History of Art Alumna Finds Her Niche in New York

At the tender young age of 31, alumna Candice Madey became a New York gallery owner. Her arrival into this ambitious occupation came about through a fairly steady progression. There were a few twists and turns along the way, but a passion for the arts was always in the mix.

Madey grew up in Peninsula, Ohio. As a child, she remembers being obsessed with ancient Egyptian art and archeology and thought she might become an archeologist. As a youngster, a visit to the "King Tut" exhibition at the Cleveland Museum and family vacations to museums in Washington, D.C., fueled her early interests.

By the time she entered Ohio State in 1996, she chose to major in French, but an elective course in history of art from Professor Stephen Melville, led to another course, and then another. By the time she graduated in 2000, it was with a double major: French and history of art.

As an undergraduate, and for a time after graduation, Madey worked at Gallery V in Columbus's Short North. She credits Gallery Director Lynn Muskoff "for the chance to take on responsibilities most gallery directors would never have given to a 22 year old." This included the opportunity to curate her first exhibition. Madey found she loved talking and working with artists. "I began to feel I might be discovering my life's work. After deciding that some business knowledge would be useful, she enrolled in the evening MBA program at the Fisher College of Business, graduating in 2004.

After 8 years in Columbus, Madey made the decision to move to New York City. Her passion for contemporary dance led her to volunteer as an usher at a small dance theatre. Through a connection with a fellow usher, she learned about a job opening at Christie's, the prestigious fine art auction house. Christie's proved to be her "big break" in the fine arts world. She later joined the the Moti Hasson Gallery and then Mireille Mosler, Ltd., an art advisory service to private collectors, corporations, and museums.

There wasn't an event or specific moment when Madey decided it was time to open her own gallery. When she found an ideal location on the Lower East Side, an area that is attracting the contemporary arts, she acted quickly. She signed the lease on August 15, 2008 and opened her first show, A Seer out of Season, at her gallery, On Stellar Rays, on September 14.

The concept for her gallery is to bring in artists not defined by their medium. "It's the intersections or crossovers of media used by the artist that interest me—work of a more conceptual nature, rather than medium based." She describes her gallery as an expansion of her love of new ideas and visual culture that began with archeology and through her studies of art history at Ohio State.

For more information on On Stellar Rays, visit their gallery Web site.