Interns at the Denison Museum spend time with antiquities, art and objects that enhance their learning, deepen their connection to their fields of research, and are just really cool.
They learn how to handle and clean ceramics, printed materials, textiles, wooden and painted objects. And they learn how to research items and curate collections. It’s all about observing, thinking and asking critical questions.
Many museum interns go on to careers that are directly related to the knowledge and skills they learned at Denison.
As one student says: “Working in a museum is similar to utilizing a time machine because objects date back as early as the 15th century, and each object tells a story that you learn as you work with it.”
Studio art major, women’s studies minor, and queer theory concentration (intended)
Hannah Chen ’17 is an intended studio art major, women’s studies minor, and queer theory concentration. Born and raised in Princeton, N. J. but hailing now from Ann Arbor, Mich., Hannah is honored to be part of the museum staff in the position of the Monomoy Curatorial Intern. Hannah’s interest in art has been constant, previously working as an art instructor, and a studio assistant for a jewelry artist. While working at the museum, Hannah hopes to gain experience working with the museum’s vast collection of items, as well as bringing more student art to Monomoy. Post-Denison, Hannah hopes to travel and gain a wider variety of experiences with different artistic cultures, as well as to spend more time developing a unique art style with the goal of finding a place within the art world.
Charlotte Underhill ’16 is a senior English literature major from Reynoldsburg, Ohio. This summer she is an Institute of Museum and Library Services intern at the Denison Museum through the Joseph E. McMahon endowment. Charlotte chose to pursue the internship because of her interest in working with historical artifacts and learning about writing in the non-profit sector. After graduating from Denison, Charlotte intends to pursue a degree in professional writing. She plans on applying her degree to improving communications in nonprofit organizations.
Audrey Peeples ’17 is an English literature and environmental studies double major from Westerville, Ohio. She is currently working this summer as a volunteer on the Institute of Museum and Library Services collections inventory project. Audrey is excited to learn more about cultural resources management and hopes to find out whether she wants to pursue a career in the museum field. She is interested in exploring the various artifacts in the museum’s permanent collection and helping to make the fascinating objects more accessible to the Denison community. Audrey is considering many different directions as a professional career, but she is passionate about cultural difference and environmental studies.
Marcus Woods ’16 is majoring in sociology/ anthropology and minoring in studio art. He is originally from Chicago. Marcus has an interest in the study of world culture and is excited to learn more about the Burmese collection. Besides studying objects, he also enjoys making his own. Marcus applied for the summer internship at the museum to obtain necessary skills for a possible career in nonprofit organization, where he can give back to his community. Through this summer internship Marcus hopes to learn more about different cultures, history, and art through the variety of objects he will work with on the inventory project. Marcus wants to give thanks to the Joseph E. McMahon Chessman for this rich learning opportunity.
Ariel Baez ’16 is from Boston and is majoring in studio art. This will be the second summer Ariel will serve as an intern for the Institute of Museum and Library Services Grant to inventory the museum’s permanent collection. In 2014, he worked with the museum’s painting collection and Rose Medallion china collection, and this summer he is looking forward to gaining experience in handling textiles. Ariel is interested in learning the fundamentals of working within a museum, such as curating, object handling and preservation. As Ariel states, “working in a museum is similar to utilizing a time machine because objects date back as early as the 15th century, and each object tells a story that you learn as you work with it.” Ariel hopes to utilize his experience at the museum and his passion for studio art to pursue an masters in museum studies with the goal of working at an art museum.
Jingwen Liu ’16 is majoring in religion with a concentration in Buddhism. She is interested in traditional East Asian art and textiles, and has taken one East Asian art history class so far. For the summer of 2014, she studied abroad in India, where she learned about Tibetan Buddhist art and architecture, which led to her interest in museum and art preservation. When she heard about the Institute of Museum and Library Services grant opportunity at the museum, she became very excited because she learned that the Denison Burmese collection was the largest outside Burma. She looks forward to learning about the mechanisms behind museum operations, and hopes this experience will help her with future graduate studies. A big benefit of working at a small museum for her is the holistic experience, where she has the opportunity to handle textiles and objects, learn about art preservation, curating, data input, and more about the history of Denison. The close relationships with staff members and other interns are also very valuable to her, as she can gain professional support and form a long lasting friendship.
