-one mentor emerging artists, last year I decided to codify my insights into a 4-session workshop entitled Strategic Marketing for Emerging Artists that I now teach at several of the esteemed MFA programs around Los Angeles. Advocating for artists’ well-being is not only good for the students, but it creates an energizing feedback loop that invigorates me; and then I in turn, can then stimulate those I touch. I believe great art can be created this way.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live on Venice Beach so I always invite guests over as a starting point. We head south along the boardwalk strolling pass Venice’s indigenous funk and lively scenes: the iconic murals, the Venice Skatepark, El Bordello Alexandra (a home decorated with gothic monsters and medieval armor on Westminster Avenue), the famous outdoor Muscle Beach Gym, then to LA Louver Gallery for an indoor-artful respite. Depending on time allotted, we continue to zig-zag across the Venice canals, thereafter, segueing to Abbot Kinney Blvd for hipster shopping.

For meals there are many options: Fig on the boardwalk for outdoor dining and great beach viewing; Gjusta (bakery and organic breakfast-lunch fare) inland on Sunset Avenue; nearby Tacos Por Favor on Hampton Drive; Gjelina on Abbot Kinney Boulevard; and on Rose Avenue try American Beauty.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
LA’s art community is unstoppable—a huge shout-out to them. Their creativity is irrepressibly inventive, making Los Angeles a cultural capital in recent years. But it’s also their resilience, especially given this year’s tumultuous local events – (first the fires now the ICE) – that is awe-inducing, the understanding that when we band together as a collective, everyone succeeds. This generosity makes them special. I feel so fortunate to be in their sphere.

On a personal note, Vanessa Indes and Guillaume Ollivier of Good Mother Gallery in LA’s newly anointed West Adams Arts District– I’d like to give them a shout-out as they are the ones that helped birth our annual MFAs of LA exhibition. Every autumn I curate this show that celebrates the best-of-breed MFAs in our area. Culling from CalArts, UCLA, ArtCenter, USC-Roski, Otis, UC Santa Barbara, UC Irvine, Claremont Graduate University, etc., it’s exciting to see the emerging talent before it officially enters into the artworld. In fact, come experience the MFA of LA’s 2025 edition when we open @ Good Mother Gallery on October 5th!

Instagram: @lesfram

Other: PODCAST: https://whatsmythesis.podbean.com/e/leslie-fram/