Customer Spotlight: An Interview with Howard Oransky
This post is part of our ongoing series highlighting the work, expertise, and creative practices of Metropolitan Picture Framing customers.
Howard Oransky was the Gallery Director of the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota from 2011 until his retirement in 2025.
Opening reception for the exhibition A Picture Gallery of the Soul (September 13 – December 10, 2022), Katherine E. Nash Gallery. An exhibition of over 100 Black American photographers. Curated by Herman J. Milligan, Jr. and Howard Oransky. Exhibition catalogue published by University of California Press. Many picture frames provided by Metropolitan Picture Framing.
How did you learn about Metropolitan Picture Framing? When did you start using Metropolitan frames?
I’m not sure when I first learned about Metropolitan Picture Framing. I think it was in early 2013. At that time we presented the exhibition The House We Built: Feminist Art Then and Now (January 22 – February 23, 2013) in the Katherine E. Nash Gallery at the University of Minnesota. Joyce Lyon (artist and professor of art at the University of Minnesota) and I co-curated that exhibition. Karen Desnick, of Metropolitan Picture Framing, knew Joyce, and I was introduced to Karen. I think that was when I learned of Metroframe.
I think I started using Metropolitan frames soon thereafter. I had worked in three picture frame shops in the 1970s and 80s, in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. So, I felt very comfortable ordering the frame components and fitting the work at our gallery. For me, it was the perfect way to have beautiful, museum-quality framing and stay within my budget as director of a university art gallery.
When ordering frames for exhibitions at the gallery did you order online or by the phone?
Most of the time I ordered online, which was easy to do with Metroframe’s user-friendly website. Occasionally I would make a special request to Metroframe staff by email or phone, which was also user-friendly as the staff there were very knowledgeable and helpful. Sometimes a staff member would follow-up with me after reviewing an online order I had placed, to make sure that a particular detail in my order was correct.
Can you explain how you used Metropolitan's framing advice section as a teaching tool for your students?
I had a rotating staff of undergraduate and graduate art students working in the Katherine E. Nash Gallery. Like many artists at all stages of their careers, they were both curious and often intimidated by picture framing. I often had them work with me while I ordered frames on the Metroframe website. Each step of the way I would explain to them the concepts, issues, and esthetics of picture framing.
Many artists find the math challenging and the Metroframe interface made that part easy, taking the stress out of the process. Two of my former students, one an undergraduate and one a graduate student, went on to work at the Metroframe plant.
Editors Note: Although hands on learning is preferable, Metropolitan has an extensive framing advice section covering all aspects of framing. The section has both videos and step by step instructions.
How did you set up the gallery for framing? Any tips for other artists and galleries doing their own framing?
We built a large worktable, mounted on casters. This way we could easily move it around the gallery and into the prep and storage areas in the back. Typically, we’d set aside a space in the gallery for fitting, moving the table around the space as needed. That way we could keep the framing process moving forward on a parallel track to the design and layout of the exhibition.
During your 14 years as gallery director of the Katherine E. Nash Gallery you have presented over 100 exhibitions. Any advice you would like to share with other artists and gallery directors?
It takes an enormous amount of dedication, focus, and hard work to make art and to present art exhibitions. My advice to artists and gallery directors is to make it a priority to identify your artistic values and goals and be true to those aspirations. Having a dependable framework of your cherished priorities will provide the foundation upon which all that hard work can build and succeed.
Opening reception for the exhibition Dreaming Our Futures: Ojibwe and Očhéthi Šakówiŋ Artists and Knowledge Keepers (January 16 – March 16, 2024), Katherine E. Nash Gallery. An exhibition of 29 Native American painters. Curated by Brenda J. Child and Howard Oransky. Exhibition catalogue published by University of Minnesota Press. Traveled to the Rochester Art Center (April 24 – July 21, 2024) and the Tweed Museum of Art (September 3 – December 27, 2024). Many picture frames provided by Metropolitan Picture Framing.
Back in the studio
After retiring Howard returned to his first love and is now working full time in his studio. Visit our customer gallery to see his work.
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