the curator
Sigmund Balka is a graduate of Williams College, a school known to have produced more than a dozen current major museum directors. He considers himself fortunate for earlier attending Central High School in Philadelphia as well, where artists and collectors like Thomas Eakins, John Sloan, William Glackens, and Dr. Albert Barnes graduated. But it all started with his mother, who despite the financial limitations imposed by the Great Depression, managed to buy original art and oriental rugs by having pieces set aside by galleries until she could pay for them. “My interest in the arts started when I was four or five years old due to my mother who did not settle for something ordinary. My home environment was the basis for my appreciation for the fine art and antiques.”
After graduating from Williams College, Mr. Balka obtained his J.D. degree at Harvard Law School and returned to Philadelphia, where he first became acquainted with a number of prominent contemporary artists. That exposure continued a few years later when he moved to Washington to work in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations and learned about the Washington art world, joined its print club, and saw the work of Morris Louis and Kenneth Noland for the first time. Art became a lifelong focus complementing professional, community, and environmental passions.
In addition, there is Mr. Balka's work chairing the Exhibitions and Acquisitions Committee of the board of trustees of the Queens Museum of Art, the Advisory Council for Visual Arts at Rutgers University, Mason Gross School of the Arts, the Hunts Point Sculpture Park Task Force (which he chaired), the board of directors of the Bronx Council on the Arts, Graphic Arts Council of New York (as President), and the Jewish Repertory Theater (as Board Chairman). He is also deeply involved in the Williams College Musem of Art. He chaired the Fellows and was a member of the Visiting Committee of the Museum from 1996 to 1999, and currently is a Fellow.
Since 1980 he has served as General Counsel of Krasdale Foods, sponsor of the Krasdale Galleries. For further infomation please refer to Who's Who including the volumes: Who's Who in American Art, Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in The World.
"A bare wall is
like a blank mind."