Eben Lee Hall--Kimbell Art Museum internship

Nancy Edwards—curator of European art/head of academic services

Connie Barganier—education manager

Marilyn Ivy—studio and family programs coordinator

Lindsey Goodwin—digital learning coordinator

Alli Rogers—community engagement coordinator

Katie Perroni—tour programs coordinator

Adrienne Cook—education assistant

My first week was very good and I was able to help with several projects and get a feel for what I will be doing this coming summer.  I started off Wednesday with filling out a bit of incoming paperwork such as HR documentation, Kimbell handbook, etc.  Alli took me on a tour of the museum and the facilities and I have been working on finding my way around, getting lost in the tunnel complex a few times, but I'll get it figured out!  I got my name badge and went through the procedures of the comings and goings of the museum.  Alli and I worked on the color activity for the teen council and I scanned the color book and printed out copies for all the students.  We set up the studio upstairs for their activity on Wednesday night including pouring out the egg yolks into containers so that the students could make egg tempura to paint with.  I helped Marilyn and made a clay head about 5" tall so she could gauge the amount of clay needed and time it would take to sculpt each piece for a project that she is working on.  That was pretty much it for Wednesday.  For Friday, I met with Jonathan from IT and got all of my login information and email address so that I can access the system and email my weekly activities.  I did a bit of work on the Pictures and Pages project, scanning The Iridescence of Birds about Henri Matisse and doing a bit of research on his life so that Alli and I can get everything together for me to present in August.  I did a tour of the library and now know what I will need to do if I need to research our book collection and get information about upcoming projects.  I had the opportunity to view the Le Nains show and it was fantastic, really great paintings!  I did some research on the Asian collection for an upcoming teen event and I met with Alli and Lindsey and we talked about the Pictionary/Draw & Go event with Jennifer, our Asian collection currator and brainstormed ideas to make it fun and interesting for the teens.  I'll be working Wednesday through Friday doing research on architecture and meeting with teachers from Fort Worth ISD for an upcoming project.  The first week was great and I'm looking forward to returning for more.  

Week two went very well, I started off helping Callie with a high school tour group led by two of our docents.  After they finished we passed out the iPads to them so they could fill out our survey, everyone completed it for us and was very helpful, we got a lot of good feedback for Alli.  I worked on more ideas for the Pictionary/Draw & Go activity and worked out a few ideas on how the participants could better interact with Jennifer.  I started to compile a list of 20-30 prompts from the Asian collection to add to the Pictionary/Draw & Go activity, I also went through the Asian collection and checked each piece currently on display and made a list for the game.  I helped Alli with the Viewpoints tour group where we looked at a few works and did a few activities with the participants; they were a fun group and had a very good time.  On Wednesday I finished the prep work for the Pictionary/Draw & Go activity, making sure all the information for the pieces in the Asian collection was right and printed out and cut out all of the prompts for the students.  I then set up for the meeting with the Imagination Fort Worth and FWISD AVID coordinator.  We met for the meeting in the Kahn boardroom and the discussion was very productive, we got a lot of good information for our upcoming architecture event.  Lastly, Friday started off with some sewing of felt shapes for the Pictures and Pages activity for June.  I used felt scraps that we had, cut out interesting shapes and stuffed them with some paper that we recycled, they are turning out very well.  Towards the end of the afternoon we drove to Southwest High School for our meeting with several high school teachers to discuss the programming involving the upcoming Monet exhibition and the field trips the students will be taking to the Kimbell and how best to serve them and get the most of their experience.  I'm looking forward to next week and more interesting projects and helping with activities and projects.  

The Beginning

Hello Everyone! I think I know most of you, but just in case My name is Jessica Pirkle and I am a master's candidate in Art History ( broadly Global Modernism(s) ) and I am seeking the museum education certificate. My internship is at the Dallas Museum of Art in the department of Interpretation! Now onto the first post,

I hope to literally just learn about how a museum works and what it is like to work within one. I have zero experience within museums. I have never worked at one or interned at one, let alone been to many in my lifetime. The entire internship will be a learning experience for me in every way. 

I hope that I can make lasting impressions upon the people I will work with,  as well as learn enough about what an Interpretation department does in order to possibly one day work in or help start the same kind of department in another museum. I really like the interdisciplinary feel of the department, that it is squished between museum education and the curatorial department.

I hope I am able to develop research and context materials that will be used in a gallery exhibition set to open next year. I also dream that my work will be published online for the DMA's permanent collection, which is a real possiblitity. 

I suspect that the way the department works with other departments might surprise me and challenge me. In fact, my entire internship may be a challenge, due to what I've already been told, not many people, if any want to do what I will be doing. Also, the size of the DMA is a little challenging to me, I have a bit of social anxiety so I can be shy at times and it can be a real challenge to talk to strangers. I am intimidated but I know it will be an awesome experience so I am looking forward to it!

Happy Interning Everyone!

The starting line of my internship

Hello, everyone! My name is Fahad Aljebreen, and I am taking my internship at the GDAC, Greater Denton Art Council, in Denton! As I see some previous bloggers here writing up a little bit about their background, so I would like to do the same.

I am an international student coming from Saudi Arabia to pursue my Ph.D. in Art education. I studied Art education at King Saudi University on my bachelor, and then I taught for five years in middle and elementary schools. I then followed my dream to obtain a Master of Art at the same University by 2007. I then got the opportunity to be a lecturer at King Saudi University, which provided me with the chance to go overseas to obtain my Ph.D. I came here in the United States of America in 2009 to learn English as a second language then enroll in the art education doctoral program in University of North Texas.

Before getting to link with Art museum, I was focused more on my study program and my research, and not paying any attention to anything else. The art museums classes were not required for our program, but after finishing all my courses and doing only research for a year, I thought it would be a good refreshing for me to get this class with Dr. Evans. I did, and I felt in love with the Art museum so here I am finishing the internship.

I used to go enjoy different types of museums as a visitor who wants to spend time on something worth visiting. I did not pay much attention of how things were represented and I have not asked for any type of tours. However, over this semester, I got a wonderful opportunity to engage with an amazing class of Art museum education. It helps me to see wide chances of implications to be used in the field of art education. I have never thought about art museum as a serious place for learning, but now I do and admire countries that support it.

Therefore, I hope this internship provide me with all sort of experiences as much as I can get. I would love to know more about the policy, the operation, and practical way of managing a museum here in the United States of America. I also like to experience everything related to the museums working environment from the reception, plan an exhibit, organizing activities, inviting artists, to involving in discussions about collection or fundraising.

Before taking any museum class, I used to go to museums as any visitors who want to enjoy spending time. However, after studying about museums, I discovered that I was missing a huge and essential part of the art education, which is the art museum. No matter what I heard about it before it was not enough to link me with it. Hence, I believe that reading and studying about museums would not match the internship experience.  Therefore, I am here at the GDAC, Greater Denton Art Council, to fulfill my interest and passion with the Art museum. Accordingly, I dream to go back to my country while I am loaded with all sort of experience that can help me establish the first art museum in Saudi Arabia.

Who We Are and Why We are Writing

We are unabashed lovers of museums and seek to better understand our place in them. 

As part of a  Certificate in Art Museum Education at the University of North Texas, we are all required to participate in an internship at an art institution, which is the best way to figure out how and where we belong in such an institution.  An element of this internship is that we document our experiences in some way and, as a group (we are seven strong in number), we have decided to keep a blog. 

We will each write an initial post and a final post of the same theme; the first before we begin our internships and the last after we've completed them.  The first post that we each write will be about what we hope to get out of our internship experiences this summer and beyond.  What hopes and dreams, expectations and wishes lay ahead of us based on what we already know about internships, about ourselves, and about museums?  What do we suspect might surprise us, challenge us, and make us better in this experience?

Our final post will be about what we have learned through these internships, what personal experiences and meanings we have attached to what we have learned, and how we plan to apply what we have learned to our lives, personally and professionally.  We will write about what we wished we had known before we started our internships and what kind of advice we will give to students who come after us.  We will discuss what transformed us, what scared us, what we were proud of ourselves for.  

The in-between posts, of which there will be two from each of us, are going to be splatters of experience, on whatever topic from our internship that inspires us at the moment of writing.  We want this blog to be a sort of support group, to help us celebrate our accomplishments as interns, to turn to for questions, to use for advice and friendship, and we will do that through commenting on one another's posts. 

We have been told this will be a life-changing experience, in many ways, and that we will learn things about ourselves that we might not understand yet.  Here we go.