Reflections of a Modern Intern

The last day of my internship perfectly summed up my whole summer. There was mostly a lot of play, with a little bit of work mixed in. Terry, the director of education, Tiffany, my boss, and one of our friends from education, Michael, took me to lunch at the Kimball across the street. We spent a lot of time waiting in line, but it was worth it for the two slices of their delicious quiche. After my farewell lunch, the group split ways, and Tiffany and I got free tickets to see the Kimball's new show, from Botticelli to Braque. We wandered around their gift shop for a while, checking out all the weird kitschy items for sale, and then headed back to the modern to work on our final blog post for the education blog. Once we finished up compiling images from the collection and from the kids projects over the summer, Tiffany and I were done. I felt a little sad knowing I wouldn't be seeing all of these new friends every day anymore, but also very excited that I wouldn't have to battle I-35 traffic anymore. kidding. Before I left for the day or should I say for the summer, Tiffany pulled out a big sparkly package. Inside was a Jackson Pollock cookbook and lots of confetti. This just showed me but Tiffany really took time to get to know me over the summer. I'm grateful that I had such a wonderful boss who allowed me to help so much, and who helped me when I was confused or struggling. As we were finishing our last blog post even, a new hire was touring the building and had a shark shirt on – Tiffany laughed and pointed to her shirt, saying "Oh my gosh Miranda loves sharks!". Post last day of work Tiffany hosted a potluck at her house for all of the artists who taught the different camps over the summer. It was a good capstone for my experience at the modern, and a relaxing environment to get to say goodbye to everyone in. I would also like to say that my potato salad was a hit. To anyone looking for a summer internship in the future, I would highly recommend the modern to anyone in education. Not only was it a great learning experience and a great little check off my resume, but it was a paid internship in the arts. Not that I did any of it for the money, it was only eight dollars an hour, but it was the best minimum wage job I've ever had. I'll miss all of my friends at the modern, but Tiffany's words to me remind me that it's never really over - "I'm not even sad - I'm going to see you all the time because you're local!" So cheers to a new semester starting this fall with new experiences under my belt to discuss in classes. I hope everyone else's internships were just as lovely and I can't wait to hear about them in your presentations.

The Final Countdown

As my internship comes to an end, I find it difficult to sum up all that I have done. The education department at the Meadows has been extremely welcoming and provided me the opportunity to experience all that an education department does.

I have learned so much from each person that I worked with at the Meadows, everyone from security to my direct supervisors. Despite the short amount of time that I’ve spent here, this experience will shape me as a museum educator.

This whole summer has been kinda crazy for me (not that I need to get into all of that). Working through the day-to-day challenges at the museum kept me from sinking. I was doing work I really believed in and I was there often enough to create a little safe space (it really helps when your supervisors are amazing and have huge hearts).

Before I came to the meadows, most of my experience had been in commercial galleries and historical museums. It was surprising how different art museums are from other institutions. My view on art museums and what takes place to put up an exhibition has completely changed. There are so many moving parts from all aspects of a museum to ensure the visitors are getting an amazing experience! I am so proud and humbled to have been a part of that process.

This experience has only added to my desire to work within a museum’s education department. Working with passionate people and watching them persevere through bumps in the road and red tape is truly inspiring. These are the kind of people that I always imagined being behind the great things I see and experience in a museum.

Institutional Ghosts

Lately, I've been thinking a lot about ghosts. It could be that images from the new Ghostbusters reboot are blowing up my Tumblr feed. It could be that GDAC is considered to be haunted by some, and my office is currently in a location I lovingly refer to as "the cave." I've been keeping an eye out for the Solitary Sentinel all summer, but haven't yet lucked into a sighting (much to my dismay). 

I think this fascination goes deeper than wispy spirits and howling in the rafters, though. And to me, ghosts are not so much an expression of the paranormal as they are the metaphor for all the stories, habits, and, sure, beings, that populate a space, that make up the space's identity. Perhaps my preoccupation is with what I will call "Institutional Ghosts," or what some might call "institutional memory." Such memory can be invaluable to the continued existence of a long-running institution. In order for things to run smoothly, there is value in listening to those soft voices in the rafters.

Of the things that I have experienced this summer with the Greater Denton Arts Council, and there are many, none are more striking to me than the impact memory exerts on this or any institution. Ghosts of programs or exhibitions past. Ghosts of former workers, city history, relationships... It occurs to me, reflecting on my work here, that not one thing happens in this cavernous space that the very walls don't seem to remember, waiting to whisper to future interns in the voice of the way things have always been done. 

It is all about choice, after all. Choosing which exhibitions to bring in, which programs to offer, which community representatives to work with - these are things an institution must plan for, agonize over. At what point do we choose to listen to those whispers, those vague apparitions of the past, when we set the agenda for the institution's coming years? And at what point do we choose to acknowledge those Ouija board sentiments and instead choose to change trajectory? Ideally, there is a mix of both. A museum needs to appear consistent in the eyes of its community - the community should have some idea of what to expect from its local institution's exhibitions and programming. But in order to remain relevant to the community it serves, a museum must also be flexible and forward-thinking, listening to new ideas and keeping an open mind.

The details of my research this summer need to remain private, proprietary to GDAC. It is, however, internal research that I think at some point in all of our museum careers we will (at least we SHOULD) see being done around us. Internal reflection is vital to the life of an institution, just as it is vital to being an educator. We cannot represent ourselves, our collections, or our communities without first understanding ourselves, our collections, and our communities. And in order to gain that understanding, the Institutional Ghosts need to be heard. 

I'd like to think that, in my time with the GDAC (which actually started in January), I have had the opportunity to impart my own Institutional Ghosts into the space. Perhaps they will lurk in the large pink industrial pipe/valve setup in the Festival Hall, a relic of the building's past life as a steam power plant. I hope that, next year, the ghosts of my Summer 2015 Arts Scouts will live on and mingle with whomever is planning camp. I hope that the spirit of my research lives on as GDAC continues to reflect on itself and its role in the community. Maybe someone will tap on the pink pipe and feel the sensation of an Arts Scouts uniform across their chest, and feel the pride it brought to the 40 inaugural scouts. Or maybe not. 

I do know with absolute certainty that I will find companionship with the spirits I have internalized from the Arts Council. On the multidimensional spirit exchange, I do not think we can always control what we will or will not take away from any given experience. While I began working with GDAC in January hoping to get more experience planning programs, that almost feels like the least of what I've done. Trust, teamwork, creativity, resourcefulness, pure and unadulterated exhaustion... I have a feeling I will be haunted (in a good way) by these ghosts for years to come, in whatever museum I work in, in whatever positions come my way.

Our experiences will add up, and I think that as we travel throughout our careers, our Institutional Ghosts will both depart from us and hitchhike with us to other institutions in a slow, steady spread of stories and experiences. And maybe a few ghost stories around the campfire.  

Experiences make impressions, some embossed more thoroughly than others. And someday in the future, those embossed experiences, those spirits, will empower me to speak poignantly of the past as it relates to the future. 

Happy haunting, everyone!

9-11 Camp – The Struggle with Free Labor/Volunteers

The week of 9-11 Camp was so tough on Tiffany, my wonderful boss, and I, that I couldn’t even bring myself to blog about it right after it came to an end. We had two great area artists teaching the camp’s two sections: Michelle Alison and Clayton Hurt. Michelle’s bubbly personality and natural enthusiasm were balanced well by Clayton’s dry humor and small smiles. The projects were wonderful – inspired by works like Nancy Graves’ Wheelabout from 1985 to the photographs of history museum dioramas by Hiroshi Sugimoto. The projects and final show were fantastic, but getting there was to say the least, like herding cats.

Volunteers and interns can be wonderful resources for museums, providing firstly FREE LABOR, and secondly enthusiasm, passion, and helpfulness where gaps are found in the more permanent staff. I was the only paid intern in the education department, and consequently, we relied on young (and some older) volunteers to staff the camp as counselors’ assistants, counselors, and artist assistants. Up until this week, every set of volunteers we had were extremely helpful and able to self-direct. This weeks volunteers were more introverted and less interested in helping out without explicit direction. The whole week could be described in one word, QUIET. Tiffany and I had to step into the camp settings every day in order to help the artists maintain order with the energetic, often very hyper 9-11 year olds. Some volunteers realized that teaching and museum education were not for them. While this felt frustrating to Tiffany, the artists, and myself, it was a good opportunity for the volunteers to test out possible careers. Many of them were also in high school, so understandably were still trying to figure out their own identities.

I am not in any way saying that volunteers are unhelpful or useless – we need them! They are so great and I am so thankful for all of the volunteers who came out to make art camp such a success. I just struggle with the dichotomy of today’s teens and young people trying to cram their resumes full of volunteer positions/un-paid internships to the point that they apply to everything – even positions (like these) that don’t match up with their interests. I’m sure each of these perfectly nice young volunteers might have thrived better in an environment more suited to their interests, and I hope they find that place in the future. As for me? I’m hoping that next year Tiffany will not have a death week like that one was for us this year.

Its a Process...

Hi everyone! I apologize in the lateness of my last post! We have been in the trenches of budget creating for the next fiscal year and I created my own budget! Woohoo!! I am seeing and learning more about the financial side of the museum than ever before! It’s exciting and nerve racking at the same time.

As my internship came to a close last week I presented to a group of students participating in a summer camp called Education in Action. The one week camp focuses on providing experiences to help develop leadership skills, apply what they learn in school, and to learn about potential careers. They make a stop at the Amon Carter each week. I was one of the last presenters for the summer.  The gallery teachers choose staff to present on what they do at the museum; how we got there, and offer any advice you may have when it comes to choosing a career. I was a nervous wreck! However, the students were great and had some interesting questions for me! As I look back on it, the experience was a great exercise in realizing how far I have come and where I hope to be one day. I went from not having a clue on what I wanted to do with my life when I graduated high school to a position I love in a museum I love and adore with lots more to come in finishing school and growing as a museum educator. This internship has also helped me in putting some goals into perspective, making me sit down and really think about where I am and what I want to accomplish instead of just going through the day to day of the job.

Many of the leaps and bounds I have made during these last four years at the Amon Carter have been through persistent hard work, being flexible to people’s needs, and willingness to help wherever I am needed so I may continue to learn as much as I can in a variety of areas and not just museum education since it takes a village (multiple departments!) to make the museum successful! The more knowledge I have about the inner workings of museums, especially in all areas and levels of museum education the better I can contribute as a valuable asset to the department and the museum. This summer, I believe, I made progress in developing my new position beyond administrative duties, building relationships, and developing my skills as a museum educator (I’ll be the educator conducting the art activity for our upcoming Family Loyalty program!), but at the same time realizing this process also takes time and patience. It can be a slow, but rewarding process! Another theme I have seen in our internships this summer: accomplishing small and/or great things even if it’s through baby steps to an overall greater goal. I think this is a theme for my whole life…and knowing I have navigated and accomplished what I have is something to be proud of. The museum field is not easy. It can be exclusive, difficult to break into, frustrating, and hard to stick with because nothing is ever easy in non-profits. We should all be very proud in continuing to stick with what we love, are passionate about, and feel is very important to the world: art, art education, and museums!

Although, the official ending date of my internship has occurred my position and goals will continue on. Hopefully I can gain more ground as the year comes to an end and the new year surprises us with how fast it appears!

Connections and Reconnections

The Meadows Museum has so many great things to offer visitors, and as an intern in the education department I've been able to dip my hands into a lot of different programs. I think the most informal programs we continuously offer has to be Connections and Reconnections. These programs are for those who are experiencing different stages of Alzheimer's. Connections runs for three consecutive Saturdays four times a year. We start off with a small art activity while we chat and have coffee and pastries, then we head upstairs for a more in-depth activity in the galleries. 

Throughout my internship I was able to attend one Connections event (hopefully I'll be able to come back and help out during the year). We brought in a musical therapist to aid in connecting to the works in the galleries. Even though it was really great to see everyone singing and making connections to the works, I will say that I think I enjoyed watching everyone talking while creating art from old post cards (some even had letters written on the back!). 

Reconnections is a shorter (and even less formal) version of connections. We start off with coffee, pastries, and chats; then we head upstairs for a short activity, which is totally optional. Reconnections is a good way for everyone to stay in touch over the summer, so we really try not to pressure anyone. 

I've been able to help out with two of the Reconnections events and I have not noticed a difference in the level of enthusiasm between Reconnections and Connections. Everyone is so lively! 

Being that both of these programs are informal the schedule sometimes completely gets tossed out the door. Which gives room for participants to wander the galleries if they see a work that really peaks their interest, or to stay and chat a little longer, or to stay after all of the activities and take a tour with a docent. I've been finding myself really inspired by those who create their own schedule in order to investigate a specific work. 

The more time I spend here, the more I feel like part of the family, and the more I don't want to leave!