Meet Kayla Malouin of The Giust Gallery in Woburn

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kayla Malouin.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I joined the Giust Gallery team in the summer of 2010 as an intern following my graduation from Wheaton College in Norton, MA where I majored in Art History. At the Gallery, I was introduced to mold-making, casting, and the finishing of our plaster reproductions, and I also took orders and answered customers’ questions. I became a part-time employee that fall, and started graduate school a few months later. I was a student of Johns Hopkins University’s distance-learning program. I completed my Master’s Degree in Museum Studies a couple of years later and started working full-time at the Gallery. My interest in the Gallery and its historic plaster cast collection had grown by then and I started to inventory and catalog the collection for the first time in its history. The owners of the Giust Gallery, Robert and Kathleen Shure, have always been supportive. Considering my passion for collections management and museum studies, they had decided to start their long-awaited project of cataloging the collection and utilizing a database. Most recently, when the Shures and I decided to devote more time to this large project, I was named Curator of the Giust Gallery and Caproni Collection. It has been an exciting journey and I’m thrilled to be playing a role in preserving this historic collection.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Balancing graduate school with working at the Gallery was difficult at times, but I made it through, and always had the support and help of the Shures and my family.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Giust Gallery – what should we know?
The Giust Gallery produces and sells plaster reproductions of famous sculptures. Every piece is made in-house and by-hand. The pieces we produce were first offered by P.P. Caproni & Brothers starting in the 1890s as a way to bring sculpture from around the world to the homes and schools of the American public. The company, originally based in Boston, changed hands over the years and was finally acquired by Robert and Kathleen Shure in the 1990s and moved to Woburn. Our plaster copies are exceptionally close in detail to the original sculptures, since the Caproni brothers molded off of these sculptures directly – which is unheard of today! – And created plaster casts. For example, they molded Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia Gallery in Florence and the Victory of Samothrace in the Louvre. These now-antique casts are what forms our Caproni Collection. Whenever we need to renew a mold, we mold off the antique, or first-generation, cast. Our casts are purchased by school and university art departments, art students, interior designers, museums, and collectors. We take pride in our history and in the quality of the casts we produce.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to your success?
I have been recognized for my attention to detail and my ability to switch gears often which are both important for the type of work I do. I think my educational background and passions also have aided me in my work at the Giust Gallery, including my degrees, museum internships, my artistic background, and my love of art and art history.

Contact Info:

• Address: 105 Salem Street, Woburn, MA 01801
• Website: giustgallery.com
• Phone: 781-933-2455
• Email: orders@giustgallery.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/giustgallery/
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/giustgallery
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/giustgallery

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