Meet Laura Kandle | Arts Administrator and Visual Artist

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

Hi Laura, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Probably a combination of luck and nurture. I’ve been drawing, painting, and pursuing a range of other creative avenues to examine and digest the world around me since I was young. Two big female figures in my life – my grandmother and mother – loved the arts. They fostered my nascent interest in visual art early on (which when I was 12 consisted of doodling my own badly-drawn graphic novels). They started taking me to art museums in my hometown of Houston. I immediately fell in love with museums, and with the wide range of arts across time and media that they exposed me to. My father invested in art classes at the local art academy and I stuck around past the intro class for young students to spend my Saturday afternoons with a group of middle-aged painters learning how to use oils. My best friend and I would also critique and support each other’s work, and eventually while we were in high school, we got into a show at a local venue called EB Five. Without her encouragement, I’m not sure that I ever would have believed that I could display my art publicly.

The power of art when you form a personal connection to the right work is immense. One of my most formative experiences was in my early teens when I saw Rothko Chapel for the first time. I remember being completely absorbed into the space, and walking out feeling like I had a deeper understanding of myself and how I viewed the world around me. Since then I’ve been a convert to the belief that art can change who we are, and I dove into opportunities to make art that can do the same, or support ways to expose art to anyone who could have a touching experience.

I also remember my father saying that I could pursue a career as an artist if I really wanted to after admiring a piece that I was working on. But I knew that there was no money in art, so instead I earned a master’s degree in international relations, which from a money-making perspective was not a big step up (hah!). It did allow me to travel to incredible places and get an exceptional education, but I quickly realized that I neither wanted to work for the U.S. state department or be an academic.

Eventually I came across an opening for an administrative role at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I figured it couldn’t hurt to apply, and I loved the idea of being able to work in an engaging role at what is arguably the world’s best encyclopedic art museum. I rose in the ranks through a combination of a passion for the business side of the museum world and great mentorship. Working in an art museum allows me to engage with the best parts of myself – investigating and implementing operational strategy, fostering human-centered leadership in an organization, and immersing myself in the arts. At the end of every day, I find myself surrounded and inspired by a wide range of artists, and fulfilled by the knowledge that through doing my part in the museum I am fostering the inspiration I feel when visiting museums to people coming from all over the world. Then I come home to a partner who is also passionate about art and genuinely encouraging. Every moment of my day in one way or another fosters my creativity.

This daily exposure to the arts has also reignited my passion for creating my own artworks. I’m a deadline-driven person, so the staff art show at The Met presented me with an opportunities (and deadlines) to really focus on getting some strong work out into the world. I also dove back into taking classes to improve my skills, and with the encouragement of great friends in the art world, have gotten my work into shows in multiple New York art galleries. I feel lucky every day to be able to surround myself with inspiration and then put that inspiration onto the canvas.

I got to where I am today in no small part through the people in my life. I try to honor the positive role models in my life every day through taking a human-centered approach to leadership and pushing myself to always have a growth mindset. Everyone is equally important, from my colleagues, to the artists, to the audiences that admire the works in a museum, and those who are inspired by the art I create. My advice to others is to always look at those around you for inspiration and exclude no one. We’re all in this world together, so when it gets tough dig your heels in on working together and focus harder on uplifting each other without exclusion. Trust, radical transparency, and healthy accountability will help you land in the right place and can make the world around you a better place for everyone. Don’t lose those elements of who you are no matter what the environment around you may push you to change. The art world is evolving fast, and we can make it better through honesty and respect, not exclusion. While we won’t get everything right in a complex world, we will have many people around us and many minds to help us see a world in which everyone has greater exposure to the power of Art and greater agency in shaping its future.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Probably a combination of luck and nurture. I’ve been drawing, painting, and pursuing a range of other creative avenues to examine and digest the world around me since I was young. Two big female figures in my life – my grandmother and mother – loved the arts. They fostered my nascent interest in visual art early on (which when I was 12 consisted of doodling my own badly-drawn graphic novels). They started taking me to art museums in my hometown of Houston. I immediately fell in love with museums, and with the wide range of arts across time and media that they exposed me to. My father invested in art classes at the local art academy and I stuck around past the intro class for young students to spend my Saturday afternoons with a group of middle-aged painters learning how to use oils. My best friend and I would also critique and support each other’s work, and eventually while we were in high school, we got into a show at a local venue called EB Five. Without her encouragement, I’m not sure that I ever would have believed that I could display my art publicly.

The power of art when you form a personal connection to the right work is immense. One of my most formative experiences was in my early teens when I saw Rothko Chapel for the first time. I remember being completely absorbed into the space, and walking out feeling like I had a deeper understanding of myself and how I viewed the world around me. Since then I’ve been a convert to the belief that art can change who we are, and I dove into opportunities to make art that can do the same, or support ways to expose art to anyone who could have a touching experience.

I also remember my father saying that I could pursue a career as an artist if I really wanted to after admiring a piece that I was working on. But I knew that there was no money in art, so instead I earned a master’s degree in international relations, which from a money-making perspective was not a big step up (hah!). It did allow me to travel to incredible places and get an exceptional education, but I quickly realized that I neither wanted to work for the U.S. state department or be an academic.

Eventually I came across an opening for an administrative role at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I figured it couldn’t hurt to apply, and I loved the idea of being able to work in an engaging role at what is arguably the world’s best encyclopedic art museum. I rose in the ranks through a combination of a passion for the business side of the museum world and great mentorship. Working in an art museum allows me to engage with the best parts of myself – investigating and implementing operational strategy, fostering human-centered leadership in an organization, and immersing myself in the arts. At the end of every day, I find myself surrounded and inspired by a wide range of artists, and fulfilled by the knowledge that through doing my part in the museum I am fostering the inspiration I feel when visiting museums to people coming from all over the world. Then I come home to a partner who is also passionate about art and genuinely encouraging. Every moment of my day in one way or another fosters my creativity.

This daily exposure to the arts has also reignited my passion for creating my own artworks. I’m a deadline-driven person, so the staff art show at The Met presented me with an opportunities (and deadlines) to really focus on getting some strong work out into the world. I also dove back into taking classes to improve my skills, and with the encouragement of great friends in the art world, have gotten my work into shows in multiple New York art galleries. I feel lucky every day to be able to surround myself with inspiration and then put that inspiration onto the canvas.

I got to where I am today in no small part through the people in my life. I try to honor the positive role models in my life every day through taking a human-centered approach to leadership and pushing myself to always have a growth mindset. Everyone is equally important, from my colleagues, to the artists, to the audiences that admire the works in a museum, and those who are inspired by the art I create. My advice to others is to always look at those around you for inspiration and exclude no one. We’re all in this world together, so when it gets tough dig your heels in on working together and focus harder on uplifting each other without exclusion. Trust, radical transparency, and healthy accountability will help you land in the right place and can make the world around you a better place for everyone. Don’t lose those elements of who you are no matter what the environment around you may push you to change. The art world is evolving fast, and we can make it better through honesty and respect, not exclusion. While we won’t get everything right in a complex world, we will have many people around us and many minds to help us see a world in which everyone has greater exposure to the power of Art and greater agency in shaping its future.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Monday – Tourist day – knock out some of the standard stops including Ellis Island and the World Trade Center and memorial/museum. Dinner in China town at Bodhi.

Tuesday- Astoria day. Coffee from Might Oak Coffee Roasters and brunch at The Bonnie. Then head to the Museum of the Moving Image and the Noguchi Museum for a guided tour. Cookies from Chip City then check out the plethora of bars in the area.

Wednesday – gallery touring around Chelsea and the LES, A stop off at Confectionary! for vegan chocolates (arguably the best chocolates in the city, period) and later dinner at either Jack’s Wife Freida or Plado Tasting Bar. Wrap up with live comedy at the Comedy Cellar.

Thursday – Check out Hudson Yards and Koreatown, with stop offs at The Empire State building and then heading up to Yara for dinner. Then check out music at the Bowery or Poisson Rouge.

Friday – Breakfast at Tal’s Bagels on the Upper East Side, then a day trip to the museum mile with stops at the Guggenheim, Nueue Museum, Jewish Museum, and Cooper Hewitt, and the Asia Society. Wrap up with date night at The Metropolitan Museum of Art watching live performances and tours in the galleries.

Saturday – Brooklyn day: check out DUMBO and Smorgasburg, Prospect Park, local galleries, stop to eat at Han Dynasty, then party at House of Yes

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Felix Quinonez Jr. Glenn Greenberg
Jonathan Kandle
Erin Burt
Douglas Hegley

Instagram: laurakandle_art

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurakandle/