Hi! My name is Brie and I'm a fourth-year Museum Studies major with a minor on Sociology and
Anthropology and an immersion in Linguistic Anthropology. This class and the rest of the year are going to challenge me in ways I have never been challenged and I am very nervous but hopeful at the same time. I've had three amazing years to learn more about myself and what I want from my career. Although I currently feel more confused about my future than ever, I'm very proud of the experiences I have had and I'm excited to add my thesis process to this list of experiences.
I started off my work experience at RIT in the circulation department at the library. From there I moved on to the RIT Archives and the Bevier Gallery. I have also interned at the Strong National Museum of Play cataloging role-playing games and other toys and games. I loved this internship and it showed me that I want to be the person that works with collections and tells interesting stories about them through exhibit planning. This summer I interned at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum which was an adventure and a half and I loved every moment of it. I had the opportunity to work with multiple departments throughout the summer and see how each department functioned while also participating in a museum-wide move project. If I had to choose the thing I loved the most it would be rehousing objects. Rehousing helped me get a little bit more creative with my solutions and I'm very proud of some of the housings I made for the objects I worked on, especially the spacesuit I spent a few days on. I also got to see some plane moves and learned how to drive a forklift! I can't post any of the photos I took of any of the stuff I worked on but I do have some pics of the Apollo 50 Celebration, and some other summer moments! Feel free to ask about any of the stuff I worked on!
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| The Saturn V Rocket projected on the Washington Monument. This light show ran for 3 nights and on this night, which was the night of the anniversary, the show was synced up with the original first steps so that Neil Armstrong's boot print emerged at the same moment he first stepped onto the surface of the moon. I cried. |
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| The Discovery Shuttle at the Steven F. Udvar Hazy Center in Virginia. |
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| I had to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) when I was shadowing the Large Artifact team in the museum's construction zone. |
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| The other collections department interns (left to right; Madison, Kiera, and Jordan) and I. These warehouses are apart of the Paul E. Garber Facility in Maryland where about half of the museum's collection is located. |
Hi Brie! Lucky you getting to work all summer in the heart of museums in the US. Did you get a chance to visit museums other than Air and Space while you were down there? Did you have a favorite? Could you see yourself working at any specific one in the future?
ReplyDeleteGreat question! I got to visit a lot of museums while in DC, although sadly I didn't get to go to every single Smithsonian. I'm not sure if I have a favorite museum but I definitely had favorite exhibits. The National Museum of the American Indian had a great exhibit about how Native American cultures and symbolism have influenced modern American culture which I loved. The National Museum of Natural History had a great exhibit up about epidemics and I think epidemiology is very interesting.
ReplyDeleteI could see myself working at the National Museum of American History for a few reasons. First, I really love the work being done in the Division of Cultural and Community Life because the kinds of research they do is exactly what I want to focus on. In particular they take a look at popular culture, music, dance, and theater which are all hobbies of mine but also things I would love to research in my career. Second its one of the few Smithsonian museums that has most of its collections storage on site so travelling outside the Capitol region wouldn't be necessary all that often. I've been thinking about this for weeks, thanks for asking!!
Wow, I'm jealous you got to see the collections storage! Hopefully, that will be me someday. XD
ReplyDeleteTry not to stress out about your thesis. I'm sure you will have tons of ideas to draw from, with the amount of experience you have in so many different types of institutions. I'm interested to see what topic you pick. I'm sure it will be insightful.
Hello Brie. This most recent internship at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum sounds incredible both in teaching you about all of the functions and machinations of a Museum but also in the challenging experience!I cant wait to see what you can do for collections and what we can learn form you in this class!
ReplyDeleteHi Brie, I enjoyed reading your post and seeing your reflections on your summer. I look forward to working with you and others on the database project, and hope that some of your insight from collections at various locations will enrich our work. Looking forward to reading future posts!
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