Internship Summaries

The Bowers Museum, Winter 2025 (Emma Feasey):
During the course of my internship at the Bowers Museum in the collections department, I have learned about handling objects, condition reporting, and identifying mold. One major project that I finished this quarter was completing condition reports for a series of screens that are a part of a larger folding screen. Each screen had a lot of damage, so they had to be thoroughly inspected and the damage had to be properly described and identified. I also greatly improved my ability to write accession numbers on objects, and am now confident that I will be able to successfully apply this skill in my future career.

As I have spent more time in the collections department, I have continued to enjoy this position more and more. If I do not get accepted into any PhD programs, I plan to work in the collections department of a museum. This internship has provided me with so much experience that will help me land a full time job in the future. Careers in museums are very competitive, and this experience will help me immensely. In addition, I just feel so much more comfortable handling objects now. Before, I would have felt too scared to carry a screen that is way larger than me, but now I know that I am able to do that, which is beneficial for a future career in collections.

My advice for future interns is to let yourself grow comfortable with handling objects. It is important to have confidence in your own abilities. You are worthy of this internship, so do not be afraid to participate in it. Step outside of your comfort zone, as your supervisor would not ask you to handle an object if they did not think you could do it safely.

Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), Curatorial Internship, Winter 2025 (Myra McCants): 
During Fall Quarter 2024, I conducted an independent study with Prof. Winther-Tamaki. Through this, I wrote a research paper examining the contrasting documentary approaches of two historic illustrated books depicting the experience of Japanese American concentration camps during World War II: Born Free and Equal (1944) by Ansel Adams and Citizen 13660 (1945) by Miné Okubo. I engaged in weekly discussions with Prof. Winther-Tamaki to review my findings, and from this, he connected me with the head curator of MOCA to become a curatorial intern for their upcoming exhibition centered on Japanese American artists.

During my internship, I conducted research on Japanese American history from the early 1900s-present day, including geopolitical events, important exhibitions, and key moments for artists. Additionally, I wrote 500-word artist biographies for Miné Okubo, Benji Okubo, George Matsusaburo Hibi, Hisako Shimizu Hibi, and Chiura Obata. I was also tasked with creating a timeline/chronology for the catalogue of the future exhibition scheduled for Fall 2026. Along with my independent work, I joined weekly Zoom meetings with curators Clara Kim, Kris Kuramitsu, and Ariana Rizo to learn about the behind-the-scenes process of organizing a large-scale exhibition. I am thrilled to be continuing my work with MOCA next quarter. In the future, I would like to pursue a career in academia related to art history, whether that means working in a museum or university, I am not quite sure yet. Internships are opportunities for you to make the most out of your time, so for future interns at MOCA, I highly recommend diving into your research and asking your mentors as many questions as you can to learn more about the topic and more about how they do their job.

Orange County Center for Contemporary Art (OCCCA), Fall 2024 (Myra McCants):
During my internship, I shadowed various gallery artists and helped with three exhibitions: Uncanvased, Original Sources, and the All-Public Community Pop Up. For Uncanvased, I assisted with deinstallation. For Original Sources, I assisted with installation and deinstallation. For the All-Public Community Pop Up, I helped organize the “People’s Choice Award” by creating and counting the ballots. I also helped with deinstallation for this show.

In addition, I finished cataloging the history of artists and exhibitions of OCCCA for a future publication and exhibition covering the period of 1980-2025. Over the past three quarters (Winter 2024, Spring 2024, and Fall 2024), I crafted a digital document listing all the past exhibitions and scoured various online news agencies, such as OC Weekly, OC Register, LA Times, etc. for any articles related to past shows. I also went through boxes of old documents, which include newspaper clippers, promotional material, etc, and sorted them by year. It is fascinating doing archival work and learning about the history of a gallery through primary documents.

In the future, I would like to pursue a career in academia related to art history, whether that means working in a museum or university, I am not quite sure yet. Through this internship, I gained valuable experience handling art and researching the history of a unique gallery. For future interns at OCCCA, I highly recommend getting to know each of the artists you shadow. The gallery is a non-profit run by local artists who have a long history in the art world. Hearing their stories is one of my favorite parts of working at OCCCA.

UCI Langson IMCA, Fall 2024 (Sissi Kang):
This internship provides me with an invaluable opportunity to collaborate with professional curators, researchers, and art-related associates at IMCA. My work involves researching UCI-affiliated artists and writing artist briefs to highlight their works for a wider audience. I also participate in weekly check-ins with my supervisors, Mica and Christin, to discuss any problems we might encounter in writing artist briefs. Part of my role also includes outreach to the Claire Trevor School of the Arts to gather a comprehensive list of MFA graduates, which contributes to the development of a more complete database for the UCI art community. This internship is an invaluable experience for my art history studies, as we explore the distinct roles of galleries, public collections, and exhibitions, differentiating between commercial showcases and community-oriented displays in educational institutions, libraries, and museums. Our focus on diverse roots spanning Vietnam, Germany, Islamic cultures, and more also demonstrates how globalism intertwines personal and cultural stories regarding themes of migration, identity, and environmental sustainability. Several pieces of advice for future interns include visiting more local galleries and art museums to understand Californian art more thoroughly and comprehensively, and learning to write in a professional curatorial style rather than academic art history writing.

The Bowers Museum, Fall 2024 (Emma Feasey): 
I have genuinely enjoyed my internship under the collections department of the Bowers Museum! I have learned so much, and everyday has been incredibly interesting. I have learned about the correct way to handle artifacts and art, how to properly store them, how to identify mold on them and the proper procedure, and how to catalog them/input them into a database. One major project that I have worked on is moving the “long skinnies” onto a new rack system. It took a lot of time to properly prepare each object, ensuring that certain parts were wrapped with foam and a special kind of paper before carefully placing them on the hooks to ensure that they did not touch anything. Another project that I am currently working on is going through old photographs of Orange County from the 1920s and ensuring that they are not damaged and are properly described (as someone born in Orange County, these photographs have been so cool to see).

If my current career and educational plans do not work out, my backup plan is to work in the collections department in a museum. I look forward to going to my internship each week and have so much fun everyday I am there. Even if I do not go down that route, this experience has been eye opening to how the collections department in museums function. As an art historian, this knowledge is incredibly valuable to my work, as museums play a key role in art history. It has also allowed me to compare the collections department at a somewhat well funded museum to the archives of less funded institutions (particularly those that I saw in Curaçao). I was able to compare how the materials are handled and stored, which would be an interesting aspect to include in my work in the future.

My advice for future interns is to not be scared of handling ancient artifacts and artwork. Of course one should always be cautious, but as long as the proper procedures are followed, there is no reason to be scared. I was very nervous at first, as I did not want to accidentally damage anything in the collections. However, once you get a hold of the projects, it becomes so much easier to handle objects.

Nonaka-Hill Gallery, Summer 2024 (Karim Allaway):

The main project that I have focused on is archiving and cataloging the library. I’ve also helped compile prices and update the galleries artsy page. The library archival project has been incredibly beneficial for my knowledge surrounding Japanese art. The gallery's extensive library has allowed me to access information surrounding Japanese art that I wouldn’t have previously been able to learn about. The smaller projects such as updating the artsy and helping compile auction prices has helped my understanding of pricing surrounding art. I’m learning valuable aspects of the art world's business side. This internship relates to my future goals due to my growth of Japanese art knowledge and my desire to further understand art business. As for advice, putting consistent effort into the job and engaging with your bosses is a great way to get the most out of the internship.

The Bowers Museum, Spring 2024 (Emma Feasey):

I have truly enjoyed my internship experience at the Bowers Museum. This was my second contract with the Bowers. Recently, I have been involved with the planning of a new exhibition that is coming later this year. It has been super exciting to learn about the exhibition before the public knows about it. I have suggested many fun events for the Bowers to host that go along with the exhibition. Some of these events are going to be incorporated. I have also learned a lot about the groups of people who we are planning to reach out to about the exhibition. This past month I have done a lot of grassroots work and researching to figure out who would be the most interested in the exhibition. There is always so much to learn each day.

Even though I still want to be a professor, working in a museum has made me consider some sort of museum career, such as curation. There are still so many ideas for me to explore, but overall, this internship experience will be beneficial to me in whatever career field I go into.

My advice to future interns is to always look for something new to do each day. One of my favorite things to do is while I am asking guests to take a survey, I talk to them about the art pieces that I am knowledgeable on. It is a great way to practice professionally conveying ideas about art and it generally makes people happy.

I have had such a great time at the Bowers Museum once again. Everyone has been a joy to work with, and I wish I could work there forever. There are always so many interesting events going on, and I always enjoy sitting in on some of the lectures for a small amount of time. I have learned so much and I look forward to applying my experience to my future.

OC Parks, Spring 2024 (Sissi Kang):

During my internship at Cooper’s Lab, I gained valuable hands-on experience in midden sorting, archive scanning, and creating a database with archival documents. This opportunity allowed me to engage directly with the work rather than learning it theoretically. In the midden sorting project, my primary task was to separate bones from the other materials and create small piles for further research. I then sorted out minerals, plants, rocks, and shells, and ensured no bones were left behind. Some middens had confusing shapes and textures, which made it difficult to distinguish between shells and bones. In such cases, I would create a separate pile for items I was unsure about and sought assistance from Tacy, who is my supervisor. The archival scanning involved using a professional scanner to digitize historical documents from the 1980s and 1990s to create an online database, which helped me become proficient with office tools and learnt to use them efficiently and correctly. The most significant task I undertook was archival documenting. This required me to create a spreadsheet and enter the indexical information from the files into Excel. Thus, I would read through these historical documents in order to label and categorize them accurately. This experience was meaningful as it allowed me to directly engage with the primary sources related to the archaeological and historical development of California.

This internship aligns with my career goals of being a museum worker, particularly in enhancing my ability in using Excel spreadsheets and office tools such as scanners. These skills allow me to work more efficiently and professionally in an office setting in producing high-quality work. Additionally, my regular discussions with Tacy helped me develop valuable communication skills. By clarifying potential issues and concerns, I learned to complete tasks effectively and successfully.

For future interns, my advice is to be proactive in sharing ideas. If you find yourself doing repetitive tasks for a long period, do not hesitate to ask your supervisor if you can try something new. They are usually open to accommodating your interests and providing new opportunities to help you learn. Additionally, having some prior knowledge of archaeology can be beneficial. As an art history major, I struggled with some technical aspects of the work at the first two weeks of the internship. Therefore, I highly recommend researching and studying about archaeological methods before starting the internship.

Lastly, I want to express my sincere gratitude to Ian and Tacy for guiding me through the interview and internship process. I deeply appreciate this wonderful opportunity as my first internship in my undergraduate journey. Thank you all so much; it has been a fantastic experience working at Cooper’s Lab!

Unveil Gallery, Spring 2024 (Gasia Karakesis):

During my three-quarter internship at Unveil Gallery, I gained lots of experience in a variety of areas. As an intern, I updated the artists, artworks, and events on the online website using the Artlogic software. I also updated the new exhibitions, artists, and artworks on the online database using the Artlogic software. I learned how to use the Artlogic software as well as how to create emails and send them through Gmail and the Artlogic software mailing system. I have had the amazing opportunity to photograph multiple exhibitions and events hosted at the gallery since the beginning of my internship, and I am continuing to help photograph and edit pictures through the summer and the following year.

This internship relates to my career goals and allowed me to discover a wide variety of careers I can choose related to art. I really enjoy working behind the scenes at a gallery and I hope that in the future I can do that as well as use photography in my career. I also enjoyed learning how to use the Artlogic software because it is a common software that many galleries use. Some advice I have for future interns is to see how you can integrate your personal skills and passion into your internship, like how I did with photography and the opening exhibition events!

OC Parks, Winter 2024 (Grace Rudolph):

My time working for the Cooper Lab archaeology department has taught me a lot about the archaeology field and myself. I worked on multiple projects which have helped contribute to tribe conservation and reconciliation efforts. I helped sort through midden, ensuring that important artifacts or human remains were set aside for analysis, 10% sorts were done to gain a better understanding of the sites excavated, reorganizing artifacts for future ease of identification and transcriptions of work done. All of these required unique skills I had not been exposed to but learned with lots of time and practice. I had to be patient with myself and not be discouraged when one day I did good and the next I did not.

Upon graduation I hope to work in the anthropological field encompassing archaeology. This internship exposed me to the kind of lab work I will be conducting should I enter the archaeology field and helped me gain the basic skills needed for analysis of excavations. While I still have a lot to learn, I have gained a general understanding of the way things operate and am proficient in sorting through midden and identifying categories of artifacts. Having the opportunity to also interact with archaeologists and paleontologists has been valuable as well. Conversations with my supervisors have helped me think through future career plans and other opportunities that may be available to me.

The biggest piece of advice I have for future interns of the OC Parks Cooper Lab is to have patience with yourself. Quite a few of the projects require tedious work that can feel very repetitive with little progress. Having patience and discernment in tasks made the internship better and I felt I was able to get more from it.

Overall the internship was a really good experience and allowed me to get a glimpse into the archaeological field. While I mainly did the grunt work, it was all things that needed to be done and would be things I would do if I were to pursue an archaeology career.

The Bowers Museum, Winter 2024 (Emma Feasey):

Over the past few months, I have learned a lot from my internship at the Bowers Museum. This was my first experience ever working in an office and museum environment. I have had a lot of new communication experiences. I learned how to send and format professional emails, how to speak with guests when asked a question, how to communicate properly with experienced adult coworkers (almost all of my coworkers in the past have been around the same age as me), and how to approach guests in a way that have previously made me feel anxious. I also gained many skills related to doing work on a computer, such as learning how to use Microsoft Excel, adjusting images with Adobe, and creating social media posts for a large audience. Some projects that I have worked on are creating cosplay guidelines for the Asian Comics exhibition and helping with multiple booths at various events. These events include WonderCon, the Orange County Arts and Disability Festival, and ZotCon Mini. I also feel like I have made a small impact on the future of museums with the people who work there. I have a lot of knowledge on Japanese anime and manga, which I have been told has been super helpful to the successful running of the Asian Comics Exhibition. I have helped encourage cosplay and bring in younger people who are interested in the subject.

This internship experience will be extremely beneficial to my career goal. I ultimately want to earn a PhD in art history or visual studies and become a professor. In order to achieve this goal, I need as much experience as possible related to art history career fields. It is impossible to be an art historian without having some knowledge of museums and how they interact with communities, artists, and artworks. As such, I believe that it is extremely important that I am exposed to work within museums. It has also given me invaluable experience that will help me understand what running a museum is like, giving me new perspectives on various issues involving museums. I am sure that during my studies the topic of museums will come up many times (as I have already wrien about them once). Geing to know some of the ins and outs of museums has influenced my opinion on them as an institution and has inspired me to begin working on my own small research project involving them.

My advice for future interns is to never be afraid to ask questions. At first, being an intern at a museum was quite daunting. I felt nervous asking people who seemed to clearly be complete and perfect experts, questions that I thought may be interpreted as “stupid”. But I quickly discovered that everyone working at the Bowers Museum is incredibly kind, understanding, and patient. I have learned to laugh at my mistakes

with them and learn from them. Although museums often feel like an institution of perfection, they are not. Everyone makes mistakes, and no one is against you. In addition, do not be afraid to have fun.

Finally, this internship at the Bowers Museum has been such a great experience for me. I generally enjoy working, but being able to be an intern at a museum has made me so happy. Art history is one of my very special interests that I hold close to my heart, and this experience has made me feel even more confident about my educational path and my career path. I feel like this path is where I belong.

OCCCA, Winter 2024 (Chloe Wilson):

As an intern for OCCCA, my primary project has been reorganizing the gallery’s physical archives and compiling a digital archive of all OCCCA’s past exhibitions. The history project, done in collaboration with the other OCCCA intern Myra, mostly consisted of going through OCCCA’s website, its physical archives, and newspaper archive to uncover information about the gallery’s history. We then compiled our findings into a document that will be used for a future exhibition in 2025. When exhibitions happen at the beginning of each month, my work shifts to preparing the gallery for the events by unpacking art, hanging it, and making layout adjustments as needed. Throughout my time at OCCCA, I have learned a significant amount about contemporary art, local history, and gallery operations. Most of my studies have been focused on the distant past, so I do not know much about contemporary art. I have been trying to patch this gap in my knowledge recently through my coursework, but most of my understanding about contemporary art has been derived from OCCCA, specifically from reviewing past exhibitions and by talking with the artists who work alongside me at OCCCA. These conversations, in conjunction with my research, have taught me a lot about Orange County. As a native of Los Angeles County, most of my knowledge about Southern California is focused on my home region. Working at the OCCCA has broadened my understanding of Orange County and Southern Californian history, specifically with regards to art movements and urban development.

I intend to take my experiences at OCCCA and apply it toward my dream of having a career in museum work. Although art galleries and museums are fundamentally different institutions, they often have similar operations and goals. I believe my newly acquired knowledge about exhibitions, art handling, and art history will be invaluable for my future career.

For future interns, I would advise them to take advantage of the opportunities presented to them at OCCCA, especially the chance to speak with artists who work at the gallery. The conversations I have had with artists at the gallery have been incredibly interesting, insightful, and educational. There are few other chances to make such connections so absolutely make the most of this opportunity.

OCCCA, Winter 2024 (Myra McCants):

During my internship, I shadowed various gallery artists and helped with two exhibitions, Moved\Displaced and Urban Expression. For these shows, I assisted with exhibition design, installation, promotion, greeting guests in the gallery, and more. In addition, I am cataloging the history of artists and exhibitions of OCCCA for a future publication and exhibition covering the period of 1980-2025. For this, I have created a digital document listing all exhibitions and scoured various online news agencies, such as OC Weekly, OC Register, LA Times, etc for any articles related to past shows. I have also gone through boxes of old documents, which include newspaper clippers, promotional material, etc, and sorted them by year. It is fascinating doing archival work and learning about the history of a gallery through primary documents.

In the future, I would like to pursue a career in academia related to art history, whether that means working in a museum or university, I am not quite sure yet. Through this internship, I gained valuable experience handling art and researching the history of a unique gallery.

For future interns at OCCCA, I highly recommend getting to know each of the artists you shadow. The gallery is a non-profit run by local artists who have a long history in the art world. Hearing their stories is one of my favorite parts of working at OCCCA.

OC Parks, Fall 2023 (Richard Gonzalez):

Throughout volunteering at the John D. Cooper Center, I have accumulated valuable skills and experience that will benefit my career later on. I worked on rebagged midden material for a while in the hours I spent at the internship. I pulled various materials, like dirt, rocks, plants, shells, and bones. There were also human-altered items such as flakes, projectile points, and FAR (Fire Affected Rock). In this task, I'm enhancing my ability to identify materials, mainly bones or objects, in archaeological settings, such as excavation units. I have learned the distinct features of a midden, such as a shell pearlescent, the sponge-like texture in bones, and flake fragments. I'm also familiarizing myself with the material I'll likely encounter when assessing other middens. In other tasks, I arranged boxes containing sorted midden on shelves based on a designated list. Although I didn't spend much time on this specific task, it provided insight into the storage process for boxes of sorted bags. Two other projects near the remainder of this internship were entry logging for bagged material and recorded artifacts. These two projects, although simplistic, are crucial for us archaeologists to work on. I have learned about transcribing types of objects, categorized through trinomials, box numbers, year, chronology, and artifact type, by site into digitized copies. It is a necessary feature that helps us to access available information and better understand the history and significance of these artifacts. Overall, the midden tasks had a significant impact on me. I spent hours sorting through the material to ensure only bones remained in separate bags from the midden.

The internship provided me with valuable skills in archaeological material identification. The experience prepares me for what I might expect in a career within the same field. As an undergraduate going into archaeology, I'm using this internship opportunity to get into CRM (Cultural Resource Management) related positions. I've recently started looking into CRM firms that may look for archaeologists with the experience I gained from the internship. This internship may open up other career opportunities, specifically in OC Parks, that contribute to my career path. Currently, I plan to continue my work at the Cooper lab. The staff and volunteers' kind interactions and the various tasks gave me a considerable understanding of archaeological practices and team coordination.

Regarding future interns, you will expect most of your hours to go into sorting midden. Although time-consuming, you will identify material faster and develop skills for positions that require them. Although I have only been here for a couple of months, hoping for more, I encourage incoming volunteers to take pride in the work at the lab. You will play a crucial role in various processes essential to achieving the archaeological objectives of the Cooper lab. I hope other interns like me will see this opportunity catering to their interests and desires in learning archaeological methods.

Unveil Gallery, Fall 2023 (Gasia Karakesis):

During my internship at Unveil Gallery, I gained experience in multiple different areas. As an intern, I updated the artists, artworks, and events on the online website using the Artlogic software. I also updated the new exhibitions, artists, and artworks on the online database using the Artlogic software. I learned how to use the Artlogic software as well as how to create emails and send them through Gmail and the Artlogic software mailing system. I also was given the opportunity to be the photographer at the most recent exhibition because of my interest in photography, and I learned how to professionally photograph events. I also learned how to install and de-install works before and after exhibitions.

This internship relates to my career goals and allowed me to discover a wide variety of careers I can choose related to art. I really enjoy working behind the scenes at a gallery and I hope that in the future I can do that as well as use photography in my career. I also enjoyed learning how to use the Artlogic software because it is a common software that many galleries use. Some advice I have for future interns is to take your time learning new software or new techniques at an internship, and when you do not know how to do something at the internship, don’t be afraid to ask for help! Asking for help or doing research on how to fix the problem is a great way to learn and a great way to remember how to solve the problem in the future.

TKO Art, Fall 2023 (Britney Nguyen):

During my internship at TKO Art LLC, I, a business administration student with a minor

in Art History, honed my entrepreneurial, branding, and project management skills. Focused on implementing impactful social media strategies, I managed a TikTok account and contributed to the successful Holiday Campaign, gaining insights into the art dealing world and refining content for emerging artists.

Collaborating with Heather Katz and Troy Thompsen, I learned the nuances of art curation for optimal presentation. The experience provided a practical understanding of showcasing art and organizing handling, framing, and implementation.

The freedom for entrepreneurial expression at TKO Art LLC, thanks to Aidan Mack, allowed me to actively contribute to the business's success, fostering a deep sense of fulfillment. This hands-on experience aligns seamlessly with my career goals, bridging business acumen with a passion for the arts. For future interns, I recommend embracing entrepreneurial freedom, seeking diverse projects, and valuing hands-on experiences. The dynamic nature of the art business demands adaptability and creativity, qualities I cultivated during my internship. Overall, my TKO Art LLC internship enriched my skills, offered industry insights, and heightened my entrepreneurial spirit, providing a solid foundation for future endeavors.

Internship with Professor Simon Leung, Summer 2023 (Xinyan Shen):

During spring and summer 2023, I had the amazing chance to work as an intern assisting and working on the BREEZY JACK project with Professor Simon Leung. It was a very fruitful and rewarding experience working with Professor Leung, and I have learned so much through the process.

Throughout the entire process, I was assigned various different research works, and I was exposed to the multiformity of art and research. From my assigned works such as collecting archival files, organizing timelines, researching using primary sources such as old 19th and 20th centuries newspapers, I learned to develop strategic and productive ways to achieve and maintain a good pace in working. I had the precious opportunity to engage with primary sources, and I was assigned to search for and highlight key information in the newspapers. Moreover, the regular meetings I had with Professor Leung also allowed me not only to discuss the project and hear about his progress, but also granted me the chance to learn from his productive ideas. I was also able to assist Professor Leung virtually when I was in Shanghai, helping him to access archival data in the Shanghai Library. Having to evaluate all the massive scholarly sources, I also further developed acumen for maximizing performance.

The diversity of tasks is exactly what inspires and strikes me and continues to intrigue my interests in this area of study. I have seen and learned a lot from all the things I have done, and I believe these would be an inspiration for my future career path. I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I feel fortunate to have the chance to work with Professor Leung. It has been a very insightful and fruitful experience.

TKO Art, Spring 2023 (Xinyan Shen):

During 2023 Spring quarter, I was extremely fortunate to continue working as an intern with Heather and Troy at TKOart. My experience there was eye-opening, and I have learned so much from working with my bosses.

Throughout the entire process, I continued to be constantly impressed by the variety of things Heather and Troy do, and I was exposed to the multiformity of art. I was able to practice collecting information of published prints and selecting proper works and creating spreadsheets for customers. I also learned to cautiously examine works in the inventory and carefully categorize and record them. More importantly, I got to look at a variety of different artists, which I considered it to be such a privilege. I learned that there is not only just museum art, academic art curation, but there are also all kinds of art related works.

The diversity of tasks is exactly what inspires and strikes me and continues to intrigue my interests in this industry. I have seen and learned a lot from all the things I have done, and I believe these would be an inspiration for my future career path. I am very grateful for this opportunity, and I feel fortunate to have the chance to work with Heather and Troy again. It has been a very insightful and fruitful experience.

OC Parks, Winter 2023 (Nayeli Gonzalez):

Participating in this internship has provided me with experiences that I have obtained and further developed in skills of teamwork, communication, etc. through hands-on responsibilities while implying knowledge I learned from classes. But what resonated with me the most was the actual significant value, which I came to realize over the course of the internship, from the excavated material. Repatriation was one of the many focuses of this internship, the excavated material showed what was left behind by Native American people, their descendants, the record of their history and culture. Archaeology provides a heritage to many cultures and how that information is used in the future. My internship experience was re-organizing deteriorated archaeological material. My responsibilities varied from projects I have been assigned to, working with hands-on object handling, curating, and documenting. Ranging in detail from sorting and classifying bone fragments from excavated material, while also data imputing from previous research projects.

This internship was an essential step toward my career goal of experience in Archaeology and Anthropology. It included an unlimited resource for guidance when I advised on indecisive choices in a specific field study. Creates a pathway of further knowing what specific field study I would be interested in as a career focus. Doing these internships are somewhat of an overview of the various interests I have in archaeology that I want to narrow down. The process of better understanding my passion. While on the way, I can get connections further within this field from the internships I enrolled in, leading to a chance of obtaining a job. Also was an opportunity that gave me insight into exploring research project ideas and to further developing expertise in this field.

From my experience, I would advise others, especially newbies, that you aren’t expected to know everything immediately and get to understand your role and responsibilities from various projects you are assigned to. Even though it sounds like a cliche, ask lots of questions for uncertainty or issues regarding your internship work and even for career goals or advice.

OC Parks, Winter 2023 (Natali Lemus):

The activities that I remember the most is having worked on midden sorting, working on documentation that involved natural disaster evacuation preparedness, handling human remains, and documenting them, and bagging midden from the shipment containers. All of which involved being able to improve on my communication skills and being able to follow direct instructions. These were essential skills since some tasks like midden sorting had to involve supervisors looking over my piles of sorted midden, following their instructions to place items in their designated stack. I also learned how to distinguish bone from thousands of small shell fragments/rock/plant remains. A developed skill that was complimented by my supervisor. I am proud of how far I have come. I remember being intimidated by the enormous bag of shell fragments and other material. I thought to myself, “How am I going to be able to distinguish tiny pieces of bone from all of that?!” I strived for diligence and a few weeks later it became natural to point out bone fragments.

While working with OC Parks I have not only been able to be a part of their midden sorting assignments, but also their complete midden project. I was present in the process of midden being bagged from the shipping container that it was in, to sorting the bags of midden, to riffling it (in order to get a 10% sample), and lastly sort 100% of the 10% sample. It was vital to obtain all bone pieces within these midden bags and the amount of bone (estimating 70-80 pieces) I was able to retrieve was done in great effort. I am estimating I sorted through about 9,000 grams of midden within my approximated 50 hours.

Working with OC Parks one of my goals was to get hands on experience with anything and everything. My second goal was to learn how to identify artifacts that I encountered. I can confidently say that these goals were achieved. I was able to get hands on experience with midden and human remains, something that is rare! I was introduced to manos, metates, beads, flakes and their debitage; things that I can call out now. Additionally, as stated before, I became remarkably well at identifying bone from large amounts of midden.

I accomplished a bit more than the 50-hour minimum. The time spent didn't feel like an effort, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Time dedicated was a factor in accomplishing my goals with this internship, but also having my supervisor letting me work on midden repeatedly helped. He understood that I enjoyed working with midden and so it was a repeat project for me. Since I was so interested in making sure I was able to identify bone, I consistently asked him questions on how to better identify them. This goes with artifacts as well. If I ever had a question, I was able to openly ask anytime. In one case we looked at interesting artifacts that are specific to Southern California. They were donut-shaped artifacts. If I had not taken this internship, I probably would have never known. I think this goes to show how much archeological history needs to include more outreach. I also never knew about the indigenous communities that OC Parks is working with. The bags of midden and artifacts are meant to be repatriated or reburied. It's important that all bone is retrieved and looked at in case there are human remains that need to be taken care of.

I have already recommended this internship to my anthropology/archaeology friends, but for any others that are considering taking up this internship, come prepared to get your hands dirty, in a good way! This opportunity has made me love the field even more. The amount of knowledge and experience is something that I will remember and value. I plan to stay with OC Parks for the remainder of my undergrad studies.

OC Parks, Winter 2023 (Isabella Ortega):

At OC Parks there were several projects that the volunteer and intern staff worked on. These projects were centered around tasks related to the curation of new accessions and management of artifacts and specimens for the OC Parks Cultural Resources. Other tasks also included the sorting of bulk midden into artifact classes, flagging diagnostic artifacts for further identification, organizing collections, labeling artifacts and specimens, rehousing materials in drawers and boxes, conducting literature research on collections and sites in the County, as well as photographing important artifacts and specimens. Lastly, we performed data entry into the collection databases using Excel.

This internship opportunity relates to my career goals as it’s highly relevant as well as beneficial to myself and other interns that are interested in pursuing a career within areas that concern cultural resource management, museum studies, or archaeology. The tasks outlined above involve the curation and management of artifacts and specimens, which are essential skills in these fields and since working on these projects, I’ve realized that I find them highly enjoyable.These projects have introduced me to essential skills for archaeologists and museum professionals. Additionally, organizing collections and labeling artifacts and specimens with identifying information are critical tasks in maintaining an accurate and accessible record of collections, which is essential for researchers, curators, and educators.Overall, this internship opportunity provides valuable hands-on experience and training in the fundamental projects that are involved in cultural resource management and museum studies, making it an excellent opportunity for myself and others that are interested in pursuing a career in these fields.

           Some advice that I would have for future interns would be to take the initiative to ask questions and seek out opportunities to learn and grow. In order to do this, you must maintain open lines of communication with your supervisor as they clarify certain expectations. These various tasks and projects require organization and attention to detail. While some projects might be tedious, it’s important to take the time to carefully label and organize artifacts and specimens, accurately enter data into collection databases, and proofread any written materials you produce.There are many people that have many years of experience whether they’re in the archaeology paleontology department, take advantage of the resources and expertise available to you, ask questions, and seek out opportunities to expand your knowledge, skills, and even other internship opportunities. By taking advantage of these resources, you might be able to network and build relationships by connecting with colleagues and professionals. And lastly, remember that this internship is a valuable opportunity to gain real-world experience and develop professional skills, so make the most of your time and enjoy the experience.

OC Parks, Winter 2023 (Connor Todd):

Projects I have worked on in my time at OC Parks include: artifact identification, cataloging, and storage; archival document protection, scanning, and organization; 100% midden sorting, sorting midden for bone, reboxing/rebagging decrepit boxes of midden; and a brief trip to an actual archaeological site nearby that was being looked at by Dr. Howard, Professor Straughn, and OC Park Rangers. I have learned such skills as artifact identification, proper storage methods and best practices, patience, and an eye for detail during my time at the Cooper Lab.

This internship opportunity has essentially been a way for me to get my foot in the door of the archaeological world. It can feel inaccessible at times, but during my time at this internship I have learned about many different opportunities and pathways that I can take, as well as introducing me to a network of people who are all accomplished in this field. Moving forward, it has not only given me a solid foundation of experience that will hopefully help me in the coming job search, but has also given me a repository of information and fantastic people that I can always count on to help me achieve my goals.

My advice for future interns? Get used to sorting midden is my number one piece of advice, and my second is to try and really interact with the people that you are working with. Often, projects at OC Parks are very long-term, so much of the experience to be derived from this opportunity is from the people that you work with, such as Dr. Howard and Dr. Kennedy, as well as your peers. Plus, it makes it more fun!

OC Parks, Winter 2023 (Brian McKeagney):

Over the course of the past quarter I have gotten to learn so much about the field of archaeology. I have learned about the process of bagging and tagging artifacts and other materials found at archaeological sites. I have learned about the relations with the native tribes and how the county communicates with them. The majority of my time at the Cooper Center has had a curation focus, allowing me to understand the volume of the collection on the site as well as the nature of this work. I have learned about the many opportunities as well as planned out a future career path through these newly made connections. I plan to go into the cultural resource management side of archaeology for my future career. Advice that I would offer to interns of the future would be to understand that much archaeology work overlaps and finding what you want to do in this field can really help you choose your path. But keep in mind that you are not stuck on a path once you have started.

Internship with Roni Feinstein, Fall 2022 (Runxi Yang):

My internship experience can be divided into two parts. During the first half of my internship, I created and managed the 88-year-old Ukraine female artist’s social media and website. I learn more about advertising and publicity. After the partnership between Roni and the artist ended, I helped Roni catalog her private collection and collate documents. As a predecessor and professional in art history, Roni has provided me with many valuable experiences and advice. As an Art History major, I look forward to learning what I can do after graduation. Roni assigned me work that she used to do when she was working as an intern to help me understand and provide me with gallery-working experience. Working with Roni makes me feel passionate and enthusiastic about my future.

For future interns, I would like to recommend they gather real working experience before going to graduate school or their career. Real internship experience could teach you things you might not learn from school courses. And talking to the professionals in your area is really helpful.

Research Assistant with PhD Candidate Layah Ziaii Bigdeli, Summer 2022 (Sirous Asadi Nejad Ardabili): 
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.

Fine Arts Conservation Laboratories, Summer 2022 (Brooke McKenzie Dawson): 
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. 

Museum of the African Diaspora, Winter 2022 (Samantha Jewell): 
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.

Indie Pups, Fall 2021 (Rachael Rennie): 
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.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Summer 2021 (Layah Ziaii-Bigdeli):
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.

Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA), Summer 2021 (Bianca Vasquez):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Collections and Curatorial, Summer 2021 (Elvera Alvarez):
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.

Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) Graphic Design Internship Summer 2021 (Esmeralda Bobadilla):
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.

University Art Gallery (UAG), Spring 2021 (Samantha Cheng):
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.

Rockland Center for the Arts Internship, Spring 2021 (Bianca Vasquez):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Spring 2021 (Grace Horgan):
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.

Rockland Center for the Arts, Spring 2021 (Sophia Caruso):
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!
 

Rockland Center for the Arts, Spring 2021 (Bianca Vasquez):
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.

MCLA Gallery 51, Winter/Spring 2021 (Christine Catlett):
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.

MCLA Gallery 51, Winter/Spring 2021 (Iris Chuan):
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!

UCI Special Collections, Winter 2021 (Hania Hendrickson): 
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.

The Black Index, Winter 2021 (Diana Oviedo):
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.

Laguna Art Museum Events/Membership, Winter 2021 (Desiree Galindo): 
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!

Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco (FAMSF) Curatorial Internship, Winter 2021 (Zoe Portnoff):
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 Initiative in Art History, and my internship supervisor for making this opportunity possible!

Laguna Art Museum, Winter 2021 (Grace Horgan):
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!

Museum of Latin American Art Internship, Fall/Winter 2020-21 (Arina Lurie):
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.

Aquila Projects, Fall 2021 (Brooke Dawson):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Summer and Fall 2020 (Ulises Reyes):
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.

MCLA Gallery 51, Summer and Fall 2020 (Hania Hendrickson): 
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.

The Black Index Exhibit at UCI's University Art Gallery with Professor Cooks, Fall 2020 (Diana Oviedo):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Collections and Curatorial Internship, Summer and Fall 2020 (Hannah Roquero):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Development Internship, Fall 2020 (Zoe Portnoff):
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)!

UCI IMCA, Latinx / Chicano Art, Summer and Fall 2020 (Endria Leyva Suarez):
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.

Roni Feinstein, Summer 2020 (Endria Leyva Suarez):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Collections and Curatorial, Summer 2020 (Hannah Roquero):
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.

UCI IMCA, Asian American Art, Summer 2020 (Anne Lim):
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.

UCI IMCA, Native American Art, Summer 2020 (Jordan Cruz):
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.

MCLA Gallery 51, Summer and Fall 2020 (Sam Lundy):
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!

Smithsonian Institution, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Summer 2020 (Liz Wells):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Summer 2020 (Brooke Denny):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Summer 2020 (Zoe Portnoff):
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.

Aquila Gallery Irvine, Spring 2020 (Hannah Roquero):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Advancement Department, Winter/Spring 2020 (Isabella Leon):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Education Department, Winter and Spring 2020 (Hania Hendrickson):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Winter and Spring 2020 (Arina Lurie):
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.

UCI Special Collections and Archives, Winter 2020 (Iris Chuan):
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.

UCI Special Collections and Archives, Winter 2020 (Xinyue (Lulu) Yuan):
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.”

Seattle Art Museum, Winter 2020 (Zoe Portnoff):
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.

Erica Broussard Gallery, Spring and Summer 2019 (Diana Oviedo):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Summer 2019 (Risa Ogiwara):
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.

Laguna Art Museum, Summer 2018 and Summer 2019 (Celeste Armenta):
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.”

Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 (Sebastian Sarti): 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.’

Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA), Fall 2018 and Winter 2019 (Chuman Zhang): 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.’

Dumbarton Oaks, Byzantine Coins and Seals, Summer 2019 (Nastasya Kosygina): 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.