Sirous Asadi Nejad Ardabili Research Assistant with PhD Candidate Layah Ziaii Bigdeli Summer 2022: Throughout this internship, I have learned how to work with museum databases, classify and manage databases in an art historical research methods and conducting provenance research. I have been supervised by Visual Studies Ph.D. Candidate Layah Ziaii Bigdeli and worked on her unique project which partly focuses on late antique (3rd -10th century CE) Iranian vessels. Working with her and other students helped me to develop transferable skills that would help me in my future research, study and career in art history and archaeology. This experience taught and P. R. S. Moorey, “Parthian and Sasanian Metalwork in the Bomford Collection,” The Burlington 1 Magazine, no. 879 (Jun., 1976): 358, https://www.jstor.org/stable/878412. improved my knowledge and skills to engage with digital humanities since it is a burgeoning discipline.

Brooke McKenzie Dawson Summer 2022: My time at Fine Arts Conservation Laboratories was a launching pad in my chosen career path. While I was there I was assigned with the task of cataloging a collection of frames that had been collected over the years which taught me best practices in handling, measuring and organizing frames. I also aided in the digitization of a massive 30 by 10 story high mural that was created by Kent Twitchell and commissioned by Michael Jackson in the late 80s to early 90s. This experience exposed me to the process behind digitization and to the world of NFT’s which was why they needed the artwork digitized. I also assisted in documenting any artwork that entered the lab to be conserved. We did so by recording the artist, name of the artwork and period it was produced, as well as, its dimensions. We then would prepare each artwork for conservation by removing them  from the original frame (if it had one) and taking a “before conservation” photograph. When the piece was finished I would place the artwork back into the original frame, back  them with a protective foam core and package  them in clear plastic. These various tasks were valuable experience in art handling, assessment and the art of close looking. I was given the opportunity to touch up a frame that had been cracked by filling in the cracks with a matching paint color in order to create a more cohesive appearance when on the wall. This was an introduction to color matching and mixing.  Lastly, under the supervision of the art conservator, I consolidated two large carved wooden pillars that came from The Mission in San Juan Capistrano by applying many thick generous layers of aquasol adhesive. This was a lesson in finding the balance between taking the right amount of time tailored to what is being asked and the budget of the client. The application also was meant to stabilize the cultural object for years to come. 

Samantha Jewell Museum of the African Diaspora Winter 2022: During my time with the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD), I worked under their education department with Sedey Gebreyes. We started developing an online training for Museum Guides (aka Docents) using the website Eduflow. My job was to figure out how the website worked and start inputting information about MoAD. Sedey and I met every Friday at 10am to talk about my progress and discuss how she wanted the website to function as an onboarding tool. I organized various worksheets and uploaded media to create tasks and quizzes for future docents to complete as part of their training. It was a great experience to be a part of a team that was pushing new ways to engage the public in volunteer work at museums. Sedey mentioned that at multiple seminars with other museums, MoAD was the only one currently developing an online training program for docents. It’s been amazing to think that I was helping create something no one else has done before (to my knowledge). Throughout my internship, Sedey and I talked mostly about the way in which we wanted to present MoAD’s onboarding platform. How we should split up tasks, what artists to reference, if we should just have a huge list of artists for docents to learn how to reference, how we should organize that, how many quizzes there should be, how many discussions, and many other things. I was able to learn so much about the behind the scenes work of the education department, specifically with this one project that is a vital part of keeping MoAD connected with the local community. I would definitely recommend other students to do an internship at MoAD, it was an excellent experience.

Rachael Rennie Indie Pups Fall 2021: Art History refers to the study of all forms of human creative expression of the past. To study art history is to use art, the visual expression of human creative skill, as a lens through which to examine the culture and attitudes of a specific time. By its very nature, Art History is interdisciplinary. By examining historical art, we can learn how past societies, systems, ideologies, governments, cultures, and technologies were built, how they existed, and how they have transformed. And in the actual practice of Art History, we as individuals are building skills that will be vital to many professional industries. Over the fall quarter, I conducted a sixty-hour internship doing digital marketing with the video game marketing company Indie Pups. Over the course of the Internship, I utilized the skills I had learned in Art History courses, such as visual analysis, critical thinking, and research, to investigate the art of games. I then used that understanding to market those video games to a target audience. I gained knowledge in a number of marketing fundamentals including app and steam store optimization, market research strategy, data analysis fundamentals, and social media brand representation. Finally, I analyzed and emulated the social media presence of two brands' accounts on a variety of social media platforms and conducted multiple research projects that enhanced my marketing knowledge and provided valuable information for the company. Ultimately, this internship taught me both a plethora of valuable professional skills and boosted my personal confidence overall. Perhaps the most invaluable lesson I learned from this experience has been, if you’re presented with an opportunity that you’re unsure about, just try it. You’ll never know what you may have missed out on if you don’t.

Layah Ziaii-Bigdeli Philadelphia Museum of Art Summer 2021: First I would like to thank the department for granting me the opportunity to intern in one of the most prestigious institutions in the US. I started my summer internship program at the Philadelphia Museum of Art in the South Asian Art department in August of 2021. I commenced my preliminary research in Irvine. The topic of my internship research was Gandharan art; in particular, I focused on provenance research in order to understand collecting practices in US institutions. These are artifacts that are attributed to a wide geographic area from north-east Afghanistan to north-west Pakistan and temporally belong to 1st-6th centuries CE. Almost in every major museum in Europe and America, one or two pieces of Gandharan art are put on display. The emergence of these objects in various institutions are the unfortunate consequences of political conflicts, destruction and looting of sites, ultimately resulting in the dispersal of these objects. My research indicates that the PMA is one of the first and foremost museums in the US to have acquired these objects. While this is tangentially related to my dissertation topic, I was able to expand my knowledge and quite possibly draft a publishable scholarly essay. Additionally, I greatly enjoyed the privilege of viewing the objects in storage and in some cases handling the objects. Plus, I was able to connect with renown scholars of the field who have provided great feedback to my work.

Bianca Vasquez Museum of Latin American Art Summer 21:During the summer of 2021 I had the great privilege to intern at the Museum of Latin American Art. For my own health reasons, I had to do this internship remotely, but everyone was more than accommodating. I was tasked with typing biographies on artists for curatorial records. During this process I had to research some missing information, such as which schools these artists attended and what were some accomplishments they made in their lifetime. It was a great insight as to the work that occurs in the curatorial department beyond selecting artists or pieces. I couldn’t attend installation or de-instillation days, but I was invited to attend if I wanted to. While I couldn’t visit MOLAA in person, I was given a tour of the exhibits through Zoom. I wish I could have done more while working at MOLAA, but I am grateful for the experience I had.

Elvera Alvarez Laguna Art Museum Collections and Curatorial Summer 2021: This summer I had the great pleasure of interning at the Laguna Art Museum (LAM) under Tim Campbell, who serves as the Registrar and Collections Manager. I learned a great deal about the museum collections process, art handling and storage, and navigating and updating the collections database. Through my experience working on these various tasks I began to understand the complexities associated with the museum’s collection management.

Throughout many years the large archive of work has been managed by different teams often using different methodologies. I discovered that this can lead to discrepancies in the database record and storage information of particular works. Often, it became a bit of a puzzle figuring this out, but with the knowledgeable direction of Tim, I learned how to resolve such issues.

I was fortunate to visit the LAM storage facility which houses over five thousand works many times where Tim instructed me on the proper procedures for art handling and cataloging. In addition to this I photographed many pieces and added the photos to artist files. When not at the storage facility I worked in the office digitizing and updating artist files in the collections database. This task was immensely rewarding because I was introduced to many California Artists that I was unfamiliar with. I loved viewing and digitizing their work, and I often updated the file with information and photos that I took at the storage facility.

Throughout the entire process I was constantly impressed by the wealth of knowledge and experiences Tim shared with me. I feel I received a very candid view into the professional world of museums and curation. Tim was always very attentive and patient and was very enjoyable to work with. His positive attitude and willingness to help made the time pass very quickly. Also, the entire team at the museum was very gracious and welcoming. I am so grateful to Cecilia, Tim, and Kristen for making this experience remarkable.

Esmeralda Bobadilla Museum of Latin American Art ("MOLAA") Graphic Design Internship Summer 2021: My time interning at MOLAA was eye-opening. I was the graphic design intern and part of the graphics team. We were in charge of the graphics for the museum but also assisted the curatorial team with the text needed for the Judy Baca exhibition. It was an amazing opportunity to intern at MOLAA because I became more intrigued in my area of interest and the importance of graphic design.

I learned how group collaboration works when preparing for an exhibition. I observed the importance of communication and how to do so effectively. In the collaboration, I was tasked with putting together a text that was displayed for the exhibition. During this time, I also learned about museum branding and how to be thoughtful when creating graphics to follow the museum's image. For example, I assisted with preparing graphics for a project that the volunteer team was working on. I created a logo that would be used to feature the event on MOLAA’s website and social media. Another task I learned while interning was sending designs to print. I was able to see how to prepare documents being sent to the printer. Some of these print items included brochures and vinyl used for the exhibition.

Overall, the internship was insightful and I am fortunate to have been a part of the team during the Judy Baca exhibition.

Samantha Cheng University Art Gallery (UAG) Spring 2021: As the internship was remote, much of my time with the internship was spent organizing and renaming files on the UAG Archive Google Drive. This experience gave me insight into the various components of an online archive and figuring out the best way to catalogue everything based on its subject matter. I learned about the history of the UAG, how the artwork in the UAG is organized, and about the behind the scenes workings of managing art. I also became familiar with the UAG’s instagram and created posts for the account. These ranged from a throwback post about Maria Nordman’s Saddleback Mountain exhibition to posts that highlighted the work of artists showcased in this year’s Undergraduate Honors Thesis Exhibition and MFA Thesis Exhibitions. The last project I worked on was a timeline of the UAG’s history and background for the UAG’s website. Although it wasn’t completed, I used my knowledge of the UAG Archive to locate information about the history of the UAG and piece together details recorded previously by others who worked in the gallery.

Although this experience was much different remotely than it would have been in person, I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to work with former Associate Director and Curator Allyson Unzicker. She is a great mentor and the skills I developed under her supervision will assist me greatly in any future career. I am looking forward to this upcoming year when I can visit the UAG and attend the exhibitions held by the gallery.

Bianca Vasquez Rockland Center for the Arts Internship Spring 2021: During the past few months I had the amazing opportunity to intern at the Rockland Center for the Arts. While this was my first time doing an internship remotely, it was still a great experience. This was my first time doing a research-focused internship.

For this internship, much of my work focused on researching Charles White, his students, and pieces the exhibit were interested in displaying. During our meetings, we would often analyze his work, and unpacked all the multiple meanings each piece held. Something I didn’t expect but was really excited about was that I also had the opportunity to research interactive aspects for the show. A big part of this focused on trying to get the visitors of the exhibit to engage with the artwork and then create something that embodied the same themes of Charles White’s pieces. Whether this was in the form of an interview, sketching, or photography, I searched videos and tips to aid and inspire those who visited the show.

It was fun to help brainstorm other ways the guests could interact and learn from the art, and what were ways that we could help them in their creative venture. Overall, it was an amazing opportunity, and I am so thankful for an impactful spring internship experience during the pandemic.

Grace Horgan Laguna Art Museum Spring 2021: I was so happy to be the development intern with Laguna Art Museum through UCI this spring quarter. Over winter, I was about to complete my first internship with LAM, and it was also my first virtual internship. During that time, I learned the ropes of managing a completely virtual internship, and I gained an incredible amount of knowledge in regards to the art museum, as a whole. When they asked me to continue through the spring, I knew that I only had room to grow, especially now that I had my basis.

This quarter, I was able to do just that! I attended staff meetings regularly and an entire Q+A series with each department within the museum over the span of the quarter. The Q+A series, led by LAM's education department, was an invaluable experience for me. I was able to sit down with education curators, registrars, preparators, designers, the communications director, operations, and my home department of development, which allowed me to learn more about where I fit into this thing we call an art museum. It was truly something so special that LAM put together for this internship, and I now know so much more about each role at the museum—it truly takes a village! Additionally, I focused on several business partnerships and grant-related projects this quarter, where I got to learn more about the role of the art museum in the community.

Sophia Caruso Rockland Center for the Arts (RoCA) Spring 2021: My internship at the Rockland Center for the Arts in preparation and creating the online Charles White exhibition gave me a taste of working within the art history field. I have never done a research internship before and I felt that this opportunity gave me extremely valuable experience of research in general and also research within art history and museum career.

I developed my teamwork, time management, and research skills within this internship because I had the privilege of working alongside another student. I learned how institutions need to be aware of the copyright of specific images and keep in contact with the estate of the artist. We also created prompts of the exhibition that were curated to the art pieces and the people that were contemporaries of White.

Respecting the artist’s vision while creating prompts with a wide range of a target audience was a valuable experience because it allows one to apply the research of the artist to be engaging for the audience. It was especially invigorating because we wrote prompts for multiple age ranges and elevated the questions and tasks for a more complex application of the knowledge presented. The weekly group meetings and brainstorming were my favorite parts of the internship because I was able to apply my research and writing skills.

Furthermore, building off of each other’s ideas and art critiques brought me back to my studio art days which motivated me throughout the internship. I cannot think of any suggestions for this internship because it provided the perfect task load, interaction, and work depth for a student. In the future, I hope to visit the museum and get to meet everyone I had the pleasure of working with in person. Thank you for this phenomenal opportunity!

Christine Catlett Gallery 51 Winter Spring 2021: Working as a Gallery Intern for MCLA’s Gallery 51 has been a real pleasure. I was so excited to learn that I was going to work for this gallery back in winter quarter, and I was thrilled to be able to continue my work through the spring quarter as well. Every person I interacted with has been so kind. Working with Veronica, May, and Erica allowed me to see the types of individuals I would be working alongside in this field. They are all so intelligent and wise; learning from them and their experiences has been invaluable. My work for the gallery has largely consisted of social media managing, content creation, and promotional campaign work. I ran both the @gallery51 and @mclabcrc Instagram accounts. Almost daily, I would post engaging stories and posts. Creating and designing content for Instagram was fun, because while I was given some guidance, I was allowed a great deal of creative freedom. This liberty really allowed me to explore all the types of content I am capable of making. In my time spent running the accounts, we saw user engagement rise!

Another area of work I did was creating promotional materials for upcoming events and exhibitions. I made many posters for the “A Tourist In Your Own Home” exhibition. This led me to speak with the many artists involved in the show, to work with them and their subsequent artworks, to make the best possible promotional content they could use in addition to us, to promote the exhibition. I learned how to successfully communicate with many people to bring about materials that conveyed what was desired by each party, and would best showcase the exhibition. I also learned how to design email campaigns for upcoming events and exhibitions. This was a new task I had never done before. I am glad I learned how to do this, as I know it's a great skill to carry with me through my professional life.

Getting the chance to work with artists and other people in the industry was the best experience to allow me to try my hand in this field and to learn how to navigate it. Even though this internship was remote, my experience working with others online felt similar in a way to an office environment. Our meetings were constant, which I appreciated because it kept me in the loop and up to date with what was always going on. The dialogue between Erica and I has always been clear and honest. She is the most amazing boss. I admire her and how she runs the gallery.

Hania Hendrickson UCI Special Collections Winter 2021:  I had the fantastic opportunity to remotely intern with UCI’s Special Collections department, focusing on ephemera from the Best Kept Secret exhibition. Within this internship, I used the archival collections to function as an independent researcher. I investigated building a digital collection that is focused on UCI’s prominent role in the development of contemporary art from 1964 to 1971. I created metadata descriptions for archival ephemera collections from these periods, and utilized controlled vocabularies from the Getty Research Institute Thesaurus. This project was supervised by Derek Quezada, the Outreach & Public Services Librarian for Special Collections and Archives for UCI Libraries, and Jenna Dufour, the Research Librarian for Visual Arts. Both Derek and Jenna were incredibly helpful throughout the internship, and consistently ensured that I was able to take away valuable research skills from this project. I am so grateful to have interned on such an engaging project that has helped me better prepare for my future career in the art world.

Bianca Vasquez Rockland Center for the Arts Spring 2021: During the past few months I had the amazing opportunity to intern at the Rockland Center for the Arts. While this was my first time doing an internship remotely, it was still a great experience. This was my first time doing a research focused internship. For this internship, much of my work focused on researching Charles White, his students, and pieces the exhibit were interested in displaying. During our meetings, we would often analyze his work, and unpacked all the multiple meanings each piece held. Something I didn’t expect but was really excited about was that I also had the opportunity to research interactive aspects for the show. A big part of this focused on trying to get the visitors of the exhibit to engage with the artwork and then create something that embodied the same themes of Charles White’s pieces. Whether this was in the form of an interview, sketching, or photography, I searched videos and tips to aid and inspire those who visited the show. It was fun to help brainstorm other ways the guests could interact and learn from the art, and what were ways that we could help them in their creative venture. Overall, it was an amazing opportunity, and I am so thankful for an impactful spring internship experience during the pandemic.

Iris Chuan MCLA Gallery 51 Winter and Spring 2021: During the Winter and Spring Quarter, I had the wonderful opportunity to work remotely as an intern with Gallery 51, a contemporary art gallery run by Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. They exhibit many emerging and mid-career artists, showcasing many diverse expressions from their culture and community. As an intern, I edited Zoom recordings of many different programs, ranging from featuring artist portfolios, interviews, exhibition showcases, community discussions, and more. I also created animated intro and outro templates and put together captions for their videos. I kept these recordings and templates organized so that people could reference them for later use. I was also able to provide support in creating posts to promote these events on social media as well. I would like to thank my supervisor, Erica Wall, for the opportunity to work at Gallery 51 and exposure to some really fascinating artists and their stories. I hope that I will be able to visit Gallery 51 in person one day!

Diana Oviedo The Black Index Winter 2021: I had the incredible opportunity to continue my internship with Professor Cooks in creating and maintaining a virtual space for her exhibition The Black Index. This time around, I assisted with updating information on the traveling exhibition and adding various programs to the website we designed. Being on standby to make these changes, shed light on the intricacies and technicalities of an exhibition that I otherwise would not have been able to experience as a viewer. So much goes into putting together and presenting an exhibition and this internship made me so much more appreciative of all the hard work involved in making it happen, not to mention even more passionate about it.

And as the art world is getting more comfortable with digital spaces, I feel fortunate to be part of the movement — especially with this wonderful exhibition. Although, I did have the opportunity to tour the show in person at the CAC Gallery on campus with Professor Cooks before it traveled to its next location: Palo Alto Art Center. Seeing these works in person was, of course, amazing and made me consider the comparisons between a viewer’s experience in front of a canvas versus a screen. This is something I definitely want to explore further as I hope to continue working within the realm of exhibition design. All in all, I’m grateful for this opportunity and everything I have learned while working with and around such lovely people.

Desiree Galindo Laguna Art Museum Events/Membership Winter 2021:  Being and Event/Membership Intern for the Laguna Art Museum was a great introduction to how the museum industry operates. Although the internship was completely remote, it was still a very educational experience. My primary task as an Event/Membership intern was to create weekly membership acknowledgment letters, envelopes, and membership cards, to update auction bid sheets and update sales records, input artists into the museum’s database, and to create documents for the museum’s facility rentals.

Though everything was remote, I was able to thoroughly learn about all the data and analytics that goes into planning exhibitions and auctions. I learned how to operate new and different databases such as Altru, which was a bit of a challenge, but my mentor and other department heads were very helpful and thorough when it came to instruction and tutorials.

I was also able to get a foundational understanding for how different department heads come together to make such events happen by participating and attending department meetings. I am looking forward to continuing my internship into the spring quarter and being able to help out with the museum’s benefit gala. Hopefully this quarter I will be able to attend the events in person and be able to meet my mentor and all the other department heads as well! The world is learning how to adapt to this pandemic and it was a very educational experience to see how the Laguna Art Museum is adapting to it as well!

Zoe Portnoff Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) Curatorial Internship Winter 2021: Interning with the FAMSF has been an incredible opportunity and challenge to take on in my senior year. Over the course of this internship, I assisted my supervisor with research for exhibitions, primarily by compiling and summarizing literature. I learned how to track down details about specific artworks by accessing catalogue raisonnes, searching through publication and exhibition histories, and reaching out to different libraries and museums. Through this internship, I learned about the immense amount of work and research that goes into producing a single art exhibition.

I also had the opportunity to attend many virtual events through the museum, from staff meetings to artist talks. Through my attendance of all-staff meetings, I learned more about the FAMSF’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, their virtual programming and community projects, and the museum’s upcoming exhibitions. In addition to experience in the workplace, I also furthered my art historical education by attending lectures given by museum staff members and artists. One of the highlights of my experience was attending a talk given by Allison Saar over Zoom, an artist that I had previously studied in one of Professor Cooks’ courses!

As I continue my internship into the Spring quarter, I will be writing art labels for an upcoming exhibition of pastels. I am very grateful to the FAMSF, the UC Irvine Art History department, the UCI Friends of Art History, the Steckler Family Iniitative in Art History, and my internship supervisor for making this opportunity possible!

Grace Horgan Laguna Art Museum Winter 2021: My experience being a development intern at the Laguna Art Museum was extremely interesting, though completely unconventional. I found being completely remote, due to COVID-19, to be a challenge; however, it was incredibly rewarding. Throughout these last 10 weeks, I learned so much about analyzing information using database software and Microsoft Excel. I helped my mentors with ongoing projects, I got to compare new data with old to track improvements, and I got to help with the backend of an online art auction through Artsy. Additionally, I was able to meet bi-monthly with the development team via Zoom, and I got a private tour of a new exhibit at the museum with a docent at the museum via Zoom.

Although it was difficult to adjust to a remote internship, I found the experience to be very fulfilling. I learned how to communicate more effectively through virtual means. I am excited to continue my internship for another 10 weeks at the museum, and hope to maybe even meet my mentors in person sometime soon!

Arina Lurie Museum of Latin American Art Internship Fall/Winter 2020-2021: My internship with the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) was extremely valuable and gratifying because it provided me with the opportunity to learn about so much art and so many artists that I likely would not have known otherwise. It is a unique experience because it is a museum chiefly dedicated to art by underrepresented artists which makes every piece you see that much more interesting and valuable. In a time when there are so many conversations about how to make museums more inclusive and accessible, it is refreshing to participate in working within a museum that does this.

I worked as a Curatorial intern and was able to watch artist interviews and hone my research skills, researching in Spanish and English. I wrote many artist biographies which allowed me to discover new artists I really love like Antonio Caro. It was extremely valuable for my research skills for my future in art history academia and beyond. MOLAA provides an environment rich with opportunities to learn about the histories and artists of those often excluded from museum life here in the United States. I feel very fortunate and grateful to have worked with an organization with goals so similar to mine that I don’t think we see enough of within big museums.

Brooke Dawson Aquila Projects Fall 2021: I am so grateful to have been placed with Jasmin at Aquila Projects for my internship. She was such a joy to interact with and she fostered an environment within which creativity flourished. She assigned tasks that fit my skill set perfectly and I was able to assist her in curating multiple virtual exhibitions. I was able to exercise resourcefulness in this time of uncertainty and my ideas were always heard and respected.

By first taking an inventory of my career path, she made sure I was able to get out of the internship everything that I had hoped to. Even though we had to work remotely for most of our time together, I was still able to learn so much about the art community and career field. Behind most artists there are so many people at work making sure they have an environment and space to showcase their talent, and that is what Aquila Projects is all about. They provide the weapons for their artists to fight with. By taking the time to do everything the right way, they open doors between artist and community benefiting all involved.

Ulises Reyes Laguna Art Museum Summer and Fall 2020: Following my previous term during the summer I found the Laguna Art Museum even more fascinating in terms of their inclusion of more artist’s biographies and updating their already present online archives. Furthermore, I was able to assist the marketing department by auditing their website. This allowed me to freely access what goes on in the museum when updating online resources, skill in which excel was implemented, and detail orientation is needed and valuable for your resume.

Apart from auditing other departments, there is a special feature when interning with the Laguna Art Museum in which, if you pay close enough attention, you can further your understanding of California artists and their lifelong passions. Specifically, the growing presence of the Latin American community in the art world, and how they interact with their environment. This is the most important and valuable aspect of the internship if you are looking to not only gain experience in a museum setting but also as an art historian. To know that you do not belong in one department or in either a small or bigger museum. The opportunity to improve yourself and prove that with teamwork culture makes a big difference in the real world is yet another important lesson. This harkens back to how many or some of you are wondering or insecure on whether or not to continue with an Art History degree. I say to you, if you see an internship opportunity, whether with the wonderful Laguna Art Museum or another take it ! No one is there to stop you from achieving your goals. Be courageous enough to say I am applying because I am passionate about art, and not because you are required for a job; that comes along with time. I thank the Laguna Art Museum (Shout out to: Kristen, Cody, Skupin, and Reller) for everything and Cecilia for providing this internship.

Hania Hendrickson Gallery 51 Summer and Fall 2020 This past summer and Fall quarter, I had the opportunity to remotely intern with Gallery 51, a contemporary art gallery run by the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts. They exhibit work and hold conversations with many emerging and mid-career artists. Due to COVID-19, all of these events are now held virtually. As an intern, my primary task was editing and uploading Zoom recordings of the various programs, which included artist portfolio reviews with curators, artist studio tours and interviews, and community discussions. I also assisted with the promotion and preparation of the different events as well as updated exhibition files, maintained records, and facilitated outreach. On top of my internship tasks and weekly meetings with my wonderful supervisor, Veronica Preciado, I also had the opportunity to attend the events. I especially enjoyed the portfolio reviews because they helped me gain a better understanding of how to professionally discuss art, while also participating in those conversations. I am so grateful to have interned with such a lovely and engaging organization, and look forward to hopefully being able to visit Gallery 51 in-person one day.

Diana Oviedo: Black Index Exhibit at UCI's University Art Gallery with Professor Cooks Internship Fall 2020

I am very appreciative to have had more than one internship sponsored by the Art History Department during my undergraduate career at UCI. This past Fall 2020 quarter, I had the amazing opportunity to intern with Professor Cooks in the design and build of a website for her exhibition, The Black Index. Through this internship, I got to contribute to an exhibition in a way that I hadn’t experienced previously. Firstly, I was able to learn about the elements involved in making an exhibition happen including but not limited to, its sponsorships, accompanying events, and promotion. I was also able to challenge and improve upon my skills as a designer within a field that I wish to continue working in and around. It was truly a wonderful experience to be part of an exhibition that not only features work by six incredibly talented artists but also be able to contribute a different form of image-making myself: web design.

And while the work involved in designing the website meshed well with the remote conditions of the internship, I was still able to learn how an exhibition adapts to an increasingly more digitized art world. This includes the availability of live events hosted on platforms like Zoom and virtual tours of exhibitions that can be experienced in the comfort of your own home. That being said, I would like to thank Professor Cooks and the entire Art History Department for giving me yet another opportunity to have an internship that was not only exciting but incredibly rewarding.

Hannah Roquero: Laguna Art Museum Collections and Curatorial Internship Summer and Fall 2020

This summer I was able to intern in the Collections and Curatorial Department at the Laguna Art Museum. I had the pleasure of working with Tim Campbell, as well as learning from him. He shared the journey of his career, working a variety of positions under different museums and organizations–and shared advice. Being my second internship, it was interesting to transition into a remote internship. I assisted in writing artist biographies, creating labels for various artworks, inputting data (accession number with the label), as well as assisting in an online exhibition (didactics and exhibition music). I particularly enjoyed working on the online exhibition, selecting the songs for the walk through video–finding the songs that best fit the mood of the exhibition.

In addition to interning in the Collections and Curatorial Department, the interns under the Laguna Art Museum held a bi-monthy zoom meeting with Kristen Anthony to discuss our projects and get to know the fellow interns. Q and A sessions were also scheduled for us to learn more about the different departments; they were enjoyable and educational. We were also given the chance to discuss ideas for the transition of the museum to be more accessible online in a virtual format. Overall, the internship was engaging despite the circumstances of COVID-19.

I was lucky enough to extend my internship through the fall quarter, and continue to work with Tim Campbell in the Collections and Curatorial Department. Despite both of our busy schedules, we were still able to periodically work on projects and assignments. The main focus of this quarter was assisting with the auction, and I had the chance to see works from local artists–as well as do data entry for those works. I am grateful to have interned with the Laguna Art Museum, and will take the skills gained from this experience to aid my future endeavors.

Zoe Portnoff: Laguna Art Museum Development Internship Fall 2020

During the Fall quarter, I continued my internship with the Laguna Art Museum development department. I continued some of my projects from the summer, working on the museum’s database of donors. I had three new projects this quarter. Firstly, I researched museum business partners and updated their records and contact information. Secondly, I researched museum rental spaces and similar California venues in order to determine appropriate rates and services that the LAM could offer. Thirdly, I researched grantmaking organizations and compiled a spreadsheet of potential future donor organizations, using online resources such as public tax return information. As the internship was completely remote, I learned a lot about the online research tools that art institutions use to find and apply for funding. Attending weekly department meetings also allowed me to learn about the museum’s other ongoing projects, and how my own work fit into their goals. This internship gave me a greater understanding of how art museums are adapting to the conditions of the pandemic, providing insight for the Art History Undergraduate Association’s own virtual programming and art show. I learned a lot from the remote communication and teamwork of the department. I’m excited to visit the LAM and my mentors sometime next year (hopefully)!

Endria Leyva Suarez:  IMCA Latinx / Chicano Art IMCA Summer and Fall 2020

I have had the pleasure to work at UCI  Institute and Museum of California Art (IMCA) alongside Professor Cooks during summer 2020. This internship consisted of identifying the Chicanx/Latinx artist and their artwork within IMCA’s collection. With the guidance of Professor Cooks, I developed a system in which to identify and organize these artists and their work. Being that IMCA is an institute that is being newly developed, being part of the process has been very rewarding. I loved the process of learning more about Chicanx/Latinx artists I already knew, but most importantly I loved discovering new artists. To my very happy surprise, there were a lot more Chicanx/Latinx artists in the collection than expected which allowed me to work on my reacher for the entirety of the summer. This summer internship felt incredibly important as I hope to see a broad representation of cultures and communities when IMCA opens its doors to visitors. This was my opportunity to highlight the artists that need to be exhibited and shown recognition. While doing this internship I gained a lot of knowledge in the early stages of preparing and cataloging a museum's collection. I was able to be creative in the ways I chose to organize my research and information I found on the artists and truly felt like this was my project to develop and work on to make my own. I have grown to love the collection of art at IMCA and am very excited to see it exhibited in the future.

Endria Leyva Suarez: Roni Feinstein Summer 2020
Interning for Roni Feinstein, an independent scholar in Art History, was an incredible experience. As a museum director and curator, university professor, museum educator, independent curator, and arts journalist there was a lot to learn from her in many aspects of professions within the arts. With this single internship, I got an insight into the life of a brilliant woman working as an Art History scholar. I learned much more than technical work, I learned about all the possibilities that a study in Art History could bring. Her mentorship opened my eyes to the many possibilities for a career in the arts. More specifically I assisted with her personal projects of promoting the art of local artist Mila Gokhman. I gained experience in art handling, as I assisted in taking measurements and assessing the condition of the artwork. We worked closely with the artist Gokhman on updating her personal website to showcase her work as well as updating an extensive catalog. I also assisted Roni with researching historical backgrounds of different mediums and art practices that relate to those used by the artist. The final project of the internship was assisting with a photoshoot of Gokhman’s art to one day be exhibited for the public. I am incredibly grateful to the Art History department and Roni Feinstein for such a great opportunity in broadening the possibilities for my future career.

Hannah Roquero: Laguna Art Museum Collections and Curatorial Summer 2020

This summer I was able to intern in the Collections and Curatorial Department at the Laguna Art Museum. I had the pleasure of working with Tim Campbell, as well as learning from him. He shared the journey of his career, working a variety of positions under different museums and organizations–and shared advice. Being my second internship, it was interesting to transition into a remote internship. I assisted in writing artist biographies, creating labels for various artworks, inputting data (accession number with the label), as well as assisting in an online exhibition (didactics and exhibition music). I particularly enjoyed working on the online exhibition, selecting the songs for the walk through video–finding the songs that best fit the mood of the exhibition.
In addition to interning in the Collections and Curatorial Department, the interns under the Laguna Art Museum held a bi-monthy zoom meeting with Kristen Anthony to discuss our projects and get to know the fellow interns. Q and A sessions were also scheduled for us to learn more about the different departments; they were enjoyable and educational. We were also given the chance to discuss ideas for the transition of the museum to be more accessible online in a virtual format. Overall, the internship was engaging despite the circumstances of COVID-19.

Anne Lim: IMCA Asian American Art Summer 2020

I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in a Summer Internship at the Institute and Museum of California Art (IMCA). Guided by Remy Mason Anselmi, Professor Bridget Cooks, and Professor Bert Winther-Tamaki, I researched within the BUCK Collection, held by IMCA, for individual Asian American artists who worked or lived locally in California. This internship gave me an insight into another side of art history that I wasn’t able to experience through class courses.

Through two research projects, I discovered many local Asian American artists that I never knew and learned how to search for legitimate information. Creating several spreadsheets of biographies and tombstones for each Asian American artist, I learned about their difficult journeys and was inspired by their determination to succeed despite the societal challenges they faced. I separated artists and their artworks from the entire collection, and pondered why each artwork was separated by race and ethnicity, even if it isn’t present in their artwork. I came across a few obstacles, such as not being able to find any information about some local artists. This showed me why it was so important to archive as much as possible before the possibility of historical erasure.

I was able to experience what a completely online internship was like, which allowed me to learn how to operate on my own and manage my time throughout the internship. I really appreciated the Helpful Q&A created by Remy Mason-Anselmi, which introduced the staff and other interns within the museum. Looking back on this experience, I am so grateful to IMCA and to the Art History Department for providing this opportunity for me to discover Asian artists through a different perspective.

Jordan Cruz: IMCA Native American Art Summer 2020

This summer I had the opportunity to intern at UCI’s Institute and Museum of California Art(IMCA). I conducted two research projects that looked to gather information about Native American artists and their work. I created a master spreadsheet that identifies Native American artists in Californian museums and their artworks. I also created a spreadsheet as well as individual biographies of Native American artists and their artworks in the Buck and Irvine Museum collections held by IMCA. My work serves as a starting point in identifying major Native American artists in California and researching their work.
I enjoyed my internship because it provided an opportunity to familiarize myself with contemporary Native American artists. There is a tendency to view Native American/Indigenous artwork solely as archaeological and ethnographic material culture. Creating a common misconception that Indigenous cultures are static and disappearing. This research reveals contemporary Native American artist such as Jean LaMarr and Allan Houser who creates art inspired by and for Indigenous communities. Artwork that deals with contemporary Indigenous social and cultural issues and is constantly changing. Revealing interesting artwork done my Native American communities and overcoming the stereotype of a static culture.

Sam Lundy: MCLA Gallery 51 Summer  and Fall 2020

During the summer and fall quarters of my Junior year at UCI, I had the great pleasure of working with the Gallery 51 team from the Berkshire Cultural Resource Center at MCLA. During the months of August to mid October I was exposed to new opportunities of learning from artists and their messages. This internship challenged me to grow, and I feel equipped with a new arsenal of knowledge and awareness. This branch of the BCRC offered an opportunity to gain experience working with social media to promote events and artist exposure, something that I lacked prior to this position. Now, I have a greater knowledge and appreciation for the importance of social media platforms and the potential they offer up and coming artists. I found my work with Gallery 51 and BCRC generally to be very meaningful. They are establishing an important foundation for minority artists, giving difficult but important conversations around marginalized communities a platform to speak, and promoting discourse around how we can improve as individuals to create a more thoughtful community as a whole. In addition, I had a blast employing my own creativity and enjoying the perks of participating in the programs I helped market.

I want to thank Veronica Preciado for her never ending patience with me as I was learning, and accommodating my ceaseless stream of questions. I truly feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with her and her team, and to be able to contribute something worthwhile despite the restrictions of distance and covid-19. I’m so very thankful that this program is available to students. I feel excited for new students coming in who will benefit from this program as much as I did. This internship has influenced me greatly, I feel a great desire to work in social activism after I’m finished with my formal education. Thank you for the positive inspiration to make a difference!

Liz Wells: Smithsonian Summer 20

From July 15th to September 31st, 2020, I had the privilege of interning for the Near Eastern Department of the Freer-Sackler Galleries, which are a part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. Due to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic this internship was conducted remotely. Working with my supervisor Antonietta Catanzariti, I conducted research on a small group of Byzantine objects in the Freer Collection which were acquired in the early 20th century by Charles Lang Freer in Cairo.

This research involved working within the museum’s catalogue system in order to establish provenance for these objects and using external secondary sources to interrogate the possible function of these objects in their original contexts. While conducting research without access to a library or the objects themselves was difficult, Antonietta was very supportive and encouraged me to follow all relevant and generative avenues of inquiry. The information I uncovered throughout my internship will be used next year when some of the Freer Byzantine collection will be displayed as a part of an exhibition on the subject of Charles Lang Freer’s collecting in Egypt.

I was also able to present part of my research at a talk given on the last day of my internship to Smithsonian staff, including the head of the Near Eastern department Massumeh Farhad, who was very complimentary about my presentation and my work in general. The research experience and education in the inner machinations of a major American museum that this internship provided are invaluable. I am very grateful to the Art History Department for providing the funding for this internship, which gave me the opportunity to do such interesting and useful work for such an illustrious institution.

Brooke Denny: Laguna Art Museum Summer 2020

I am grateful to have had multiple internships sponsored by the Art History department during both my undergraduate and graduate years at UCI. I am especially appreciative to have had the opportunity to intern with the Laguna Art Museum in their events and development department. Through this internship, I got to see a different side of museum work that I hadn’t experienced in previous internships. I was able to learn about the outward facing side of museums; public relations, membership services, and event planning. It was an invaluable experience to learn about the development side of museums and how their important work, which often remains unseen by most visitors, keeps the museum funded and able to provide for its visitors through programming and membership benefits. Before this internship, I had only limited knowledge of what a development department does in a museum but I have a new-found appreciation for the work they do both behind the scenes and in direct contact with members and guests.

Due to the unique conditions of the internship being entirely remote, I also learned how museums are able to continue operations even when the physical museum is closed. As our world changes to fit the health and safety parameters of a pandemic, and as our society becomes increasingly digitally-focused, I was glad to be able to see first-hand how museums are adapting to these changes. I was able to experience online exhibition tours and even assisted with an online fundraising gala during my time at the Laguna Art Museum, and I believe these experiences will help me in the future as the art world continues to adjust to changing conditions. I am very grateful to everyone I worked with at the Laguna Art Museum and to the Art History Department and FOAH for giving me the opportunity to have one last internship during my time at UCI.

Zoe Portnoff: Laguna Art Museum Summer 2020

This summer, I interned with the Development Department at the Laguna Art Museum. This was my first time working in the more business/financial geared sector of museum work, and I found it really interesting to learn about the museum’s donor networks and special events. Because the internship was completely online, I did a lot of work with Altru online files that catalogued donor information. I compiled relevant information on particular donors, and edited missing or incorrect information. In addition, I created a rough draft for a new hire manual that included information on office protocols and database use.

I particularly enjoyed our virtual zoom meetings, which gave the interns a chance to learn more about the museum and its staff. Q and A’s with department heads allowed us to better understand the roles of staff members in a small museum and the various tasks that they juggle on a day-to-day basis. We were also given a virtual tour of the current Impressionist art exhibition, which was exciting to see even with an online format! I enjoyed working with staff members to discover the best ways to manage a virtual workflow and preserve a meaningful internship experience.

Hannah Roquero: Aquila Gallery Irvine Spring 2020

I was able to have the opportunity to intern for Jasmin Pannier at Aquila Projects. As I did not have one specific focus for the private gallery, it allowed me to learn more about the different aspects of the logistics of the gallery. I assisted in the process of physically setting up an exhibition, as well as working hands on with the works of art–I even got a say in the arrangement of some of the pieces. In addition, I aided in obtaining information and contacting local artists for upcoming exhibitions–this allowed me to develop organizational and communicative skills on a professional level. Alongside this work, I worked with the social media platforms for outreach to the community in the form of creating flyers and advertisements. I learned how to have creative freedom in the assistance of Jasmin Pannier. Through the process of obtaining these skills, I had the opportunity to create my own exhibition with my own theme and hand selected artists–after presenting my theme and description of the exhibition, I received feedback to better my approach to this process. Overall, I was able to learn a variety of skills and work that go into running a gallery–giving me a better understanding of how to pursue my future career goals.

Isabella Leon: Laguna Art Museum, Advancement Department Winter and Spring 2020

I interned with Bernadette Clemens, Director of Advancement at the Laguna Art Museum, where I was able to work with the developmental department and participate in visitor services, events, and sponsorship. Everyone in the department did a wonderful job of providing insight on why each task was important so that I could better learn and understand the responsibilities and impact of each project. They provided a wonderful and welcoming environment and were always eager to answer any questions.

I mainly focused on donor and sponsor relations, which came with a variety of tasks from solicitation, events, and organization within the database. Over the course of the internship I was able to learn how to properly utilize the database (Altru), and helped expand the museum’s Prospect coding. I was also able to work and experience their California Cool Art Auction and an exhibit opening. These events and the experience in general gave me a much better understanding of how a museum runs and the different career paths within each department. I was able to hear from every department exactly what role each person served and the different career paths they took to get where they are. It opened my eyes in terms of learning the variety of opportunities and careers available within a museum other than a research or curator position. The entire experience was rewarding and enjoyable, it only further inspires me to pursue a career within a museum.

Hania Hendrickson Laguna Art Museum  Education Department  Winter and Spring 2020

As an intern for Marinta Skupin, the Curator of Education at the Laguna Art Museum, I had the wonderful opportunity to learn about and be involved in the behind-the-scenes action of a historical and established museum. Working with the Education Department, I spent most of my time advancing the museum’s program records. I researched future program speakers, catalogued community outreach data, and assisted with the preparation for weekly events with local schools. My largest project was updating the Docent Training Manual to reflect the new exhibitions presented by the museum. With this project, I was able to learn about the curation process as well as the background of each artwork in the new exhibition. During my internship, I also had the amazing opportunity to assist with Laguna Art Museum’s California Cool Art Auction. I was able to see first hand how different departments worked together to produce such a successful event. Participating in the auction also provided me with further insight into the career possibilities present to an art history major like myself. Interning at the Laguna Art Museum was both an enjoyable and educational experience that gave me a stronger understanding of the art museum world.

Arina Lurie: Laguna Art Museum Winter and Spring 2020

As an intern for Tim Campbell, Collections registrar at the Laguna Art Museum, I was able to delve further into the history behind paintings than I ever have before. I spent most of my time going through the old collections documents and files and digitizing them.

There were folders with information and photographs from the 1800s up to now. Being able to see the behind the scenes of how museums acquire artworks and the documentation and research efforts required was very insightful. I appreciated being trusted with delicate and old documents; it was fascinating to be able to get up close and personal with these papers. I spent much of my time transferring these documents into electronic form as well as organizing files, paper documents, and doing some light research into old newspaper articles about future exhibitions. Learning how to work the online database of art and how to edit the records was confusing at first but it became like second nature as I worked more. I also spent time with Tim, finalizing documents for the latest exhibits, determining the positioning and order of paintings in the Travels in Mexico exhibition, as well as even getting to go to the Bowers museum and look in their vault as a painting acquisition was finalized.

In addition, I was able to tag along with the art handling crew, on occasions, as well as work with the art conservator Victoria, assessing and documenting the conditions of artworks. I really enjoyed and appreciated being able to work in an environment where questions were encouraged and everyone was open to talking about their experiences, making it much easier for me to figure out what other realms of museum work I would like to learn more about.

Iris Chuan Special Collections and Archives Winter 2020

As an intern for Derek Quezada, the Outreach and Public Services Librarian at the Special Collections and Archives in Langson Library, I assisted in the overall process of putting together an exhibit on artist books with East Asian influence. This process included researching all available resources available to us, brainstorming ideas for themes as well as publicizing, and putting those ideas into action through making advertisements and writing descriptions for all the artworks. I learned the overall process of curating an exhibit and the different elements that need to be considered in planning it all. I was able to develop skills in researching and organizing artworks as well as communicate and cooperate with a small group of people to visualize our exhibit. It was very exciting having access to the Special Collections and Archives and being able to physically touch these artist books as many of them relied on more than just the visual sense but also the tactical sense.

Xinyue (Lulu) Yuan UCI Special Collections & Archives (SCA) Internship Winter 2020

Xinyue (Lulu) worked as a graduate intern under the mentorship of Derek Quezada for the project on East Asian Artist Books. Her responsibilities comprised acquisition and curation. To acquire new materials for UCI special collection on contemporary East Asian Artist Books, she learned about collecting criteria, conducted art-historical research, and liaised between librarians, artists, and publishers in the US, China and South Korea. For her curatorial role, she collaborated with Iris Chuan, Derek Quezada, and Jenna Dufour on curating an online exhibit titled Wild Grass: Visual Forms of the Artist Book from UCI Special Collections & Archives. This is a great opportunity for her to practice curating and project management skills, and get a better understanding of the emerging field of “East Asian Artist Books.”

Zoe Portnoff Unpaid internship Award at the Seattle Art Museum Winter 2020

As an Education Resource Center intern at the Seattle Art Museum, I updated library catalogue information using OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) and created new educational materials such as family gallery guides. I chose to intern here because I had never worked in a large museum before, and I wanted to learn more about career opportunities in art institutions. I assisted in various education events, such as community art projects in the Olympic Sculpture Park and teacher conferences at the museum. I had the opportunity to learn about the different departments within the museum, visit the conservation department and work with volunteers at the information desk. I learned art education strategies for students K-12 and improved the Education Resource Center’s outreach and online accessibility. My work cataloguing original resource guides created by the SAM proved particularly rewarding, as a greater number of educators were able to access the guides and request them for their classrooms. I also had the chance to explore the SAM’s art collection and exhibitions during every shift, and thus I was able to take a closer and more detailed look at the works on display.

Diana Oviedo Erica Broussard Gallery and Residency Spring/Summer 2019

During my internship with Erica Wall and the Erica Broussard Gallery, I had the amazing opportunity to create a proposal for an exhibition. I expressed my interest in curatorial work and with Erica’s guidance I researched the premise/themes of the show and created a curatorial statement for the show. This was an opportunity I never expected or dreamed of having, considering where I am in my education and experience. Erica provided me with so much helpful information and guidance with the steps involved in carrying out an exhibition and the logistics of putting it together (budget, honorariums, design/layout, press releases, etc) as well as information about what it means/takes to be an independent curator.

Along with the exhibition proposal, I am helping her establish a partnership with OCSA (as it was my highschool). Essentially providing an opportunity for high school students to have internships and/or the possibility to be part of an exhibition, as well as inviting teachers to be a part of the program. It is an incredible opportunity for college students to introduce highschool students to careers in the arts, which is considerably rare in this field.

I plan on continuing to work with Erica on my proposed exhibition until it comes to fruition at her gallery. I am so grateful that I had this opportunity to have real, hands-on experience in a field that I am so interested in, with a gallery that has an amazing mission to have a space for underrepresented artists.

Risa Ogiwara: Laguna Art Museum Summer 2019

Risa interned with Bernadette Clemens (Director of Advancement). She learned Altru (a cloud-based museum management tool for tracking donations), created a spreadsheet of prospective donors for future Galas, auctions, and/or new exhibitions, assisted Sara Gale (Events and Development Manager) with their biggest fundraising event of the year, and helped Leilani Yamanishi (Visitor Services and Membership Manager and UCI Art History Alum and past FOAH award recipient) with membership management tasks. Risa appreciated the opportunity to gain exposure to, and experience with, the various people and departments and the knowledge she gained in how museums raise funds to support their programs. She also enjoyed a Q&A developed by Kristen Anthony (Education Associate) that introduced the interns to the museum staff, who shared details about their career paths with interns.

Celeste Armenta: Laguna Art Museum Summer 2018 and Summer 2019

Celeste enjoyed being part of a “hands-on” department with Collections and Curatorial Department Registrars Tim Campbell and Dawn Minegar summer 2019. She assisted with preparations for upcoming exhibitions, “working with the very intimidating database, delivering a painting to its owner, and going to the museum’s off site storage unit to pick out art pieces.” She “frequently tagged along with Tim and the crew members and got to physically work with the paintings; learned how to install a painting, how to light it, how to handle the art work, how to transport and store them, how to track and label them among so much more.” She enjoyed attending two of the exhibition openings for which she had assisted, John Baldessari’s “I Will Not Make Any More Boring Art” , and Gwynn Murrill’s “Sculptures” . She helped Dawn with shipping and writing condition reports for the artwork being shipped out and shipped in, assisted with installations, unpacked artworks and documented the processes.

Celeste writes that “Tim was a great mentor”, assisting her in learning how to work with the database and creating “a 60 page detailed handbook that made the process so easy” when she began working with the database. She writes “working with the database was so rewarding. I went in knowing nothing about them and by the end, I was very confident with what I was doing. Even though not all institutions use the same databases, I feel much more comfortable working with them in the future.”

Celeste interned Summer 2018 with Curator of Education Marinta Skupin conducting research and putting together a curriculum guide for Educators Night, to which teachers are invited to view the museum’s current exhibit, followed by a lecture on how the exhibition can relates to California’s school standards (helpful for educators planning a field trip to the museum). Celeste began by familiarizing herself with the exhibit, reviewing the art, the catalog produced by Janet Blake (Curator of Historical Art) and 3rd and 4th grade California standards, then compared art subjects and topics to the standards. She reviewed all the art in the exhibition and selected six paintings for their compatibility with the most standards, then researched the artworks. She included the paintings and its labels such as title, date, medium, etc. and background information on the painting, artist, the standards the art correlated to, and a pre or post activity the teacher could provide their students. The packet Celeste became a template for future Educator Nights.

Celeste noted “Marinta was a very gracious and wonderful supervisor who did all she could to help me gain the most from the position” and “gained a great understanding of how, not only the Education department works, but how closely each department works together to arrange all aspects of the museum.”

Sebastian Sarti  OCMA Internship/Award F18/W19: worked with curators developing public events and preparing for a new exhibition. He worked with docents on their tours, developed materials for new and upcoming programs, and produced an audio tour for an upcoming exhibit, which included designing a map and recording artists discussing their artwork. Much of Sebastian’s work consisted of research and interactions with outside sources to expand and enrich the museum and help the curatorial staff.

Sebastian wrote his internship ‘helped him to better understand inter-social relationships within a professional working space outside of school, manage multiple tasks throughout the day, and revise useful workplace strategies within a working space to use when dealing with unexpected challenges.’

Chuman Zhang Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) Internship/Award F18/W19: wrote that her internship experience was ‘an incredible journey’ for her and felt that ‘everyone in the OCMA team helped her to understand the idea of working in a museum, and gave her many opportunities to be part of the project and to interact with the artists.’ She worked with both curators and the public engagement team during her internship on a variety of projects throughout her six-month internship, learning how curators and public engagement interacts with, and engages in conversation with, artists, museum docents and children from the local school, and applied what she learned in her internship work.

Chuman conducted research for OMCA’s permanent collection and Season Two Exhibition, researched artists for future exhibitions, and assisted in producing public programs, including OC Cinema, artists performances and school programs. Her research topics included West Coast leading artists featured in the Season Two Exhibition for which she studied their artistic concepts, organized their past press releases, and found significant accomplishments and little-known facts. This ‘taught her to be organized, filter out non-important ideas with efficiency and turn information into detail-intensive factual and educational material.’

She assisted the public engagement team for the Season Two opening; drafting an invitation letter, editing guest lists, mailing out invitations and helping prepare the event space, as well as with school tours, public programs, family days, artists talks, and book signings. Chuman created an information web page for museum docents, interacted with the artists, helped with installation, and participated in OCMA’s many public programs.

Chuman felt the most beneficial aspect for her was the opportunity to be on the curatorial team from preparation to production of the Season Two Exhibition, seeing first-hand how ideas and artwork become a real exhibition. She wrote her  ‘internship was truly an inspiration for her future career and a turning point for her research. She did not know much about contemporary art before she came to OCMA, where she found her passion for contemporary art. Her OCMA internship inspired her to study modern and contemporary art market in graduate school.’

Nastasya Kosygina Dumbarton Oaks in the Byzantine Coins and Seals summer 2019: Throughout this residency, I and six other pre- and post-doctoral students worked with Alan Stahl, curator and numismatics professor from Princeton University, and Jonathan Shea, the curator of the Dumbarton Oaks Byzantine seals collection. The first half of the day was devoted to seminar, during which we worked with the objects in the collections and received training in numismatic and sigillographic methods; the second half of the day we allotted to working in DO's library, completing assignments from our instructors and developing individual research projects. At the end of the program, each of us gave a 30 minute presentation on the topic of our research. We were then invited, schedules permitting, to further develop and present these research papers at the International Congress of Medieval Studies (ICMS) at Kalamazoo.

Although my current commitments do not allow me to take my research to ICMS at present, this summer program has allowed me to combine my newly-gained knowledge on Byzantine coins and seals with long-standing research interests on objects, writing, and apotropaicism. The project I developed addressed the efficacious uses of Psalms from the late antique Near East, and compared them to those found in medieval manuscripts from the Near East and Europe. I examined psalm as image, comparing late antique and islamic numismatic evidence with contemporaneous sigillographic material, and integrated this evidence with the use of psalms as efficacious utterance, both spoken and even inscribed on doorways and other architectural boundaries.

In my application for this grant, I stated that "I hope to expand both of these projects [my work at UCI with Professors Roland Betancourt and Matther Canepa] to consider how the reproducible iconographies on tangible, portable materials can circumscribe and inform expressions of power and object agency in more localized landscapes of doing." This project has given me a new angle to work with, as not only did I get to examine the DO collection of late antique objects, including weights, amulets, and other objects instrumental to my research, but also learned to consider their visual and material aspect from a different disciplinary perspective. Focusing upon the psalm as efficacious entity (image, utterance, ingredient) has allowed me to organically juxtapose disparate types of material culture without neglecting their specificity. The Coins and Seals summer program 1) exposed me to Byzantine studies as understood by several disciplines, from Numismatics and Curatorial Studies to Archaeology, History, and Religious Studies; 2) allowed me to expand, refine, and develop my methods and stakes for a future dissertation project; 3) potentially laid the groundwork for a conference-worthy paper, publishable article, or even dissertation chapter.