AKArt is an art advisory agency as well as an independent curatorial platform. We have unparalleled experience developing major art initiatives from the ground up, offering curation, collection management + creative consulting on strategy, programming, exhibitions, strategic partnerships, brand development, marketing, public relations, events + sales. We work with private, corporate, non-profit, and government entities—including art fairs, art galleries, artists, auction houses, brands, collectors, curators, foundations, institutions, museums, and publishing houses. AKArt is a resource for the global creative community.
Amy Kisch, Founder + CEO
Amy Kisch is an independent art consultant, curator, cultural producer, strategic specialist, and community organizer. Her expertise includes arts programming, development, marketing / PR, publishing, and collection management. Having spent six years in clinical and community social work, her projects are underscored by efforts to democratize access within the art world, while upholding integrity and quality in curatorial vision and programming. In 2018, Kisch launched Collect For Change™—a platform which collaborates with artists across disciplines, offering artwork with a portion of sales benefiting a charity personally selected by each artist. In 2019, Kisch was commissioned by San Francisco’s Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) to develop an arts-driven campaign to mobilize communities around the 2020 Census. Understanding that the Census determines the distribution of federal money and political power across the U.S., Kisch, together with Amy Schoening and Brittany Ficken, formed Art+Action—a coalition for civic participation across art, creative, community, business, technology, philanthropy, and government sectors—and launched the COME TO YOUR CENSUS campaign, which won support from the Ford Foundation to expand the initiative nationwide. Kisch was selected as a 2020 YBCA 100 Honoree for building the Art+Action Coalition, and in 2022, joined YBCA as the Head of Art + Public Programs.
Ms. Kisch previously ran Sotheby’s global VIP program for the auction house’s top clients—curating, producing, and marketing VIP programming, including the Sotheby’s Preferred Museum Programme, Art Fair Programme, and The Economist Lecture series in cities including New York, London, Los Angeles, Paris Chicago, and Hong Kong. Prior to that, she worked within Sotheby’s Proposals division—creating highly-customized business-winning proposals for the company’s major private, institutional, corporate, and museum clients. While at Sotheby’s, Ms. Kisch concurrently held the roles of Executive Director and Corporate + Community Liaison for the Williamsburg Gallery Association in Brooklyn—developing programming and partnerships with, and for, area galleries, non-profits, artists, corporate, and government agencies. Kisch also previously served as Director of Partnerships + Strategic Initiatives at the California Bay Area tech / science / art residency, Stochastic Labs and Chief of Cultural Initiatives at CatchLight.
Kisch made her start in the art world at Parkett, Thread Waxing Space exhibition space, and at Umbra Editions, and has served as a curator, contributing writer, editor, presenter, and producer of numerous successful initiatives, including collaborations and partnerships with: ABC TV, The Armory Show, ARTLOG, Artnet, ARTnews, ArtTABLE, Art Basel Miami Beach, Art Chicago, Arts Gowanus, Art Markit, Art Production Fund, Assouline, AT&T, Brooklyn ARTillery, Brooklyn Tourism, Canvas Magazine, caribBEING, The Carlyle, Venture Capitalist Tim Draper’s Draper University, Eli Wilner and Company, The Excellent People Magazine (The EP), Fabergé, Flatbush Film Festival, Hard Press Editions, HERE Arts Center, iCollect, Jim Jarmusch, Leila Heller Gallery, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, The Mark Hotel, New York City Opera, Northside Music + Arts Festival, New York Foundation for the Arts, Petrossian, PULSE Art Fair, SCALO Verlag, PREGAME Magazine, Sotheby’s Diamonds, Sotheby’s Institute, Sotheby’s International Realty, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Whitney Contemporaries, Williamsburg Every 2:ND Friday, Williamsburg Gallery Association, and ZOOM Elite Art Basel Miami Beach, among others. A member of ArtTable, Kisch has served on numerous committees and boards, including Headlands Center for the Arts, The People's Conservatory, Art & Abolition, City at Peace, CITYarts, NURTUREart, FolioCue, sparks & honey, and Time In Children’s Art Initiative. Kisch studied at The University of Chicago and holds a BA in Art History + Fine Arts from Columbia University, and a Masters in Social Work.