Welcome to the first edition of Internship Check-In for 2019. This summer we've got MMSt students working all over Canada (and beyond) and I am so excited to be able to share what they're up to with all of you!
Our brave interns who have agreed to be interviewed will be asked five questions:
- Please introduce yourself & tell us about your internship role
- What is a typical day like at your institution?
- Is there anything that’s surprised you about your internship?
- What are you excited about accomplishing throughout your internship?
- Do you have any words of wisdom for someone entering a similar position?
This post features:
Savannah Sewell: Aga Khan Museum, Toronto, ON
Emma Puddicombe: The Canadian War Musuem, Ottawa, ON
Jordan Fee: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
Erin Stodola: Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto, ON
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| Toronto's AGO - where two of this edition's interns are working! Source. |
Please introduce yourself & tell us about your internship role.
Savannah: Hi there, my name is Savannah Sewell and I am completing my summer internship in the marketing department at the Aga Khan Museum. My role here is a little bit of everything. The marketing department is made up of seven individuals, including myself who range from designer to social media coordinator. The role I play, specifically, usually incorporates a bit of all of the marketing and communications jobs together. For example, my project for this internship is to prepare the social media campaign for the fifth anniversary of the Aga Khan Museum. This project will narrate the impact of the museum and hopefully engage new visitors.
Emma: My name is Emma Puddicombe, and I’m currently completing my internship at the Canadian War Museum in the Education, Creative Development and Learning Department (ECDL) and I love it! This department is responsible for creating public and educational programming for the institutions as well as exhibition development for the whole institution. The programs the staff work on include tours of the museum, theatrical orientations (mini skits presented to schools by staff in character), and the Supply Line Discovery Boxes. My role in this internship is to help out with various projects, such as developing condition tracking tools for the Supply Line Discovery Boxes (the staff simply call them ‘kits’), helping with planning and operations for the Historical Thinking Summer Institute, and also helping with planning for the family-targeted series, “Awesome Sundays”.
Jordan: My name is Jordan Fee, and I am currently working as an Exhibition and Publishing Intern at the Art Gallery of Toronto. The department that I work in is under the umbrella of Curatorial Affairs, and my supervisor is Jim Shedden.
Erin: I’m Erin! I am the Curatorial Intern of Indigenous + Canadian Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Which means: I help the Assistant Curator of Indigenous + Canadian Art, Renée van der Avoird (an MMSt Alumni!), with research tasks and projects, among other things. These vague-sounding tasks and projects are things like researching a work of art that the AGO wants to acquire, preparing reports for Cultural Property Export Permits, writing text briefs that will turn into didactics, cross-referencing sources to prove a contested date on an artwork and anything else Renée needs a hand with. Donald the librarian and I are good friends! While these are the main things I have been working on, Renée has been so generous to include me in departmental meetings, conservation demonstrations, installation supervision, trips to the vault, acquisition committee meetings, watching a Renoir being packed for travel... and the list truly goes on.
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| Emma & colleagues at the Canadian War Museum recreated this photo from the Second World War for #MuseumsWeek. Photo courtesy of Emma Puddicombe. |
What is a typical day like at your institution?
Savannah: A typical day at the Aga Khan Museum begins with logging in and answering any emails that have come up. Most of the staff here works later than I do (I rather coming in earlier), so sometimes there are a few things to catch up on. After that is finished, I check up on our Monday.com checklist and begin one of the tasks that have been assigned to me. These tasks range from packaging donation requests, archiving collateral, and writing copy for events on our website. As the day continues, I am usually a part of one or two meetings, the staff here is very welcoming and often invite me to sit in, in order to expose me to as much of the institution as possible. The tasks continue through the day, sometimes new ones getting assigned as we go. The great thing about this department is that the constant collaboration between people allows me to challenge myself and learn new skills every day.
Emma: A typical day for me begins with arriving at my little cubicle (which I did not think I was going to have) and turning on my computer. Almost everything at the institution is done online, such as scheduling, planning meetings, sending files, etc. First thing in the morning I always look to see what new emails I have (regarding meetings, readings about projects, etc.) and what my schedule for the day is. From there, my day usually involves shadowing meetings and working on various projects. I always love attending the meetings because they give me a better insight into what projects the department is working on. Sometime, I’m even asked my own opinion on how to move forward with certain decisions (minor ones, like “Do you think this is a good photo to include in the Supply Line kits?”). The projects I’m working on include my own Big Project (more info below), and also smaller tasks that permanent staff just need taken off their own plates (eg. data entry and organization). This part of the day is always so great because I actually feel like I am contributing in the department. The last notable thing about my ‘typical day at my institution,’ is lunch. The majority of the staff take lunch at the same time each day, so there’s always a large group to eat with and talk to about non-work related things (Eg. Cheese and what your favourite cheese is….which turned into create Cheese Club, who meet every Tuesday at lunch to try new cheeses!). At the end of my day, I clean up my desk to make it look clear and fresh for the next morning and my day is done.
Jordan: My day typically begins around 9am, although I sometimes arrive a little early to spend time in Grange park prior to entering the building. I take the elevator to the third floor, step into our collective office, and begin work on my computer. So far, I’ve been predominately working on the first draft of a publication in Adobe InDesign, although there have also been a number of days when we’ve spent time planning the layout of an exhibition. I generally try to take a break around 1pm to have some lunch with Erin (in the park whenever possible). After this, I will either return to what I was doing in the morning or go to a meeting with Jim. The day ends sometime around 5pm, when I leave to go make dinner.
Erin: May 31, 2019: I spent the morning finishing a report for an Export Permit review, gathering any relevant information to help Renée make a decision as to whether or not the piece was of “outstanding National significance”. Later, Renée and I met with Karl Beveridge of Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge, Toronto’s social activist artist duo, to talk about a few of their pieces that will soon go on temporary display. It was such a pleasure hearing an artist speak about his own art in person. As I will be writing the text briefs for the labels, it was an amazing opportunity. Meeting artists doesn’t happen for me everyday, so on a more typical one, I would attend a small departmental meeting for a project, which are fascinating in a different way! After having lunch in Grange Park with fellow AGO intern and desk neighbour, Jordan Fee, I went over several Export Permit reports with Renée and we decided that they were all ready to find new homes outside Canada. For the rest of the day, I researched a number of specific facts about David Milne for the upcoming revamp of the David Milne Centre. Also there were surprise donuts. All in all, a very good day!
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| Jordan enjoying the Henry Moore Sculpture Centre during some downtime at the AGO. Photo courtesy of Jordan Fee. |
Savannah: I was surprised by how much they trust me! When anyone hands me a new task they are so confident in my ability to succeed at it. The support from the whole institution has been incredible and continues to allow me to push myself and learn. I really feel like they like me! Wasn’t expecting that.
Emma: What surprised me most about my internship, besides getting my own desk and cubicle, was how much my supervisor wanted to help me network. During my first week at the institution she told me to take some time and think about what museums I wanted to visit and who I wanted to talk to at those institutions. From there she would help me set up informational interviews with them so I could get a better idea of where my career could take me. This was something I would never have expected to happen at my internship, and I am so grateful that I have been given this opportunity.
Jordan: The thing that surprises me most is the amount of creative freedom that I have been given so far. Of course, it’s not like I’m making any final decisions, but Jim is quite open to new ideas and generally lets me try them out. Other than that, I would say that the amount of people working at the AGO is quite astounding. I’m still meeting someone new every day, and I don’t think that will stop anytime soon.
Erin: I had a fairly good idea that the AGO was a large, well-oiled machine but I did not know just how large! It is its own little city and everyone has their job to do to make the city function and flourish.
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| Savannah at her placement at the Aga Khan Museum. Photo courtesy of Savannah Sewell. |
What are you excited about accomplishing throughout your internship?
Savannah: I am really excited about accomplishing this social media campaign, it is a new type of project for me and the challenges of a large institution’s narrative is exciting. This would also have a lasting impact on the museum itself and be an excellent addition to my resume. I have also begun to archive and organize all of their collateral which is exciting! Right now it resides in piles that have collected for five years and have been driving me BONKERS!
Emma: What I am most excited about accomplishing throughout my internship is my Big Project. Even before my internship started, my supervisor kept telling me, “We’re going to give you your own project that you can call yours from start to finish. Something you can leave this internship with and say ‘I did that.’” This Big Project is to create a Condition Tracking Report for the objects included in the Supply Line kits. It’s no quite condition reporting, but it is supposed to help the staff track the condition of the objects within the box so they can monitor object lifespans and budget accordingly for replacements and repairs. At first I thought I was going to be quick and fairly easy, but it was only once I started working on it that I realized how much work is going to be put into this. I have loved every step of this process so far. I cannot wait until I have the final product completed!
Jordan: I am excited about the fact that I will be able to walk away from this internship with some sort of portfolio, showing the work that I have done in InDesign and Illustrator. I have learned that the person who was in my position last year got to leave their internship with a bound book of all of the work they had accomplished in terms of research and writing, so I am hoping that I might be able to walk away with a similar document.
Erin: I am excited to soak up as much knowledge as I can handle in 12 weeks! From learning the ways that departments work together and the systems they use, to conservation theories, to political structures that can dictate the decisions of the gallery, to all the AGO’s works by Arthur Lismer, to how to send meeting requests in Microsoft Outlook. 12 weeks is time enough just to get my feet wet, which is to say: not enough time. A specific project that I very happy to be working on is researching a collection of Mary Wrinch’s miniature watercolour portraits on ivory. There is a lot to be said about this trailblazing woman, her fascinating career, the implications of ivory and discussion of femininity and gender roles in Victorian-era Toronto. The works won’t appear in the gallery until 2020, but my research will inform the accompanying didactics.
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| Erin in the beautiful Galleria Italia at the AGO. Photo courtesy of Erin Stodola. |
Do you have any words of wisdom for someone entering a similar position?
Savannah: My words of wisdom would be to remain positive. The space is accepting, exciting and supportive. Ask questions and enjoy yourself while challenging your skills. Its sometimes difficult to recognize when you’re pushing yourself too hard vs. just the right amount. Ask questions! No one is going to laugh at you or get angry if you need help, everyone knows you’re new! Also, office jobs always have lots of snacks!! Be prepared for that, I wasn’t!
Emma: Keep a little notebook and a pen with you at all times and write down all the advice you hear. Just being in the office environment you hear so much advice that will be so useful in the future. No one will just sit and tell you everything you need to know, but sitting in on meetings you can easily catch on to what best practice is, and what has been most successful in projects. Always make sure to listen to what people say and take from it any advice you can.
Jordan: Well I don’t think that I can offer too much concrete advice, but I would say that it’s best to learn by doing. I had very little experience with the kind of work that I am doing now, but I just tried to jump in head first. If you get the chance to try something new, then take it!
Erin: Remember that everyone wants to help you learn! Ask questions. Of anybody. Take notes for when you forget everything all of the time. Show your enthusiasm, gratitude and willingness to take on tasks. Bring treats to share.
The interviews have been edited for length and clarity.
That's all for this edition of Internship Check-In! And I have to agree with the advice above, office treats are plentiful and everyone appreciates when you bring things to share! Check back in a few weeks for another update about what some of the wonderful MMSt students are up to this summer.
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