08/24/2025
Studio art and creative writing major Robin Kincaid shared this summer news: As a Gyo Obata fellow in St. Louis, the work I did at The Luminary involved daily gallery operations, a bit of social media marketing, and a lot of community outreach. I chose The Luminary because of its focus on community-building and providing resources to emerging artists, and it was a huge privilege to work with them. I was able to apply a lot of my previous experience working at the Truman State University Art Gallery, and really enjoyed the hands-on tasks of deinstalling our summer exhibition, giving guided tours, and assisting with artmaking workshops. Frequently, I helped draft social media posts and press releases. My biggest project was conducting outreach into The Luminary’s community of stakeholders to gain an understanding of how The Luminary needs to grow in the coming years. I got to have lots of dynamic, insightful conversations with local artists and arts nonprofit workers. This project started off very intimidating, but I appreciated how much it got me out of my shell. Overall, my fellowship gave me a better idea of what I want my direction in life to be, valuable skills I can contribute to the professional world, and the confidence to pursue a career in the arts. I know that when I look back on this experience in the future, I will consider it to be one of my most formative career-wise.
