By Rachel Kalina

An artist works into the night, consumed by the piece before him. Although his completed painting will sit for a while in a tiny basement studio, before long it will be touring all the major galleries in the country. And the artist will not be the only one thankful for his fame. He'll also have made the dreams of someone else come true: the curator who "discovered" him in that hidden studio.
    According to Tamar Gasparian-Chester of Astoria, this scenario is the ultimate curator's hope - to bring a hidden gem into the public eye. Tamar has recently done just that by curating Endless Inspiration at Art-O-Mat LIC, an artisan store and gallery space in Long Island City.
    Instead of one artist getting all the focus, five Long Island City-based artists in this collective exhibit share the experience. As does the community itself.
    "I am a part of this community, and Art-O-Mat is all about the community as well," Tamar says [in an e-mail], "so I knew from the beginning that I wanted to curate a show with artists that live in Long Island City or have a studio in Long Island City."
    Tamar's first step in finding her chosen exhibitors for Art-O-Mat was to look at online registries of artists. This is where the curating process often begins.
    "The particular work of an artist can inspire [you] to do [a] show," Tamar says. Coming first across Jaime Arredondo, Tamar was immediately attracted to his work, which revolved around flowers. This subject was also prevalent for artists Laura Bell, Wendi Gueorguiev, Barbara E. Leven and Sam Seawright, who would come to comprise the Endless Inspiration show, along with Jaime.
    Once she had done her research and found a number of artists whose work appealed to her, Tamar visited the studios of each one with the potential flower theme in mind, although not fully formed.
    "The real work might be something absolutely different [in person]," Tamar says, and so this is a vital step in the curating procedure. She was also checking to see if the artists would mix well together within the exhibit, especially as they each used different mediums of expression to depict flowers. While larger commercial galleries are able to commission art specifically for shows due to more funding, work for smaller galleries like Art-O-Mat is often selected from the artists' existing pieces.
    To pull the exhibit together, a concept was necessary. Tamar spent a sleepless night mulling over the idea of grouping five different Long Island City artists together in one space, with the theme of flowers as their common element: Would it work?
    "The concept of the show is not new," Tamar says [in an e-mail], "there have [probably] been many similar shows every spring at different galleries. There are very many artists that are painting or sculpting flowers. Flower painting has a very long history and I titled the show Endless Inspiration because I know that many artists will continue to be inspired by flowers."
    Tamar felt that the varying mediums each artist used to portray the botanicals, including oil painting, photography, ceramics and watercolors, would enhance the show and also create a welcome challenge for her during the installation.
    The show also emphasizes the different pathways of expression that result from one theme. Some pieces in the exhibit, such as those created by Wendi Gueorguiev and Jaime Arredondo, are sensual or even overtly sexual. Others, like that of Laura Bell and Barbara E. Leven, convey an aspect of nature, whether it expresses its cyclic ways or its minute details. With Sam Seawright, the flowers seem to emit personal emotions.
    So that viewers could find their own "inspiration" in the exhibit, Tamar used her curating skills to consider a number of factors. She thought about how each piece should be displayed, and from what angle it should be presented.
    "Installation is very important," Tamar says.
    Color and medium played into the creation process, in which Tamar became an artist herself, deciding when and where to group paintings or sculptures. And even though she dabbles in abstract watercolor as a hobby, Tamar wouldn't say she's artistically inclined. Rather, she "just like[s] good art," a passion that's clear in her Endless Inspiration exhibit.
    "I think it came from my parents," she says of her love of art. "[They] took [me] to museums and concerts all the time."
    Many of these ventures took place in Tamar's native Armenia, where she lived until two years ago when she came to New York.
    After studying journalism following high school, Tamar began writing about art and exhibits for newspapers, as well as creating reports for television. She then worked toward and obtained an Art History degree from Armenia's The Academy of Fine Arts. A friendship with the National Gallery of Armenia's director, Shahen Khatchatrian, led to countless hours studying and admiring exhibitions.
    Tamar's arts experience continued in New York, where she started off as a gallery manager for Microcosm Gallery in Chelsea. She gained hands-on experience working with artists there, and then moved on to an internship at the Queens Museum of Art.
    Her first brush with curating came in October 2007, when she organized an exhibition revolving around Armenian Women's Art. Endless Inspiration, which opened in May at Art-O-Mat and ran through June 22, was her latest but definitely not last project.
    "Curating is not an easy job," she says [in an e-mail]. "[I]t's one word, but a very complex job, and I enjoy every part of it, and I am always trying hard to get the best possible results."