In a new series of questionnaires, we’re learning more about the members of this year’s Creative Assembly Cohort. Keep reading to get to know perfumer, herbalist, and breathwork teacher Kathleen Currie.
Name: Kathleen Currie
Pronouns: She/her
Discipline/Creative Practice: Perfumer
How do you work to grow and develop in your practice?
Travel, continuing education, space and time, various healing and meditation practices, ongoing exploration of materials.
What does community look like to you?
So much! A space and/or group of people that you can be yourself with, that allows for authentic expression. Safety, authenticity, vulnerability, presence, hope.
Who do you feel the most connected to or responsible for?
My partner.
What do you believe is the role of a museum?
To provide space, education, and insight into the past, present, and future through objects and information—to present new ways of thinking.
What are you hoping to gain from your experience in NOMA’s inaugural Creative Assembly Cohort?
Community, collaboration, creativity.
What’s the last book you read?
Cry to Heaven by Anne Rice.
What music do you listen to when you’re working?
It depends on the day and the work that needs to be done—anything from ambient to reggaeton, to electronic.
What are three qualities you value most in others?
Consistency, communication, humor.
What do your peers value in you?
Authenticity, sense of trust, approachability.
If you could have dinner with one person you admire or who has served as a source of inspiration, who would it be and why?
Cleopatra—there really isn’t a more well-known, mythical, or revered lover of scent in all of history, and her story and intelligence fascinates me.
About the Creative Assembly Cohort
New Orleans is one of the most culturally rich cities in the world, and its layers of culture can be experienced in an endless number of ways. As the largest museum in the region, the New Orleans Museum of Art has a singular opportunity to serve as a nexus and forum for New Orleans’ vast cultural production. The Creative Assembly Cohort is a multidisciplinary group of New Orleans-based creators who immerse themselves within the museum’s collection and use the institution as a catalyst for their own work and creativity.
The disciplines of cohort members vary, but range from musicians, dancers, and poets to mixologists, activists, and educators. Cohort members use the museum as a space for inspiration and collaboration and work with the museum and its staff to develop and implement programs that speak to a diversity of perspectives.
Learn More About Creative Assembly
NOMA’s Creative Assembly community engagement initiative is supported by the Wagner Foundation.
