Who is Assemblage?
From getting dressed to navigating my career, art has always been at the center
I am new here!
First things first. I grew up in North Carolina in a family of creatives. My dad came from a tiny southern town known for growing tobacco and ended up at Yale architecture school. His career designing and building contemporary modern homes and buildings spanned decades and accumulated countless prestigious architecture awards. He’s sort of a legend in my eyes. And my brothers as well. They ended up following in his footsteps and joined the family business, Hobgood Architects. Behind the scenes has always been my mom “Lala” affectionately nicknamed by her grandchildren. She is probably the most naturally creative and chic woman I will ever know. She is low key cool but always authentic. She decorated their house entirely on her own. It is a true reflection of her effortless, eclectic style—antiques gathered from travels mixed with modern art collected over the years, all layered with rich textiles and thoughtful design details. Goals. Lots more on Lala later, as she is a huge part of my own personal style. I rarely go out to a special event without sending her a selfie of my outfit for approval.
Thanks to my parents, I was introduced to art at a young age. Our family trips to Europe often revolved around visiting off the beaten path landmarks, like Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye in Poissy, France. I’ll never forget seeing my dad sitting there just taking it all in. Full honesty- after 3 hours, my 13 year old self was begging to return to Paris for some shopping.
When I went to the University of Virginia, I naturally gravitated towards art history as my major. I was a volunteer docent at the university’s art museum. This entailed designing and giving curated tours mostly to elementary and middle school students. I quickly realized how much I loved being in a museum. One of my favorite paintings was a huge Frank Stella and I loved starting my tours there, asking the kids what they “saw” in this crazy abstract canvas.
My summer internships in college were at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. Although I was an unpaid intern, climbing those stairs every morning made me feel giddy. I did coffee runs, organized in the old school filing room for hours, researched potential donors and happily executed any odd job they threw at me. Not glamorous, but you have to start somewhere! Wednesdays when the museum was closed were my favorite. I would walk around and take it all in, with no one in sight.
Upon graduating from UVA I moved to NYC and was thrilled to get a job at The Museum of Modern Art in the Special Events department. The first event I worked on was the opening for Elizabeth Murray. I sat in the conference room with her as my boss went over every detail of how she wanted to her event to be. The look, the music, the food. Every detail that would be the backdrop of this boundary pushing female artist’s solo show. Next was Brice Marden’s opening. When he asked me to run and get him a tuna sandwich during a meeting one day I did so with glee! My MoMA years were the most fun. I pinch myself that was my first job.
Some very golden years followed- including marrying my UVA sweetheart and creating a family together with 3 awesome kids. During this joyful and exhausting decade of growth I took a complete break from “working” to raise my kids. I took on a hobby of helping close friends source art for their homes. After a few years my husband said he thought I should make a business of it and so Assemblage Art Consulting was born.
I chose to name my company Assemblage, referring to a French art term (pronounced a san blaj *, said with an accent please). Popularized in the 1950s by French artist Jean Dubuffet, assemblage refers a three-dimensional art form made by combining found or non-traditional objects to create a new, cohesive work. In simple terms, think of a a 3-D form of collage. Another meaning of assemblage is simply a collection of things. When I work with clients sourcing art in their homes, it is a form of assemblage. My curations span an array of styles, mediums, and interests to create unique and unexpected collections.
On more thing about me is I love getting dressed. Dressed up, or down- doesn’t matter. As a little girl my mom said I would change outfits 3x a day. As I started to share more on Assemblage, I incorporated what I was wearing as a personal form of artistic expression. With that, people started asking me to share style guidance and ideas. One thing I enjoy doing is helping friends source wardrobe capsule collections for the different seasons. As a result, Assemblage has evolved to a space where I will highlight not only art but also personal style and all that entails… excited to begin here with you all.
I signed up for substack! For this. Can’t wait to see where you’re taking us Lizzy xo
Absolutely thrilled to see this come to life and follow along xoxoxo