Meet Wren Miller of House of Wren

Today we’d like to introduce you to Wren Miller.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Wren. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
As an art dealer, travel and education are vital and I owe so much to both for getting me here. Travel comes with exposure and has allowed me to survey first hand what the market is doing globally. For me though, education is paramount. You can never stop learning or else you may end things before they begin. Last year marked the start of my Ph.D. in Philosophy, Art Theory and Aesthetics at the Institute for Doctoral Studies in Visual Arts, a five-year low-residency program that involves time in NYC and abroad.

By the time I was 23 I had my Masters degree in hand from Sotheby’s Institute in London with experience curating and marketing exhibitions at a new gallery in Mayfair. I had always marveled at the importance and idea of educating, which is innately part of the gig as a dealer. The constant overlap deserved a turning of the coin and here I am, pursuing a degree with the intention of teaching artists and collectors of the future while producing exhibitions and events. What I am working towards is an understanding of what people react to, connect with and bringing it to them.

Has it been a smooth road?
When I first moved to London I never imaged leaving. In the middle of my Master’s program the Visa laws changed and little did I know it pushed me into starting my own business just one year later. Taking on clients from Los Angeles became my new normal – the talent, the drive, the ambition to create something unseen – I found that contagious and something I wanted to commit myself to. Los Angeles is a hub for creativity, diversity and rebirth and more and more we see that this accumulation will become limited in the future.

My goal is to foster a program in the arts that helps combat this, making routes for art to connect people no matter where they are, who they are or how they got there. All of these realizations have driven me to work most recently in a digital format to obtain the furthest reach and break barriers every day.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
I started House of Wren as a creative management agency in 2014 in Detroit before launching in Los Angeles in 2016. My vision was to create something different from the traditional art consultancy and brick-and-mortar gallery, something more sustainable yet malleable. Today we are that same agency and much more. House of Wren works to further the professional careers of innovative artists and share experience-based installations with a broad audience.

Curatorially speaking, the agency has a handful of represented artists as well as unrepresented artists that I am very excited about. Since moving to Los Angeles I have formed partnerships and focused on brokering private deals and commissions. I knew I needed to position the agency in a different light and offer people what they want. In a way this has shaped the services that we offer, introduced a larger network and still it has allowed me to retain careful consideration for the artists, their work and message.

For example, the current online exclusive exhibition, Simplexity, features hyper-modern paintings by Savannah, GA based artist, Jason Hoelscher. The next show will be with one of the purest photographers I know, Cybelle Codish. Although a bit of a nomad, working around the world, she is based out of Detroit. It is these types of transient connections that I currently most excited about and eager to share with collectors who otherwise may not have been introduced to their work.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Los Angeles has so much breadth and depth to it, you see it on the streets but you also see it in the art collections. I love the variety, the different backgrounds and what they have brought to the city that has shaped its personality.

The museums and public collections in Los Angeles are really important to me and my business. The diversity is what I thrive off of, the inclusivity is something people don’t expect, but I find the raw California energy undeniable. I think its one of the healthiest business climates for art and that’s why I chose it.

Contact Info:

• Website: houseofwren.com
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/houseof.wren
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/houseofwren
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/houseofwren
• Other: https://www.artsy.net/house-of-wren

Image Credit:
Jason Hoelscher, Cybelle Codish, Adam Mostow, Kaye Freeman, Mesplé, John Londoño, Daniel Zetterstrom, Trevor Allen Huber

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