Emily Schaffer

Review of SKETCH Working Arts

I had an art internship here years ago. At first I...

I had an art internship here years ago. At first I really loved the space and really appreciated the setup. During a casual conversation over lunch, I misgendered the person in charge, Naty, by accident in front of the table. As soon as I did so, I apologized right away realizing my error without being prompted. Again, this was years ago and it was my first time learning about pronouns and it was an honest mistake. Everyone jumped down my throat and I just continued apologizing profusely. I was mortified. I felt horrible because I didn't mean anything by it at all, it was simply a mistake. The next day, the art piece I had spent months working on had been stolen. I went to Nary, the individual I'd misgendered by accident, to ask for help. They just shrugged like they could care less. I tried asking around and people who had once been nice to me were suddenly really cold (would hardly look at me) and denied knowing anything. Obviously word had spread that I'd misgendered the individual. What could I have done to make things right? It was a mistake and I apologized right away in front of everyone. Mistakes happen! I never went back. It's really a shame that the leader promotes this kind of petty behavior. I also was really disappointed that seemingly kind people would stoop to stealing my stuff to get back at me for making an honest mistake. What a shame that such a wonderful place has such a crummy manager. I'm hoping that things have improved since them because it had the potential to be really a wonderful place for artists to find community.