Category: HART 420 Museum Studies Fieldwork Seminar S26

Maddie Raymond, BMC ’26

Praxis Course: HART 420: Museum Studies Praxis Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott

Community Partner: The American Philosophical Society

Praxis Site Supervisor: Cathy Person

Praxis Poster:

HART_MaddieRaymond

 

Further Context:

I had the privilege of working for the last semester at the American Philosophical Society, the oldest learned society in the United States. My role was with the education programs team, where I developed an original curriculum on responsible generative AI usage through the lens of history. To do so, I utilized the APS’s vast History of Science collection, scaffolding my curriculum around a document on ethical communication from the collection of Warren McCulloch, one of the early scientists thinking about AI in the mid-20th century. In addition to developing this curriculum, I participated as a full member of the APS education programs team, attending meetings on days I was in-office and events such as research presentations and the April APS member meeting. I am so grateful for this
opportunity to explore and establish myself in the museum education field.

Ella Horvath, BMC ’27

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Fieldwork Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott

Community Partner: Woodmere Art Museum

Praxis Site Supervisor: Amy Gillette

Praxis Poster:

HART_EllaHorvath_compressed

 

Further Context:
This semester I was a curatorial intern at the Woodmere Art Museum in Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia. I had never been to the Woodmere prior to this semester, but had heard of and briefly met my site supervisor, Amy Gillette, from her collections research at the Barnes and background in medieval art history. Initially, I was excited to work with her and learn more about a local institution with which I was not previously familiar. My major goals were to gain collections research experience and get a better sense of the comprehensive history of Philadelphia arts movements and institutions from the nineteenth century to present day. Woodmere features art and artists of Philadelphia across two nineteenth-century mansions and outdoor wonders, including larger-than-life installations, masterful sculptures, and thoroughly tended gardens. Charles Knox Smith Hall houses the original nineteenth century collection of the Woodmere’s founder, a massive two-level gallery and events space with a balcony, studios for classes and workshops, and rotating exhibitions like the current retrospective Syd Carpenter: Planting in Time, Place, Memory. I met Amy here every two weeks in her office, but got to conduct most of my work on art in the newly opened Maguire Hall, which features twentieth and twenty-first century collections, and an extensive downstairs jewelry vault.

One of my most exciting curatorial projects was helping Amy and catalogue contributors prepare for a retrospective on the late Philadelphia artist Moe Brooker, to open in September 2026. I helped flesh out the existing
bibliography by contacting galleries from around the country inquiring into details and documents for their solo exhibitions of Brooker’s work from 1977 to as recent as 2019 (and, in cases when exhibition catalogues seemed less likely, I was able to verify their nonexistence). I organized these findings into a spreadsheet to assist current catalogue contributors, including Professor Scott and Bryn Mawr Presidential Fellow Annalise Ashman. As part of this work on the “Moe Brooker Team,” I got to attend an oral history of about ten people facilitated by Leslie King-Hammond. This included Amy, people in Education, the director of the museum, and many people who knew Brooker personally, like Peter Paone, an artist in his 90s who made the fabulous Snow People series on display in the Woodmere, and Katherine Stanek, a Philly galerist with whom I had gotten in touch regarding solo exhibition catalogues. This was one of the most incredible experiences of my semester, and got me thinking about the potential
of “oral art histories” to shape museum displays, inform curatorial and catalogue-writing decisions, and inspire conversation that keeps artists alive in work and memory. Because many curators and art historians are friends, classmates, colleagues, teachers, and collaborators with artists, their ability to animate and emotionally revive the distinct zeitgeist of the Philadelphia art scene in the 1950 to the present is so valuable. It is also such a rare experience for me, since most of the work I study is medieval or antique, and has no artist biography or cohort or movement attached.

Amy put a lot of trust in me to do this work, and I am so grateful for it! This internship made me feel so connected to Philadelphia art and artists, through my literal contact with the art, research in Center City, work
uploading pieces to the new website, and on-site museum events. Often, ethical discourse during Museum Studies leaves me discouraged about entering the field. The Woodmere is a great example of how a museum can represent, involve, and serve the community. I look forward to seeing the Moe Brooker retrospective next semester as an example of this work, which I am so grateful to have been a part of!

Cade Fanning, HC ’26

Praxis Course:  HART B420: Museum Studies Praxis Seminar 

Semester: Spring 2026 

Faculty Advisor/Professor:   Monique Scott 

Community Partner:   Historic Annapolis    

Praxis Site Supervisor:   Katie Turer 

Praxis Poster:  

HART_CadeFanning_compressed

 

Further Context:  

This semester, I interned at Historic Annapolis, where I researched the free and enslaved Black craftspeople who worked on the James Brice House. James Brice was a wealthy Annapolitan planter, a prominent local politician, and a member of the city’s elite during and after the Revolutionary War. Between 1767 and 1774, he oversaw the construction of his mansion in downtown Annapolis. Historic Annapolis secured the site in 2014, and embarked on a painstaking restoration process in 2016 that continues to this day. 

I was tasked with researching the free and enslaved Black craftspeople who built the house in order to create an interactive touchscreen exhibit. Unlike most contemporary American elites, James Brice was a meticulous record-keeper who recorded nearly every transaction in account books and inventories that survive to this day, creating a wealth of primary sources that is further supplemented by the ads he placed in the local newspaper when a bound worker escaped. Much of my research involved sifting through these primary sources and gleaning information about the craftspeople’s work and lives.  

I also conducted significant secondary research in order to situate my primary findings within the context of the era. I attended lectures and explored exhibitions, articles, and books on the topics of colonial craftsmanship and enslaved craftspeople. Deepening my understanding of contemporary systems of free and enslaved craftsmanship allowed me to connect the Brice House laborers to the system of social hierarchy and labor in which they operated. Historic Annapolis’s Comprehensive Interpretation Plan for Brice House presented the organization’s goals for the site and the message they wished to share with visitors, and I focused on connecting my research to that plan. 

I discovered that apprenticing enslaved laborers to skilled indentured or convict craftspeople was a common practice among wealthy enslavers like James Brice: it increased the enslaved person’s value and allowed their enslaver to rent out their labor and collect their wages. In short, enslavers viewed it as an investment in their property. However, enslaved craftspeople used their skills to develop their craft and redefine themselves as individuals, not as assets to their enslavers. Their skills allowed them to improve their socioeconomic standing, sometimes even obtaining their freedom and establishing generational wealth.  

I used my research to develop a plan for an interactive touchscreen exhibit for the Brice House. Allowing visitors to interact with the stories and accomplishments of the free and enslaved Black craftspeople who built the house reflects the core tenets of the participatory museum—it transforms the museum space from a place of presentation to a place of dialogue. The interactive exhibit involves visitors in their stories and connects them to the history of not just the house, but also to the people who built it. 

Ingrid Layman, HC ’27

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Praxis Seminar    

Semester: Spring 2026 

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Professor Monique Scott    

Community Partner: Wexler Gallery 

Praxis Site Supervisor: Maeve Daly 

  Praxis Poster: 

HART_IngridLayman

 

Further Context: 

My work this semester at Wexler Gallery was largely behind-the-scenes as I performed database maintenance, an area the Gallery needed support in since their team is small! Wexler Gallery is one of many art galleries in Philadelphia focused on interior design (furniture, painting, sculpture, mirrors, etc.). The gallery is located in Fishtown, a neighborhood known for its arts, culture, and food scene, although Wexler also maintains a showroom at the New York Design Center in New York City. Wexler Gallery exclusively represents 30 artists from around the world working in almost every medium imaginable. 

My main projects at Wexler were to update client files, add new art pieces into ArtBase, and update already-existing inventory records. These were done on a weekly basis, but I also sat in on meetings with artists to discuss forthcoming work, helped host an exhibit opening of Malcolm Mobutu Smith’s ceramics, uploaded object information in PDF form to the gallery website, and drafted communication highlighting new artists and exhibits to be sent to the gallery’s client list. I also worked with the online platform1stDibs to help list the gallery’s pieces for online purchase. 

I enjoyed the regular routine of database work and never knew what to expect when I arrived at the gallery, since the day-to-day was always changing. Sometimes it would be me and the salesperson; other times the whole office was there, including the Sales and Marketing person, who is located in New York. The projects were also always changing, so my work was varied and allowed me to interact with all sides of the gallery’s work. 

Some of my favorite aspects of my time at Wexler Gallery were getting to know my supervisor and the other gallery staff. They really made me feel like a member of the team and provided me with a much richer understanding of galleries’ roles in the art world than I had previously. I now understand how artist relationships are fostered, how much a gallery can do to advocate for the artist when museums and private collectors inquire, and how everchanging the art landscape really is. I recognize the importance of exposure to currently-working contemporary artists, and the role of the gallery in increasing their recognition by private sales and museum acquisition. 

Diana Escobar, BMC ’27

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Fieldwork Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Professor Monique Scott

Community Partner: Public Trust

Praxis Site Supervisor: Aaron Levy

Praxis Poster:

HART_DianaEscobar

 

Further Context:

Having grown up in Philadelphia, a city considered the birthplace of American museums, the role museums play in communities and how they interact with the public has always been part of my interests. Being interested in the field, I sought out experiences to understand how larger institutions work. After in a various number of museums in the city, I had not experienced what it was like to be in a smaller, more intimate cultural nonprofit until my praxis this Spring with Public Trust. Located between the University of Pennsylvania and West Philadelphia on 40th Street and Walnut, Public Trust offers free programs on health, education, and ecology. It collaborates with artists, thinkers, and community members through public conversations and film screenings to foster dialogue around everyday issues. Taking a W.E.B. Du Bois approach of finding hope in times of hopelessness, its mission is to restore trust in collectivity and the
common good. Through this experience, I saw both the daily operations behind the organization and how care and reciprocity shape its community building.

During my time at Public Trust, I worked on a range of projects under Executive and Artistic Director Aaron Levy and Executive Assistant Jabriya Calabrese. One major project was the planning of a multi part installation by artist Daniel Faust, Presidents, featuring photographs of wax figurines of American presidents from museums in the United States and Europe. The exhibition will take up four walls in the front gallery. My role included measuring the gallery walls and sharing dimensions with the artist to ensure the prints fit, along with contributing to conversations about layout and adjustments. As plans developed, we had to balance the artist’s vision with practical concerns like accessibility. For installation, we explored alternatives to drilling into masonry walls, including using magnets. We also connected with installers who had worked with the Institute of Contemporary Art. Although the installation is still upcoming, the process required ongoing coordination and patience to prepare for a smooth install.

Another project I worked on was the book Curating Engagement, based on a 2025 retreat about engagement in cultural institutions. I helped finalize the manuscript for publication by reviewing the full text and editing for grammar, clarity, and formatting. Working closely with Aaron Levy and Jabriya Calabrese, we completed revisions under a tight deadline and sent the book to print. The release included an opening reception in Chicago, along with an excerpt published on Hyperallergic for outreach.

Alongside these larger projects, I supported day to day operations. This included drafting language for grant proposals such as those for the Warhol Foundation, helping build a bookshop section for the website, preparing technology and setup for public programs, and packaging and shipping books. These tasks showed me how essential this work is to keeping the continuation of Public Trust’s core and reach. They form the backbone of the organization, and through them I saw how much care and coordination goes into sustaining Public Trust’s mission.

Carrie Tananbaum, BMC ’27

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Praxis Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott

Community Partner: Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

Praxis Site Supervisor: Claire Pingel

Praxis Poster:

HART_CarrieTananbaum

 

Further Context:

This semester I worked at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in their curatorial and collections departments. I got the opportunity to work closely on their exhibition for the 250th anniversary of the United States of America, The First Salute: An Untold Story of the American Revolution. My main job was to complete condition reports for incoming loans for the exhibition. Condition reports are written records of the physical state of an artifact at a given time. These reports are extremely comprehensive and note every little detail about the object. They are written to hold the museum accountable so that the object does not get damaged
while on loan. I was lucky enough to handle many artifacts, from a copy of The Declaration of Independence to a 18th century Hanukkah lamp. It was super interesting to get to work with these artifacts as they truly brought history alive.

My time at the museum this past semester has been really fulfilling. I learned a lot about what it actually takes to have a career in the museum field. It was super interesting to see how collaborative it is to create and install a major exhibition. There were teams from all over the world working together on this one project. People had even been working on this exhibition for over a year. I was very fortunate to see all the hard work of so many people come to fruition. This experience was one that will last me a lifetime.

Laurel Gabbard, BMC ’26

Praxis Course: HART B420 Museum Studies Fieldwork

Semester: Spring 2026 

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott    

Community Partner: The Fabric Workshop and Museum

Praxis Site Supervisor: Justin Hall

Praxis Poster:

HART_LaurelGabbard

 

Further Context:

This semester, I have been interning as an Archives and Collections Intern at the Fabric Workshop and Museum in Philadelphia. FWM is a small contemporary art museum, founded in 1977, originally operating as a print workshop for artists. It officially became a museum in 1996. The museum has incredible rotating art exhibitions, while also priding themself on their artist-in-residence program and their extensive community programming. 

In my time there, I have been working primarily in the archives on a couple different projects. We began the semester working on photography of banners held in FWM collections, primarily from artist residencies. I then worked to upload items to the CollectionSpace database, and finally, these images were uploaded to the FWM website so the public can better access what is held in these collections. I have also been photographing and recording items held in Artist Boxes, which are filled with items from these artist residencies, in order to catalogue what is held in the museum. In these past few weeks, I have also been assisting in exhibition installation and de-installation. I helped de-install a Moki Cherry exhibit and have since helped with condition reports and installation for other upcoming shows.  

I have gotten a lot of great experience in hands-on archival work, and I have loved getting to see so many different aspects of museum work, from digital media and photography to archival organization, to data entry, to exhibit installation and de-installation! I have formed great connections with professionals at FWM and feel very lucky to have had this experience with such a great supervisor! It has been incredibly engaging, and I loved my time here! 

Willa Bywater, BMC ’27

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Fieldwork Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Monique Scott

Community Partner: Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Praxis Site Supervisor: Anthony DiGiovanni

Praxis Poster:

HART_WillaBywater_compressed

 

Further Context:

This semester I worked at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. The Historical Society of Pennsylvania is a research library and archive and has one of the nation’s largest collections of American history. While it primarily functions as a research space, it also has exhibits in the lobby which are free to view, and often hosts events for the community or tours for interested local groups.

Although the museum is already in possession of over 600,000 printed materials and 400,000 graphic items (photographs, prints, etc), they’re still collecting new items! One of their recently acquired collections was the Louise G. Saxton Music Collection, donated by a board member in memory of her mother. The collection consists of primarily sheet music, but also a handful of other papers relating to music or church activities. It was my responsibility to start the cataloguing process–I’ve never done cataloguing before, so I learned a lot along the way!

As outlined in the poster, the process was complex, but pretty straightforward once I got it down. My boss would give me the stack of items to be catalogued, and I would go through and run a search in the library’s online catalog, Discover, to make sure we didn’t already have a copy of any of the items. Once I’d confirmed that, I would start the individual cataloguing process. The first step was to use the software OCLC Connexion to look through WorldCat to see whether anyone else had cataloged each item before. I had no idea that WorldCat existed, and it was
pretty incredible to see–it’s a massive database of cataloged items from libraries everywhere from the US to France and Germany and Denmark. It truly gave me an impression of how important sharing resources and information is to library work. Sometimes I would find a catalog for the item I was looking for that had been made in 2019–sometimes I would find one from 1995. One particular library kept popping up because they also had a music collection named for a specific donor who apparently had a lot of the same music taste as Louise G. Saxton!

If a catalog already existed–which usually it did–I would “copy catalog,” taking the existing information and editing whatever I needed to or adding information if it was missing. Often existing catalogues didn’t have a call number, for whatever reason, so I’d have to go search the Library of Congress list of call numbers to find the right one. (Fun fact: the system of records used for cataloguing, called MARC records, include numbered fields for specific information. There’s one field, 050, that’s used for only call numbers assigned by the actual Library of Congress themselves. Everyone else–even if they’re using the LoC system–has to use 090! No touching the Library’s special field!)

If no existing catalog for this item existed, this was very exciting–and scary, because it meant I had to “original catalog” and make it from scratch! Sometimes I wasn’t working entirely from scratch–once or twice there was a catalog for a copy of the item that was just from a different year, or had a different singer featured on the cover, and then I could essentially copy catalog even if I was making a new record. But there were a few times where I truly had to put in all the information by hand, and that took a long time. Either way, once that process was done, I would update the holdings and export the newly copied or created record to Alma, the library system that we used (shared with UPenn). I’d add the call number and location in Alma, release it to discover, and then write the call number down in the physical copy.

It sounds complicated all written out like this, but it was something like 75% copy cataloging, and it got pretty rote after a while. However, working at the Historical Society was never boring! I did all the work I mentioned above while sitting at the front desk with a reference librarian, so whenever a patron came up to us asking for help, I got to listen in. We get a lot of people coming to the Historical Society with questions, ranging from “I know the specific item I want, how do I get it?” to “I want to learn about this very broad topic. Give me everything!” (We can’t.) Generally, step one was to direct people to either our physical catalog or our online catalog, and help them narrow down their search. Once they had some items, we had them fill out a call slip, and then they’d go into the reading room, give the call slip to the person at the desk, and have their item paged for them so they could read it. Sometimes the items they wanted were in “open stacks” (still in the reading room, but accessible to anybody and not needing to be paged), and then they could go in there and read it themselves. I got a feel for this workflow eventually too, and started being able to help pick up the slack when we had multiple visitors wanting help at once. During my time at the reading desk, I helped a man search through our finding aids, helped a man export a scan of microfilm to a thumb drive (I got nervous when he asked for my help, because I knew nothing about microfilm, but thankfully I do know how thumb drives work!), and patiently explained to a very frustrated woman that there are numerous places called Christchurch in Pennsylvania, and if you’re looking for an ancestor buried in Christchurch Cemetery, it would be really helpful if you knew the county. Sometimes the help I could give people wasn’t related to the library at all–we had some elderly siblings come in with a fully fleshed-out genealogy inherited from their grandmother that they mostly wanted help formatting. We explained to them that we didn’t do that, but I recommended them a free website that they could use to visualize it (which I had used for a different class at Bryn Mawr). Sometimes the help we could give was sending people somewhere else–we had one couple who wanted to find more about the history of their house, which they thought was on the National Register of Historic Places. I navigated to that register’s website (used in a previous class!), and looked for it, but we couldn’t find it, much to all of our puzzlement. Then I had a thought–I went first to the Pennsylvania Register of Historic Places, and then to the Philadelphia Register, and it turned out to be this last level where their house had been registered. I directed them to the Philadelphia Register to find the records of their house and continue their research journey.

Ultimately, I feel very happy with my time at HSP. I feel that I was able to get some good work done, and I definitely learned a lot about the inner workings of a research library. Cataloging is an admittedly tedious but nonetheless important part of the archival process, and I’m glad to
have some experience in it under my belt–and I can tell a Library of Congress call number from a Dewey Decimal now! What I took away from the experience most of all, though, was the degree to which libraries and archives rely on each other, and on communities, to function.
People often think of archives as hoarders of information, taking it and putting it in a vault to keep, but really archives are in the business of sharing information, among themselves and to others. OCLC Connexion is rightly named–it’s connection that keeps archives running, and the
sharing of knowledge that is their ultimate purpose

Sinclair Brown, BMC ’28

Praxis Course: Museum Studies Praxis Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Dr. Monique Scott

Community Partner: Arch Street Meeting House

Praxis Site Supervisor: Jennifer Gray

Praxis Poster:

HART_SinclairBrown-compressed

 

Further Context:

When I began my search for a Praxis internship site, as an art history major, I started with art museums and art related organizations—but none of them felt like quite the right fit for me. However, I met Jenn (my eventual supervisor) at a museum career fair and almost immediately felt that Arch Street Meeting House could be the right fit for me. Religion has always interested me, but I knew little to nothing about Quakerism. Further, ASMH was in the process of renovating their exhibition space ahead of the United States semiquincentennial, and I was excited by the opportunity to be involved in the process of exhibition design.

Arch Street Meeting House is a historic Quaker meeting house and burial ground that hosts both a local weekly Friends meeting and the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, an annual gathering of all of the Quakers in the region. As well as serving as an active site of worship, ASMH has converted the East meeting room and a smaller reception room into a museum space. In my opinion, the character of this space as simultaneously holding a significant historical legacy aswell as still being an active site of worship and community renders the museum even more relevant and impactful.

Upon starting my time with ASMH, I had the wonderful surprise of discovering that I would be working alongside two Bryn Mawr alums: Beth Tinker ‘97 and Isabella Dorfman ‘17. It was incredibly special to have the opportunity to learn from two alumnae with careers in my desired field of study! My primary responsibility at ASMH was assisting Beth, who is an independent museum consultant (meaning that she creates and coordinates exhibitions and surveys) in the final months of preparations before the April 30th grand opening. I had a wide variety of tasks, large and small, and each workday was a fun surprise!

My most significant project was the development and prototyping of a choose-your-own-adventure-inspired interactive exhibit that would educate visitors about evolving Quaker values in the 1700s. Visitors will imagine themselves to be Quakers in this time period, follow a path, and make decisions that will either allow them to continue or cause them to be “read out of meeting” (disowned) and therefore be ‘out’ of the game. Each ‘out’ point is accompanied by a real historical example of a Quaker being disciplined for the same offense. When I received the project, Beth had already conceptualized it and came up with a list of possible decision points. I researched the historical context surrounding the three topics/paths—for example, one of the paths deals with Quaker practices and beliefs surrounding enslavement, which shifted drastically within this time period—and shaped the decision points into a chronologically-driven flow chart that visitors could actually progress through. I also supplemented these decision points with many more based upon significant historical events or interesting instances of Quaker disownment that I came across. I then worked with Beth to prototype this exhibit by printing a mockup and encouraging museum visitors to try the paths. I collected observations of visitors’ behavior, as well as surveying them after they felt they had completed the activity. After implementing the feedback gathered here, the flow charts I designed have been sent to a graphic designer, who will adapt them to be printed on a large mat that visitors can walk across in the center of the exhibition space!

Some of my other favorite tasks were assembling a kids’ scavenger hunt (in which they follow fox-shaped signs, in honor of Quakerism’s founder George Fox), voicing suffragist Alice Paul for an interactive exhibit, transcribing a cursive note affixed to an artifact, and writing image
captions for the displays. I had plenty of less glamorous tasks as well, such as cleaning the 200-year old (and extremely dusty) benches and installing UV film on the object cases. As a whole, I feel that it’s incredibly fulfilling to know that I have left a lasting impact upon the exhibition space as well as the experiences of every visitor who explores Arch Street Meeting
House. More personally, I’ve truly loved my time at ASMH and all of the people I worked with, and found it extremely impactful in shaping my goals for my future museum career.

Georgia Svoboda, BMC ’26

Praxis Course: HART B420 Museum Studies Fieldwork Seminar

Semester: Spring 2026

Faculty Advisor/Professor: Professor Monique Scott

Community Partner: Fleisher Art Memorial

Praxis Site Supervisor: Rachel Hsu and Gerard Silva

Praxis Poster:

HART_GeorgiaSvoboda

 

Further Context:
This spring semester I interned at Fleisher Art Memorial in South Philadelphia, one of the oldest community arts centers in the United States. Founded in 1898 by Samuel S. Fleisher, it continues to be dedicated to offering accessible art education to both young people and adults and has a strong relationship with the Philadelphia community, often featuring art from local artists and holding community events and programs.

During my time at Fleisher, the majority of my work was spent supporting the Young Artists Program (YAP), where every Saturday I worked directly with students aged 5-12. A typical day involved going to three hour and a half long classes, working under the direction of the teaching artists as I guided students through the project for that day. Although I had experience working with children in the past, working with children in an educational setting was a new experience for me, so I had felt somewhat nervous during my first day. However, I quickly became comfortable and was able to enjoy my time at Fleisher thanks to the welcoming atmosphere and friendliness of both the staff and students.

Two major projects at Fleisher I helped with were the Spring Open House and end-of-year Student Art Exhibition. For the Spring Open House, one of my main contributions was the creation of a press release that was sent to local schools and other community centers to advertise upcoming summer and fall classes at Fleisher. My other main contribution was greeting new students and their families at the Open House’s welcome table alongside two other interns. The Spring Open House was especially exciting for me as it was the first time I had helped out with a project like that one and allowed me to see how a non-profit such as Fleisher goes through the process of creating such an event. The end-of-year Student Art Exhibition was similarly exciting for me as it was also a new experience. It was also especially fun to be able to look back on and celebrate all of the artwork created by the students over the Spring Term.

Throughout my entire experience at Fleisher, my favorite aspect was the people I met. Working with the teaching artists and students strengthened my interest in community engagement, education, and accessibility in museum spaces. I am especially thankful to my Praxis Site Supervisors Rachel Hsu and Gerard Silva as well as Professor Scott and Tiffany Stahl for all of their wonderful help and support. The connections I formed at Fleisher allowed me to become much more confident in my leadership abilities and gain a deeper appreciation of all the work done in community non-profits.