Museum Education

I have held several positions in museum education during my time at university. Ranging from volunteering at Norwich Cathedral to interning at Dickinson College’s The Trout Gallery, I have worked to make museum exhibitions and heritage programming accessible to large audiences, from young students to the general public. Such work has taught me the importance of making museums, galleries, and heritage sites accessible to diverse groups. Because of my museum training, I am also confident in leading sessions as part of my university-level teaching that engage students on a variety of issues related to topics such as display and conservation, identity, and museums as arbiters of meaning. My experiences have shaped my research by challenging me to present it to different audiences, while also diversifying my interests by encouraging me to further research exhibition topics in order to ensure that the education programming I was responsible for was engaging and well-informed.

My key experience in museums to date is outlined below.

Norwich Cathedral Cloister.

Pensacola Museum of Art, Education Intern, May—August 2012.

As part of the education team, I organised and catalogued the 900 volume museum library to make curatorial research easier. I assisted with Summer Art Camp by designing activities and supervising 15 to 30 children; as part of Summer Art Camp programming, I gave tours of Annual Members’ Exhibition. I also assisted with museum outreach programs at PACE Center for Girls and Boys & Girls Club of Pensacola in workshops designed to help students use art to work through behavioural issues. As part of my duties, I aided with special events, including Family Fun Day (fundraiser for foster kids’ art camp), exhibition launches, and movie nights. As part of the museum team, I also was responsible for manning the front desk and gift shop, including answering phones, processing large payments for museum-sponsored trips, managing stock and shop customers, and answering questions about museum exhibitions.

Norwich Cathedral, Schools Team Volunteer, January 2011—June 2011 and September 2012—August 2013

As a volunteer, I delivered educational programs for students aged 7 to 14 on life in a medieval cathedral-monastery and the Christian faith using the art and architecture of the cathedral. In my second year of volunteering, I was asked to oversee programming and manage volunteers when the staff Schools Officer was away. To help facilitate Family Fun Day programming, I collaborated with the cathedral librarian to create activities, including designing art-based activities, including 3-D miniature pulpit making. I also helped develop programmes for Terrific Tuesdays, including designing a cathedral trail.

The Trout Gallery, Dickinson College, Education Intern, December 2009—May 2012

Assisted with creating and delivering educational programs for exhibitions. Created advertising materials for educational programs using Photoshop and InDesign. Designed educational rubric to help ensure that programming met state educational objectives. Developed and co-developed programming for a range of exhibitions, including on portraiture and 20th century prints.

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts | Education Intern | May 2009—July 2009

Created a teacher’s guide for exhibition A Century of Retablos. Designed Large Print Gallery Guides for Decorative Arts Hall and summer exhibitions. Created gallery guides for the Permanent Collection for use with school groups. Co-wrote the Adult Audio Tour for the Permanent Collection. Conducted provenance research. Used Survey Monkey to create survey for summer exhibition. Created an interactive PowerPoint presentation for exhibition, African American Quilts from the Permanent Collection.