Hopes for the National Museum of Wildlife Art

Hello Everyone, 

      This summer I will be the curatorial intern for the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. I will officially start June 11, and I will arrive in Jackson Hole on the 9th. As the date of my departure gets closer and closer. I am starting to get more nervous, but also excited. I will be the only curatorial intern, and it is a pretty small institution, so I will get to do a little bit of everything. It is full-time, so I think I will get a chance to experience a lot in the nine weeks that I will be there. 

During my internship, I hope to learn more about how the curatorial department might work with the education department. The relationship between the two departments at this institution is very close and they do lots of their planning and organization together. Because I am interested in increasing accessibility through museum education, but planning on a curatorial track, I think that seeing how the two departments functionally work together will help me in the future. 

I am also hoping to learn more about the day to day operations of a curatorial department. Because this internship is 40 hours a week, I think it will give me a chance to experience the reality of full-time employment in a museum. I am even referring to just learning how an office runs, and figuring out how to adjust my habits and lifestyle when I am working full time. I know that this can be difficult, especially because I will probably be going on my runs at 6:00 AM now. I am also planning on doing some meal prepping, just so I can keep up healthy eating habits. Anyway, I just fell like the internship will force me to learn things outside of the work itself. I hope it gives me some life skills as well. 

There is a lot that I am looking forward to but those are the big ones. I am very excited. 

-Annalisa Giannotti