Meet Todd Edward Herman | Visual artist, curator and gallery director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Todd Edward Herman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Todd Edward, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
In February 2020 I started renting a small studio for my visual art practice. This space had a beautiful 5ft x 8ft east facing window. With the lockdown implemented one month later, we all began to avoid being inside public spaces. This of course included art galleries. So I informally contacted friends and colleagues to see if they’d be interested in displaying their artwork in my studio window for a few weeks at a time so people walking and driving by could view art in the open air. I really didn’t have any thoughts about growing East Window into a formal exhibition space. Truthfully it just felt good to make the window available to other artists at a time when opportunities were on hold.

Awareness of this little window began to spread quickly and by 2021 we found ourselves partnering with other art organizations and educational institutions in order to expand our curatorial possibilities. We came up with a name, a website, a calendar and in addition to showing local artists we started to show works by internationally renowned artists. We even had outdoor film screenings in the spring and summer months.

In November 2022 we moved into our current space at 4550 Broadway in the North Boulder Arts District. We are utilizing every bit of our 820 square feet. This includes, my studio, our main indoor gallery, an outdoor patio exhibit space, reading room, a bathroom gallery and of course our exhibit window — it took us a while but we found a space with an actual east facing window! In 2023 we hosted over 30 exhibitions, film screenings, workshops and artist talks. This year, as of September 2024, we’ve already held 30 events with more planned. We’re working with an excellent grant writer and PR person who helps keep multiple balls rolling. We plan to continue to foster new partnerships with organizations and communities through our open calls for artwork, guest curators, visiting artists, lectures, screenings, a book club, readings and workshops.

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What’s one thing about your industry that outsiders are probably unaware of?

East Window is a non-commercial art gallery. More of a cultural hub with a firm commitment to expanding opportunities for artists across various communities that have been historically marginalized.

Being an exhibiting artist myself, I understand how important it is that artists are recognized by receiving some sort of honorarium for all of their hard work. I’ve made this a priority at East Window.

What folks usually don’t think about is that these honorariums need to come from somewhere. Sometimes grants but those are usually quite competitive. Sometimes out of pocket but clearly not a sustainable option. This means in order for East Window to continue to offer paid gigs to artists, we are continuously in the process of fundraising for the gallery. I know that can be off-putting to many folks who might not have the means to support us in that way, nonetheless contributions of any amount are vital to the sustainability of East Window as well as any independent, non-commercial gallery.

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Risk taking: how do you think about risk, what role has taking risks played in your life/career?

I wouldn’t necessarily suggest throwing oneself in harm’s way the way I frequently did in my younger years, nonetheless my life would not have the shape it does today without those experiences and I’m happy where I’ve landed for the most part at this juncture. That said, I think risk along with some degree of calculation is imperative to creative living and free thinking. You have to feel that there’s something at stake in order to test your level of commitment.

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Other than deciding to work for yourself, what was the single most important decision you made that contributed to your success?

If we are defining “success” as bringing amazing people together, intersecting divergent communities, highlighting difficult and relevant collective and personal issues, and enjoying the process along the way, I’d say it’s most important to have a clear mission and a commitment to “sticking with it” even during the rough patches.

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Work life balance: how has your balance changed over time? What do you think about the balance?

As my two children grow up and gain more and more independence, the time I am able to invest into my gallery has the potential to increase. It’d be easy to bury all of those bitter-sweet growing pains of a near empty nester into gallery work, or even in my personal work as a visual artist. However, I really try to maintain a balance, to be intentional about what projects I’m involved with, to make time for myself to play without any expectation of outcome, and to step away from all the ideas I surround myself with regarding who I think I am and what I think I’m doing. This is so important in figuring out next steps, large and small, for work and life, without attachment.

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Do you have a favorite quote or affirmation? What does it mean to you / what do you like about it?

There are two quotes I frequently refer to that offer affirmations and keep my fires stoked:
“To write poetry after Auschwitz is barbaric. And this corrodes even the knowledge of why it has become impossible to write poetry today.”—Theodor Adorno, Cultural Criticism and Society (1949)

“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough.”
—Toni Morrison, Tar Baby (1981)

In my view these quotes are two respective sides of the same card. They remind me of the profound horror as well as all of the beauty that can exist in this world we share. They are in one sense at odds with one another. In a broader sense, they affirm and remind me of how well we humans can hold all that is contradictory; how important it is to remember that even when we are told something is not possible, or when life seems completely senseless, we will find a way and we will make meaning.

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Why did you pursue an artistic or creative career?

A bit of a cliche, but my creative career really found me. I was born into a family of artists and artisans. There were always some kind of creative projects happening in the house. As a little kid, my older brother would frequently bring me to his friends’ studios and to art galleries in New York. Understanding and engaging with the world through witnessing as well as practicing some sort of art, became pretty friendly to me. Of course I tested this over time, my commitment to artistic practice. For a few years after completing my undergraduate filmmaking degree, I sold my cameras, dismantled my art studio, and deliberately left my sketchbooks and journals unopened. It was a way for me to take time and ask some difficult questions about my relationship to my creative work and its efficacy, relative to my upbringing and my privilege. During that time I found that I really needed the framework for analysis, critique and understanding that engaging in an artistic practice provided me. I realized “being an artist” for me is an outlook and perspective, not only a set of skills, so stopping that, even for a limited time, felt like cutting myself off from deeply understanding and actively engaging with the world around me.

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What do you want your legacy to be? What do you want people to remember about you?

Truthfully, everything that happens at East Window and to a large extent in my personal work, has been motivated by my having children. I want my kids to see that we all have agency to shape the culture around us; to bring together the creative communities that we need in order to incite and sustain personal as well as social change.

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WWW.EASTWINDOW.ORG
WWW.TODDEDWARDHERMAN.COM

IG:
@eastwindow1
@toddedwardherman

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East Window
4550 Broadway
Ste. C-3B2
Boulder CO 80304

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
In addition to founding and directing East Window, I am a visual artist and curator. I am also a co-founder and long-time collaborator with Sins Invalid, a performance project that incubates, celebrates and centralizes artists with disabilities, artists of color, queer and gender-variant artists.

In my photography and film work, I try to question habits of understanding, looking, and storytelling; investigating how personal and historical forms are constructed rather than fixed. For me, this means finding new ways to generate work that examines how images compose, enforce, or undermine — rather than simply reflect — ideas of history, dominant values, authenticity and authorship.

I’ve been the recipient of many awards for my work including the San Francisco International Film Festival’s New Vision Award, the Art Council of Northern Ireland’s Artist in Residence Award, Grants from the San Francisco Film Arts Foundation, the Boulder Colorado Arts Commission, a Western States Regional Media Arts Fellowship, Taipei Artist Village Residency, and the San Francisco Art Commission’s Emerging Curator Award. I’ve presented my work at such venues as RedLine Contemporary Art Center, Leon Art Gallery, Dairy Arts Center, The International Film Festival Rotterdam, San Francisco International Film Festival, Southbank Centre, Anthology Film Archives, San Francisco Cinematheque, and Pacific Film Archives.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Nature:
Anne U. White Trail

Art:
Boulder:
Seidel City Galleries
Trident Cafe and Bookstore

Denver:
Colorado Photographic Arts Center
Dikeou Collection
Galapagos Space
Lane Meyer Projects
Leon Gallery
RedLine Art Gallery
Shop at Matter Bookstore
Union Hall

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Of course my family of origin, for believing in me almost to a fault. And my chosen family who are a constant source of connection and inspiration. Jumping ahead to my seven years thus far in the Front Range, there are so many wonderful people who’ve helped me to quickly plug into a creative community here as well as help to grow East Window. If you’re asking me to pick one, chronologically it’d be Rupert Jenkins, author, editor and gallery director, a colleague who I know from my four decades in San Francisco, now living in Denver. He pointed me in the right direction as soon as I hit the ground in Boulder. There are really hundreds more folks. Love and much gratitude to all of you.

Website: www.eastwindow.org and www.toddedwardherman.com

Instagram: @eastwindow1 and @toddewardherman

Image Credits
All Images courtesy East Window Gallery ©2024