April 24, 2013

TODAY WAS MY LAST DAY INTERNING!

It was a pretty laid back day. I did a lot of the same - making copies of Post-Tests and Satisfactions Surveys. Since each student has to take one, I made 60 copies of each and worked on filling in information on tracking forms while they were printing. This internship has really taught me how to multi-task. That took most of the morning, and when my supervisor Emily got in, her and Delilah took me out to lunch to say thanks! 

After lunch, I made an excel sheet for 2013 Tour information, which only took a couple of hours. A lot of the work I did made me realize how non-profit organizations, like museums, must track all of their activity. I realized that they keep a close tally of everyone that comes in and out of the museum to contact them for special events, like the upcoming Gala in May.

Overall, my internship experience was great because it opened me up to how each department works, both independently and together. Ironically, I heard back from another museum today about a summer internship. I am applying for a paid internship position in Family Programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston and I think it will be really beneficial for me to see how an education department functions in a large museum. 

I am so sure, though, that I will never forget how I was embraced at the Mexic-Arte Museum. I felt that I had a voice there and that my creativity was fostered. Both Delilah and Emily reminded me to contact them if I ever needed a reference or just wanted to talk. My final day at the museum just reminded me of how genuinely caring they were. I am so so so glad I had the opportunity to finally fulfill one of my dream internships. It sounds cliche, but it was definitely a life changing experience!

I feel like the top things I learned through my experience were:

1. I would like to take some studio classes, since many art educators are artists themselves.
2. I feel more inclined to get my teaching certification in 8-12 Social Studies.
3. Most importantly, I definitely want to stay in the education department of a museum.

Thanks for reading! 

Denise 

HOURS WORKED: 10am-6pm (8 hrs.)

TOTAL HOURS COMPLETED: 128 HOURS

April 17, 2013

Today I was able to follow Delilah around as she gave a tour in the gallery. Most tours are given on Friday's so I'm never able to catch them due to my other internship. This tour was a special situation because the class could only make it on this one Wednesday and it was also a very small group. Since it was a special education class, the tour consisted of half of the information it usually contains. It was interesting, however, to hear Delilah talk about the masks. It gave me hope that the Education department still gets to be involved in what the Curatorial department develops. One of my apprehensions about being part of the education department is that it feels so different from my initial reasoning for entering museum work. I wanted to become involved in museums because I love history and thought it would be so much fun to do research as a curator for the rest of my life. I had also read somewhere that curators get to travel to different locations to scope out objects and art works and that sounded so cool! After seeing all that the education department does, though, I definitely want to start here and make sure I'm directly and positively impacting people who are frequently overlooked in the education system. 

After the tour of the main gallery and annex, youth tours are directed towards the back of the museum for an activity that I helped prepare one of the first months I was interning. The students first made some simple screen prints onto card stock, then cut out some masks of their own and decorated them with paint and glitter. It was great activity and I'm glad I got to see how my hard work on those masks turned out!


HOURS WORKED: 10am-6pm (8 hrs.)

April 10, 2013

Today was a change of scenery, both literally and in my work. Delilah and I went over to a coffee truck called Patika and talked more about the creative aspect of her job. She encouraged me to take studio art classes to become more familiarized with different forms of art. We also talked about the difference between being teachers and art educators and how the two are linked in many ways. I'm glad that I'm able to have these sorts of conversations with my supervisors. They're always so supportive!

Back at the office, Emily sent me a list of corporate sponsors that she put together for the annual day of the dead celebration the museum has called Viva La Vida Festival. I remembered that early on in my internship they were compiling this list and literally calling a dozen company's a day trying to get sponsorship. She had me cross-reference this list with another sponsorship list for the museum's Gala held in May. The Gala was being organized by the director, Sylvia, so she did not want any overlap in sponsors. I got through most of the list before handing it off to Emily and heading home. 

HOURS WORKED: 10am-6pm (8 hrs.)

April 3, 2013

Today was not that eventful. I spent most of my day researching who our state representatives and congressmen were. Remember that thank you letter I wrote a while back for the Texas Commission of the Arts grant? Well today I had to look up addresses for all of those people, then address many envelopes and send them off in order to receive the grant money. It was nice to see my letter being sent to important individuals who played a role in supporting the arts and specifically the Mexic-Arte Museum. 

Since I had a lot of free time today, I reflected a lot about why I chose to intern at the Mexic-Arte Museum. I was not directed towards an internship posting, nor did I find it easily. However, I had known for most of my college career that I wanted an internship at this specific museum. What I liked from it, externally, is that it seemed that they had a real passion for Mexican-American art. I know that sounds obvious, but, it the staff just gave off a very genuine vibe. Now that I am an intern, I feel like I'm part of the Mexic-Arte family. The staff is very close-knit and hilarious and brilliant. I have never been a part of such a creative bunch who care so deeply about my own culture. Okay, I'm rambling now. But it's getting very close to the end of my internship and it's only natural to reminisce :)


HOURS WORKED: 10am-6pm (8 hrs.)