Michael Gitlitz: The Art of ‘Chickie’

Diana, Farah, Meredith and Dave crack open the time capsule and pull out classmate Michael Gitlitz—art dealer, museum director, and living proof that those Milton art history classes weren’t just a GPA play.

Michael takes us from dorm-room décor (read: questionable) to a globe-trotting, 25-year run in the high-end art world—Herschel & Adler, Marlborough Gallery, Paddle8—before landing as executive director of the Katonah Museum of Art. Now “retired” (sure, Michael), he’s still wheeling, dealing, collecting, and casually dropping knowledge on 17th–20th century art like it’s fantasy baseball stats.

Along the way:
– The exact moment Milton lit the art-history fuse
– Why art dealers matter (and why academia might not scratch the same itch)
– A return to the ‘80s that includes fashion crimes and social survival tactics
– Teachers who mattered, crushes that didn’t, and the masks we all wore
– And a refreshingly real look ahead to the 40th reunion—less posing, more honesty, and finally talking about mental health without whispering it like it’s contraband

It’s part nostalgia, part career masterclass, part group therapy—with better stories and worse outfits.

Time Codes (because we’re professionals… allegedly):
00:00 Welcome Back to The Link
01:33 Meet Michael Gitlitz (yes, that one)
04:05 How a Milton kid ends up in the global art game
05:29 Back to the Eighties Quiz (brace yourself)
09:56 Style Regrets: A Group Confession
14:47 The Milton Spark That Started It All
15:56 Gap Year = Life Upgrade
18:05 Why Art Dealers Actually Matter
19:53 Family Stories You Didn’t Expect
20:43 Art Dealing: How the Sausage Is Made
22:08 Classmates in the Arts (you’ll be surprised)
23:04 Milton Needs a Museum (seriously)
24:53 The Cost of Collecting (spoiler: not cheap)
26:14 Favorite Living Artist
27:12 Retirement… kinda
29:09 Teachers Who Changed Everything
34:53 Reunion Talk + Mental Health (finally, honestly)
37:22 Crushes, Masks, and Surviving High School
39:00 Rules, Discipline, and Sanctuary
42:45 Life After the Art World (is there such a thing?)
43:45 Advice to Our Younger, Dumber Selves
46:30 Wrap Up (we stuck the landing)