Former associate director returns to Lisa Sette Gallery

The Lisa Sette Gallery has been a magnet for art lovers and collectors for 40 years. Its current group exhibition, “Shaping a Life of Curiosity,” celebrates the milestone by featuring several artists whose work has made this an acclaimed visual art destination.

Now, there’s even more to celebrate. Duane Smith has returned to resume his associate director role.

In 2012, Smith, then the gallery’s associate director, moved to Florida, where he worked as the adult programs manager at the Boca Raton Museum of Art. While there, he implemented dynamic programs for members and visitors, including a film series in which he brought guest artists such as legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog.

A few months ago, he came to Phoenix for the opening of the current anniversary exhibition. Though it wasn’t his only visit to the gallery since his move, it yet again reminded him how it just felt like home. It seems like the universe picked up the thread from that point.

Sette’s current associate director, Ashley Rice Anderson, who has been on staff for nearly 19 years, decided to return to school for some educational pursuits, leaving the role open. Since his move, conversations between Sette and Smith never diminished. This opportunity gave their continued talks a new dimension and possibility, with, ultimately, things falling into their current place.

Smith first fell in love with the gallery in 1995 as an art history student at ASU. “I did my final paper on James Turrell, so I’d been coming to the gallery. I always knew how I felt about it and when I was there, I’d tell myself, ‘That’s where I want to be,’” Smith says. He was so moved by the work there that he asked Sette if he could intern; she was on board, which kicked the decades-long relationship into gear.

Sette’s excitement about Smith’s return matches his. That’s no surprise as the two are often on the same page.

“It’s surreal,” Sette says. “All of the ways we have already connected are still here. The comfort level, the mutual respect, the similar wavelength about the artwork — that didn’t go away.”

Their matched energy is on its usual par as they share information about a new-to-me artist, Benjamin Timpson. The gallery is known for exhibiting work by artists who use intriguing, often laborious and intricate processes. Timpson’s work embodies all of that. The artist’s portraiture, which the gallery is featuring, is composed of butterfly wings, an extremely fragile component, and just as importantly delicate as the subject matter — portraits of Indigenous women who have been victims of sexual assault and abuse.

As the two passionately explain the work and its impact, it emphasizes why Sette’s team rarely turns over. Ashley Rice Anderson, who is leaving, has also shown the same dedication to the complex work Sette displays.

Smith says all the years he spent at the gallery “taught me so much” that I could use at my museum job. Armed with that experience and the 12+ years he spent working in Florida, he is ready to use all of his honed skills to continue the gallery’s mission. He’s also happy to be back in Arizona: “I really missed being able to see mountains.”

Lisa Sette Gallery’s 40-Year Anniversary Exhibition, "Shaping a Life of Curiosity," runs through May 31 at  210 E. Catalina Drive.