Posts Tagged 'McDermott Internship program'

Meet the McDermott Interns

Published September 12, 2016 Behind-the-Scenes , Staff Closed
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September is already upon us, which means it’s once again time to meet our new McDermott Interns. Each year we offer nine internship positions—four in the Museum’s Education Department and five in the Curatorial Department—to talented individuals who are interested in exploring museum careers. Established in 1974, the McDermott Internship Program allows interns to work closely with staff throughout the Museum and provides opportunities for individual contributions. Below you’ll find some brief background information on our brilliant new bunch, along with their official positions.

Grace Diepenbrock
McDermott Intern for Family and Access Teaching
Grace completed her BA in Studio Art at Mars Hill University in North Carolina. She most recently served as the Family Programs Assistant at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, where she led programs for families and early learners. Grace has also held positions with the EdVenture Children’s Museum and the Madison County Arts Council, where she developed the curriculum for an art-based afterschool program.

Kelly Filreis
McDermott Graduate Intern for Contemporary Art
Kelly received her BFA in Print/Paper/Book from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and recently completed her MA in Art History from the University of California, Riverside. While at UCR, Kelly served as the Art History Graduate Student Association Vice President and coordinated the 2016 Art History Graduate Student Conference. She has also worked with multiple galleries in Minneapolis to coordinate exhibitions and special artist projects.

Sara Greenberg
McDermott Graduate Intern for Adult Programming and Arts & Letters Live
Sara completed her BA in Art History at the University of Denver and recently earned her MA in Art History from the University of California, Riverside. As a collections intern at the California Museum of Photography, she initiated a print viewing program to provide increased accessibility to the collection. While in Denver, Sara held internships at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Denver Art Museum, where she helped organize their monthly late night program, Untitled Final Friday.

Angela Medrano
McDermott Intern for Gallery and Community Teaching
Angela recently earned her BA from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania, where she majored in American Studies. During her time at Dickinson, Angela founded a program for university student volunteers to learn and teach American Sign Language to early learners at the Dickinson College Children’s Center. Angela also worked with the university’s Trout Gallery to facilitate art-based wellness programs and programs for K–12 visitors.

Dana Olesch
McDermott Intern for Ancient American Art
Dana recently earned her BA in Anthropology and History from Beloit College in Wisconsin. During her time at Beloit, Dana served as a teaching assistant for multiple courses and worked with the college’s Logan Museum of Anthropology to create teaching materials for high school and college students based on the museum’s Andean and North American collections. She has also participated in archaeological excavations of domestic sites in Virginia and Peru.

Francesca Soriano
McDermott Intern for American Art
Francesca recently earned her BA in Art History from Colby College in Maine. While completing her degree, Francesca worked with the Colby College Museum of Art in various roles, including that of curatorial intern, student docent, and co-chair of the Student Advisory Board. She has also held internships with galleries in New York, Paris, and Berlin, during which she gained experience in development, communications, and exhibitions.

Marta Torres
McDermott Graduate Intern for Visitor Engagement
Marta earned her BA in Arts and Humanities from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey and her Masters in Art Education with an emphasis on Museology from Caribbean University. Marta has worked with multiple departments at the Dr. Pio Lopez Martinez Museum of Art in Cayey, gaining experience in education, collections, and curatorial research. She also held a position researching and organizing the archives of artist Antonio Martorell.

Amy Wojciechowski
Dedo and Barron Kidd McDermott Graduate Intern for European Art
Amy received her BA in History from Oberlin College and holds her MA in the History of Art from Bryn Mawr College, where she is in the process of completing her PhD. Amy curated an exhibition of special collections at Bryn Mawr’s Carpenter Library and has also held a curatorial internship with the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where she contributed to an exhibition on Fernand Léger. She has also served as a student docent and education intern at Oberlin’s Allen Memorial Art Museum.

Megan Zembower
McDermott Intern for African Art
Megan recently completed her BA in Art History and French at Denison University in Ohio. While at Denison, Megan held positions as a teaching assistant and as a research assistant, working with her professor to organize an exhibition of contemporary art at Kenyon College’s Gund Gallery. Megan has also conducted architectural research on the Simon Jude Chancognie House, a historic 19th-century home located in Charleston.

Sarah Coffey is the Education Coordinator at the DMA. 

Class of 2016

Published September 15, 2015 Behind-the-Scenes , McDermott Internship Closed
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It’s time for us to welcome our 2015-2016 class of McDermott Interns to the DMA. Each year a new class joins the Museum for nine months in positions divided between the Museum’s curatorial and education departments. You will hear from each of the interns on Uncrated throughout their nine months at the DMA, but we thought we would share a few fun facts about this group before they delve into their internships.
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Devon Hersch, the McDermott Intern for Asian Art, plays the piano and has been recording music in Austin of songs he wrote during college.

Jenny Wang, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Adult Programming and Arts & Letters Live, has no luck with earrings—she’s had her ears pierced twice in the same spot but the holes always close up.

Nolan Jimbo, the McDermott Intern for Contemporary Art, has never had queso dip (a problem he hopes the other interns will help rectify). He also still has three baby teeth.

Erin Piñon, the McDermott Graduate Intern for American Art, uses coconut oil as a cure-all product (similar to Windex in My Big Fat Greek Wedding).

Paulina Lopez, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Visitor Engagement, was the only girl in her town’s regional baseball league during the 6th grade.

Emily Wiskera, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Family and Access Teaching, has had the same pen pal for eleven years. They only communicate through cryptograms and have never met face to face!

Franny Brock, the Dedo and Barron Kidd McDermott Graduate Intern for European Art, won a snow-sculpting competition in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Whitney Sirois, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Gallery and Community Teaching, made a time capsule with friends in college, but the gravel was too dry to bury it so they hid the capsule in ceiling tiles on campus . . . along with the shovel.

Amanda Kramp, the McDermott Graduate Intern for Ancient American Art, loves planning, hosting, and attending themed dinner parties. This includes themed decorations, music, and food and drink. She even requests that guests don fancy or period specific dress relevant to the theme.

Learn more about the McDermott Internships on the DMA’s website; you can apply for your chance to be a 2016-2017 McDermott Intern in January.

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Sarah Coffey is the Education Coordinator at the Dallas Museum of Art.

Most Likely to Succeed

Published September 22, 2014 Staff Closed
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Left to right: Fabian Leyva-Barragan, Jennifer Sheppard, Taylor Jeromos, Laura Sevelis, Liz Bola, Elisabeth Seyerl, Samantha Robinson, Eliel Jones

September doesn’t usually mean cooler weather in Texas, but here at the Museum it does mean we get to welcome some cool new faces—our McDermott Interns!

This year’s class is full of enthusiasm, which you can surely see as they posed in our American  Galleries. They each bring their own distinct backgrounds, which include:

Fabian has Protanopia, which means that he is color blind—a fact he did not learn until college.
Jennifer is working on learning French, her fourth language in addition to English, Spanish, and Hebrew.
Taylor was the lead in a production of Annie while in the 5th grade in Ohio.
Laura taxidermied animals while working at the University of Wisconsin Zoological Museum.
Liz fell out of a window when she was 7 years old, but walked away unscathed.
Elisabeth studied Royal Javanese Dance at a royal palace in Java, Indonesia.
Samantha studied Nahuatl, a language spoken in central Mexico by those of Aztec descent.
Eliel spent the past summer working at a salmon fishery on a remote arctic fjord in northern Norway.

We look forward to working with this exciting bunch in the months ahead!

P.S. If you’re interested in becoming a McDermott Intern next year, check the DMA website in late January 2015 for details on how to apply!

Sarah Coffey is the Education Coordinator and former McDermott Education Intern for Adult Programming at the DMA.

McDermott Interns: Where Are They Now?

Published September 10, 2013 Behind-the-Scenes , Staff 2 Comments
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Each September, the DMA welcomes a new class of McDermott Interns, thanks to the generous support of the Eugene McDermott Education Fund. During their brief nine months at the Museum, the McDermott Interns contribute to numerous projects, from exhibitions to tours to programming and beyond. Their hard work helps make the Museum the dynamic place we know and love!

But what happens after the internship is complete? For some, the stars align and we are able to welcome them into full-time positions here at the Museum. In fact, we have nine previous McDermott Interns, myself included, currently on staff. Others move on to different adventures across the country. I checked in with some of our recent McDermott graduates to see where life has led them.

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Sara Woodbury
McDermott Graduate Curatorial Intern for European and American Art, 2010-2011

My post-McDermott career so far has taken me both east and west. From June 2011 to June 2013, I served as curatorial fellow at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont, a wonderfully eclectic museum with holdings that include American folk art, impressionist paintings, and a landlocked steamboat. When I wasn’t working on exhibits, I experimented with printmaking at a community studio, an interest that developed out of a works on paper exhibit I curated at the DMA. In July 2013, I relocated to Roswell, New Mexico, where I am now the curator of collections and exhibitions at the Roswell Museum and Art Center. Though I’ve only been here a few weeks, I’m happy to be back out west, and am looking forward to the challenges and opportunities of my new position.

Stefanie Logan
Stefanie Kae Dlugosz
McDermott Curatorial Intern for Decorative Art, 2010-2011

After leaving the DMA, I worked as the project assistant at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on the traveling exhibition Inventing the Modern World: Decorative Arts at the World’s Fairs 1851-1939, co-organized with the Carnegie Museum of Art. In August 2012, I began a graduate program at Indiana University, Bloomington, and am looking forward to completing my MA in art history next spring. I also currently serve as a graduate assistant at the Indiana University Art Museum.

Logan Acton
McDermott Education Intern for Teaching Programs, 2009-2010

From 2010 to 2011, I held a position at the DMA as assistant to the director of education, which also allowed me to help with activities for the 2010 McDermott Intern class. In July 2011, I moved to Missouri to study sculpture at the Kansas City Art Institute. I’m currently pursuing a studio practice as a visual artist there and am planning to apply for MFA programs soon. I met Stefanie at the DMA during her McDermott Internship and in October 2012 I asked her to marry me. She accepted and we are currently planning our wedding!

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Wendy Earle
McDermott Graduate Curatorial Intern for Ancient American Art, 2011-2012

I have been really busy in my position as curator of collections and exhibitions at the Museum of the Southwest in Midland, where I have been since May 2012. It’s great working at a multidisciplinary institution that combines an art museum, children’s museum, planetarium, and historic home into one. I am the entire curatorial department, so I get to do a little bit of everything, including picking up artwork from different states, designing exhibitions, creating interpretive activities, giving gallery talks, and writing grants. We are installing or deinstalling exhibitions almost every month. In the past, I only worked with the art of long-dead civilizations, but now I get to work with lots of exciting contemporary artists—a fun new challenge.

Alec
Alexander Unkovic
McDermott Curatorial Intern for Contemporary Art, 2012-2013

In July 2013, I moved back to Philadelphia and started my new job as the administrative and publicity coordinator at The Fabric Workshop and Museum. I am now creating the content for FWM’s social media (Facebook: /fabricworkshop, and Twitter: @fabricworkshop), and I work on publicity and community outreach initiatives. Additionally, my duties at FWM include helping with exhibition budgets, publications, and checklists, coordinating museum openings and events, and maintaining travel arrangements. Being a McDermott Intern definitely helped prepare me for this job. I’m really enjoying myself here, but I sure do miss Dallas and the DMA!

Our newest class of McDermott Interns began last week. During your next visit to the DMA, keep an eye out for Alexa Hayes, Amelia Wood, Amy Elms, Amy Kaczmarek, Hayley Prihoda, Madeleine Fitzgerald, Michael Hartman, and Temple Shipley. We get the pleasure of working with them for the next several months, and we can’t wait to see where they’ll go from here!

2013/2014 McDermott Interns

2013/2014 McDermott Interns

P.S. If you’re interested in becoming a McDermott Intern next year, check our website in January 2014 for the application!

Sarah Coffey is the assistant to the chair of learning initiatives and former McDermott Education Intern for Adult Programming at the DMA.

Meet the 2012-2013 McDermott Interns

Published September 17, 2012 Curatorial , Education Closed
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Each year we welcome a new group of McDermott interns working in the curatorial and education departments. The 2012-2013 group started at the beginning of the month and include Emily Brown, Emily Schiller, Alex Vargo, Andrea Lesovsky, Alec Unkovic, Hannah Fullgraf, Pilar Wong, and Danielle Schulz. You will hear from each of the interns on Uncrated throughout their nine months at the DMA. Learn more about the McDermott Internships on the DMA’s website; you can apply for your chance to be a 2013-2014 McDermott intern in January.

Graduation Day

Published May 24, 2012 Behind-the-Scenes , Staff 1 Comment
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The 2011-2012 McDermott Interns are finishing their final days at the DMA. The year has flown by and we want to thank each intern for their dedication and enthusiasm over the past eight months. Below is a look at what their next steps will be. Congratulations to you all.

  • Andrew Sears will pursue his Ph.D. in medieval art history at UC Berkeley.
  • Vivian Barclay has accepted an adjunct teaching position at Brookhaven College.
  • Hannah Burney will stay at the DMA over the summer to assist with Go van Gogh programs.
  • Mary Jordan will be at the DMA over the summer to assist with summer camps and family programs.
  • Lexie Ettinger plans to return to Houston and use her art history degree and museum background there.
  • Melissa Barry will stay in Dallas and be involved with the arts and contemporary collections.
  • Jessica Kennedy has accepted the position of Public Programs Manager at the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth.
  • Wendy Earle has accepted the position of Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Museum of the Southwest in Midland.

Sarah Vitek Coffey is the Assistant to the Chair of Learning Initiatives at the Dallas Museum of Art.

The McDermott Intern Class of 2011–2012

Published December 12, 2011 Curatorial , Education , Staff Closed
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Left to right: Jessica Kennedy, Vivian Barclay, Hannah Burney, Wendy Earle, Lexie Ettinger, Melissa Barry, Andrew Sears and Mary Jordan

Each year, the Dallas Museum of Art welcomes a new class of McDermott interns into the family.  Throughout the history of the program our interns have been outstanding, intelligent students with interests spanning the full range of art-related interests. This year’s group is no exception. Of the eight interns, five hold master’s degrees while the other three have earned their BA and plan to pursue advanced degrees. Their interests range from Medieval and Contemporary Art to Art Education and Museum Programming. As you will learn, their talents and interests extend beyond Art and Art History!

Vivian Barclay is the Graduate Curatorial Intern for Decorative Arts and Design. She holds a B.A. in Art and Performance for University of Texas at Dallas and a M.A in Art History from Texas Christian University. Vivian was born and raised in Valencia,Venezuela.

Melissa Barry is the Graduate Curatorial Intern for Contemporary Art. She received her B.A. in Art History and Business Administration from Baylor University and her M.A in Art History from Texas Christian University. She can also sign to R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly.

Wendy Earle is the Graduate Curatorial Intern for the Arts of the Americas and the Pacific. She earned her B.A in Art History from the University of Michigan and her M.A. in Art History from the University of Texas. She has piloted a plane.

Andrew Sears is the Curatorial Intern for European and American Art. He graduated from Emory University with a B.A in Art History. He has never been to a zoo–a fact his fellow interns plan to help him remedy this year.

Hannah Burney is a Teaching Programs intern. She will work primarily with Go van Gogh and other outreach programs. She spent part of her childhood in South  Korea.

Lexie Ettinger is the Education Intern for Adult Programming. She majored in Art History, and minored in Political Science at the University  of Arizona. Currently she is pursuing her M.A at the University of North Texas. Her family dogs’ names are Cinnamon and Sugar, and Sugar has her own Face book page.

Mary Jordan is the Education Intern for Family Experiences. She holds a B.A from Indiana University and a M.A from Johns Hopkins in Medical and Biological Illustration and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Art Museum Education at the University of North Texas. In her “first” career as a medial illustrator, she often sketched in the operating room, directly from surgery. One of the most interesting was a cardiac bypass surgery.

Jessica Kennedy interns in the DMA’s Teaching Programs assisting with docents and gallery programs. She holds a M.A in History with a concentration in Museum Studies and a B.A. in Art History form the University of Missouri in St. Louis. The first name of each member of her immediate family starts with the letter J. Therefore she will answer to any “J” name.

The next time you are in the museum don’t be surprised if you find one of them leading a gallery talk, helping with Late Nights or instructing your child in the Center for Creative Connections. Also, in the coming months, check Uncrated to read their contributions to this blog.

The Dallas Museum of Art offers nine-month paid internship positions in the Education and Curatorial Divisions. These internships are intended for those individuals who wish to explore a career in museum work. For more information, or to apply for the 2012-2013 McDermott Internship program, visit our website. Applications will be available in January 2012.

Martha MacLeod is Curatorial Administrative Assistant for European and American Art and manages the McDermott Interns

A Foot in the Door

Published October 16, 2010 Curatorial , Education 1 Comment
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2009 - 2010 McDermott Intern Stacie Jackson leads a tour of "The Lens of Impressionism"

 

What do Madeleine Albright, Frank Lloyd Wright, Sylvia Plath, and Conan O’Brien have in common? They all started on their career paths as interns, just as many museum curators and educators do. Internships offer invaluable opportunities to try a potential profession on for size; for those who wish to explore a career in museum work, internships provide a great way to gain firsthand experience and insights.

 

Leticia Salinas, 2009 - 2010 McDermott Intern for Family Experiences, leads a family workshop in the galleries.

 

Over one hundred people have participated in the Dallas Museum of Art’s McDermott Internship program since its inception, including many current DMA staff members as well as colleagues working at other institutions in Dallas, throughout Texas, and across the country. Each year, eight interns work closely with the Museum’s curators and educators on a variety of projects, including doing research for upcoming installations or exhibitions; writing labels, catalogue entries, and other materials; and developing and facilitating programs for Museum visitors of all ages.

The program was founded in honor of Eugene McDermott, who had a passion for learning and the arts, and the interns have the remarkable opportunity to visit with Margaret McDermott to inaugurate their internship year. Our current interns recently had lunch with Mrs. McDermott, and she encouraged them to “work hard, learn a lot, and have fun” during their nine months at the DMA and in Dallas.

Shannon Karol worked with Dr. Roslyn A. Walker, Senior Curator of the Arts of Africa, the Americas, and the Pacific and The Margaret McDermott Curator of African Art, as a McDermott Curatorial Intern in 2005–2006, and she returned to the DMA as Coordinator of Museum Visits in 2007. I asked Shannon about her experience as a McDermott Intern, and she said:

The best part of being a McDermott Intern is that you are truly a member of the DMA staff.  Even though I was a Curatorial Intern, I was able to collaborate with staff members in the Collections and Education departments on projects and installations. I also love the sense of camaraderie that you feel as a McDermott Intern. My fellow interns from that year are still some of my closest friends!

 

Shannon leads a tour of "All the World's a Stage"

 

Logan Acton worked with the Teaching Programs staff last year as a McDermott Education Intern, and he accepted a permanent position as Assistant to the Director of Education this summer. Logan said, “As an intern, I was able to explore the Museum’s collections and share my growing knowledge of them, and particularly my passion for contemporary art, with students and other visitors.” You can read more from Shannon and Logan on the DMA Educator Blog.

 

Logan discusses contemporary art at a Teacher Workshop.

 

Eight new McDermott Interns began their nine-month tenure at the DMA in September, and they will all contribute to Uncrated in the months to come. We look forward to sharing their experiences and insights about life and work at the DMA. You can join the interns, along with other members of the DMA staff, to explore the Museum’s collections and exhibitions during weekly gallery talks on Wednesdays at 12:15 p.m.

 

Welcome to the 2010 - 2011 McDermott Interns!

 

Lisa Kays is the Manager of Adult Programming at the Dallas Museum of Art

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