Bridget Garnai, Arts Management Intern
On Thursday December 9, two Art & Architecture History students presented their Miami University Art Museum (MUAM) intern experiences. Art & Architecture History students at Miami must complete a field study as part of their major, and internships at the MUAM are an enriching way for students to fulfill that requirement. Rebecca Hughes, a senior Architecture and Art & Architecture History student, and Caroline Bastian, a sophomore Art & Architecture History and Arts Management student, were both Curatorial Interns and shared the exciting work they did this semester alongside curator Jason Shaiman.
Rebecca worked on an upcoming exhibition Comfort Zones, which places the paintings of Chicago-based Mary Phelan next to the paintings of rural Virginian Eldridge Bagley. As part of her internship Rebecca helped choose which of the artist’s paintings to exhibit, interviewed the artists, wrote exhibition texts, prepared grant materials, and used her design skills to develop a plan for the layout of the exhibition. Comfort Zones will be on view at the MUAM in Fall 2018.
As a curatorial intern, Caroline’s worked on an upcoming exhibition about African-American historical and cultural identity as portrayed through children’s illustrated books. Caroline and Jason spent many hours in King Library this semester reading over 300 children’s books and selecting which books to include in this exhibition. Caroline also prepared grant materials and worked on the organization of a conference and traveling exhibition concept in conjunction with the exhibition, which will be on view in Spring 2018 at the MUAM.
Many thanks to Caroline and Rebecca for their contributions to the MUAM this semester and for sharing their internship experiences with faculty, staff, and students!