Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/565724
187 could do an internship in 20th-cen- tury painting and sculpture at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) in Washington, D.C. "I came home in a way," Hartigan says. "It confirmed for me that I wanted to be a curator." She eventu- ally became chief curator of SAAM. "I've been a constant arranger all my life, for visual effect, emotional ef- fect, or experiential effect," she says. "One of the reasons I'm doing what I'm doing is that I'm genuinely fas- cinated by the collection of people's hearts, minds, and imaginations." In the Marblehead house she shares with her husband, Roger Thompson—the editorial director at the consulting firm The Bridgespan Group in Boston—collections of vintage household appliances, such as toasters from the 1930s through the 1950s, share space with photo- graphs, textiles, and works by self- taught artists. She says she loves the look of streamlined, spare interiors, but, as she adds, "I'm just not sure I could live that way." In her spare time, she prac- tices Pilates. "It fascinates me too because it's somewhat intellectual," she says. "It's about the connection between mind and body to create an effect or get a result, a different way of watching yourself." She has a son, Pierce, who lives in New York City, and a stepdaughter, Kirsten, in San Francisco. Hartigan is a natural connector of people, art, and history. "I love conversation between the past and the present," she says. "I believe creativity is a form of communica- tion, just as stories are. How we shape what we live with, what gives us joy and hope, what makes us think differently, is part and parcel of how I think creativity is part of communication. It's important to share creativity."