Atim Annette Oton, B.Arch 1991 + BSc in Arch 1990

Meet Atim Annette Oton- a Nigerian-born, American and British educated designer turned Curator. She is the director and curator of Calabar Gallery in New York and is the African Art Curator for AMREF Health Africa ARTBALL. A daughter of an American-Caribbean art collector and Nigerian journalist, she spent her formative years in Calabar, Nigeria; studied architecture at the City College of New York and did graduate studies at the Architectural Association Graduate School in London, England. She worked in architecture for several years after graduate school and by 2000, she was part of the design team that won the African Burial Ground Interpretive Center, helped create Blacklines Magazine and became the Associate Chair of Product Design at Parsons School of Design before leaving to create her retail company in 2004 and opening Calabar Gallery in 2016. Her gallery, Calabar represents underserved artists locally and globally: African, African American and Caribbean artists with the mission of providing a place for community, exhibition, creative initiatives and projects.

In 2021, she began selecting and curating images from Black Artists for Puzzles by SpinMaster Games sold at Target, Walmart and Amazon. She is the organizer for Harlem Arts Stroll, an advisor to The Downtown Biennial and was an advisor to The David Prize from 2019-2021 which awarded $200,000 yearly to 5 New Yorkers.

I began in architecture not fine art and the processes to conceive and build a building are similar to an exhibition. As a curator – I chose the right part of the arts to be in – one that is about developing artists, building exhibitions and collections. My work as Curator and Director of Calabar Gallery is rooted in my childhood living around art and around artists and the path that led me to get to this point began with understanding I loved only the beginning and end of architecture and not the middle and I needed to be in a field that had shorter timelines after spending 6 years in academia around product designers. So, pivoting from architecture into product design education and magazine publishing set a path into retail of goods and finally art. I believe in art, I get to do what I love with passion, intensity and zest.

City College memories are plentiful and still powerful. I came to that school - found my voice and activated it with distinction. From the most basic to complexities like the 1990 and 1991 student strike where we took over the buildings, went to Albany and demanded that fees not be increased What I most enjoyed was going to school and studying in Shephard Hall, the diversity in the student population and camaraderie. I had a great experience there from running the AIAS student organization to representing student at faculty meetings and voting on key decisions. Those were days where students had some power and Dean Max Bond was key to that level of respect of student's ability to participate in critical department things.

Atim

Atim Annette Oton