As we come to a close on our internship I feel that I have learned more about myself than anything new in regards to the inner workings of a museum. Previously coming from an internship at the DMA I saw first hand and experienced just exactly how vastly different museums can be. However, I can say that my knowledge of MADI art has grown during my time here, which my inner art historian is extremely delighted about. But again, overall I feel that this Internship pushed me to grow more as a person than anything else. I came to understand my own limits a lot during my time here.
· From working with Christianna the entire length of our Internship I can say that I can comfortably work well in a pair.
· To learning how to communicate properly and clearly to a small staff of 5 people who are all from a much older generation that I am not used to interacting with outside of family.
· Having my computer and technological skills put to the test almost daily to constantly fix their computers (Thank god for Google).
· Having my organizational skills put to the test daily as well due to the obscene amount of a paper trail just two of the staff members seem to make in one day (No. Seriously. They print everything out, even emails, in multiple copies, daily).
· Our Art historical backgrounds got to shine the most, as we were quick to doubt anything without a verifiable and credible source. With this our research skills came into play and were key to finding the majority of information that was wrong or missing altogether (Thank you KDW).
Regarding the label project we had been working on, we were able to do a majority of the wall labels, however, we were unable to do as much as we had hoped due to time constraints and other issues. We did not replace any of the labels for pieces in the downstairs women’s bathroom, downstairs offices, gift shop, storage, and upstairs law firm areas. Honestly, this shouldn’t have taken us two months to only partially complete this project, and I’m a little bummed out about it. What was made clear to us through this is that data management, and information management in general, is severely lacking as there was A LOT of miss information on A LOT of the pieces we had to sift through. In the coming last four days, we have at the museum we will be working to tie any loose ends with this project and finally get to printing, laminating, and putting up all of the labels we’ve worked hard to correct and complete.
My one main take away from here is how I was reminded of my preference to working with kids over adults.
I'd love to hear why you prefer kids to adults as an aid to developing successful adult programming. It sounds like you were a wonderful asset to the museum and staff! If we have any more classes together I'm at your disposal so you can continue your interaction with an adult from a much older generation whose not family (I'd hate for you to get out of practice)! :) I've loved being in class with you, and find your enthusiasm, wit and insight refreshing and wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWhat a nice comment, Carrie! I also love that this highlights such an important part of our classes: you all, the students! Though we spend a lot of time meeting people that are vertical in museum education (ie: that are "higher up" in their professions), the horizontal is so important (ie: people at the same level, in this case, one another!) because you are all going to be peers and colleagues in the practicing field of museum education. As you enter your careers, having these partnerships will be significant and meaningful as you navigate the field.
ReplyDelete