By Education & Media Intern Theri Aronson
This summer I have had the pleasure of participating in the Getty Multicultural Undergraduate (MUI) internship program. Through this program, I had the opportunity to get to know my fellow interns through Getty-sponsored visits to museums around Los Angeles as well as at this year’s Getty Art Summit, an event hosted the Getty for all of the interns participating in the MUI program. The Getty MUI internship program provides students from communities traditionally underrepresented in the museum field with paid practical, hands-on experience in the nonprofit arts sector, and the program partners with over 100 L.A.-based museums and arts organizations that hosted over 150 interns.
I had an amazing time at the 2018 Getty Art Summit and felt lucky to be surrounded by such a talented and inspiring group of people. At the Summit, I had the chance to listen to and learn from lots of interesting people working in the arts and take some behind-the-scenes tours focusing on conservation and exhibition design. A highlight of the day was keynote speaker, Kenyatta Hinkle, an interdisciplinary visual artist, performer, and writer. Hinkle was hilarious, relatable, and made us interns feel less intimidated by the daunting art world that we all so eagerly want to be a part of. She talked about her journey as an artist and the obstacles she has faced as an African-American artist in the Los Angeles art community. After the keynote speakers finished, we split out into our career session groups. For 30 minutes, we had the chance to speak to an expert in a range of art-related fields, including art writing, public policy, museum, education, academic art history, small arts nonprofit, etc. I was also able to take the time to meet with other interns and talk about the complexities of coming from a multicultural background and wanting to work in the art world. All in all, I really appreciated the positive and reaffirming space they gave us to connect with our peers on our common struggles and goals in the field of art.
Because there are so many interns in the Los Angeles area, the Getty created what is called a “hub event.” A hub event is a group of interns who work at organizations relatively near each other. Our first hub meeting took us on a tour of the Wende Museum in Culver City, as well as the Hammer Museum’s new exhibit “Made in L.A.” Our hub leader, Alejandra, organized the whole trip starting from the Center for the Study of Political Graphics. We proceeded to go to the Wende Museum, which works to preserve Cold War art, culture, and history from the Soviet Bloc countries. There we met with Mila Ratshevich, a visitor service assistant for the Wende (and a former Getty intern!), for a tour of the museum and explanation of its history of preserving political art propaganda.
Once we finished our picnic across the street, we made our way to the Hammer Museum where we met with a current Getty Intern who is in charge of giving tours to weekly visitors. “Made in L.A.” is the Hammer’s current exhibition and showcases 33 artists from L.A. whose work responds to the mounting social and environmental threats close to home. At the end, our tour guide told us a little about his role in the museum, his experience of engaging with the community, and the various events designed for students that they host at the Hammer.
Overall, it was a very informative day. I am glad I got to be educated on some L.A. art sites and their significance in L.A. history and art history.
Thanks, Theri for sharing your experience at the 2018 Getty Art Summit. Read more from our past interns about the Getty Art Summits here.
