This summer, art history major Xin Wang '09 secured an internship at one of the most prestigious museums in the country. Wang worked in the newly-established Media Department of New York's Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) as an archivist and art previewer; during her summer, she gained a huge amount of experience in the field and business of modern art.
Wang was one of more than 20 Hamiltonians who received college funding to participate in a summer internship. Work experience is becoming more and more necessary for college students but many opportunities are unpaid and require students to fund their own housing and living expenses as well as working for free.
Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Though Wang worked in an unpaid internship, she received a stipend from the Richard & Patsy Couper Grant, a competitive grant which is made possible due to the generosity of the late Hamilton alumnus/trustee Richard Couper, and his wife Patsy. Preference is given to students whose career interests and internship focuses on libraries/library science, museums and non-profit organizations.
Wang worked with the media department curator Barbara London, and several other interns. One of Wang's duties was to view artwork sent to London for review or as submissions for museum exhibits. Wang described the job as "exciting yet challenging;" something which allowed her to "appreciate and judge the works just as curator."
Her main task, however, was archival. The Media Department has pieces going back nearly 30 years and Wang was employed to organize the pieces, store them, and enter them into a central database. Although archiving sounds tedious, Wang found her work deeply interesting. Not only did she view the videos themselves, but the archive also included sketches, photos, proposals, resumes, even correspondence between London and the artists. "It really enhanced my understanding," said Wang, who had come to the position with little previous exposure to modern art. She valued the ability to get a window into the life of the artist through handling their work. "I don't think I'd ever get this opportunity to get close to their lives and to their works and to their thoughts," she said.
This is Wang's first internship, although she spent last summer as a Levitt Fellow doing research in her native China. She has very much enjoyed her experience of living and working in New York City. "I feel free to explore," said Wang, explaining that internship programs offered the chance to experiment by working in different career fields. On the application process, she advised, "just go for it; doing is a lot more important than thinking" when it comes to pursuing an internship.
During the year, Wang is a grader for the math department; she will be the RA of Root Hall this year. Although she takes extra classes every semester in order to fulfill her double major in art history major and math, she spends a great deal of her time reading and learning about modern art.
Wang, a rising junior, was helped into the art world this summer by a family friend who is also a respected collector of Chinese modern art. She hopes to re-enter that world after graduation, hopefully in China. "I realized this summer," she explained, "how very active those artists are." She hopes, eventually, to be involved with the organizing of the art scene and the development of museums and archives for Chinese modern art.
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
Wang was one of more than 20 Hamiltonians who received college funding to participate in a summer internship. Work experience is becoming more and more necessary for college students but many opportunities are unpaid and require students to fund their own housing and living expenses as well as working for free.
Thanks to alumni and parent donations, Hamilton students can apply for funding to support them while they work in a field of interest with an organization that cannot pay them. Though Wang worked in an unpaid internship, she received a stipend from the Richard & Patsy Couper Grant, a competitive grant which is made possible due to the generosity of the late Hamilton alumnus/trustee Richard Couper, and his wife Patsy. Preference is given to students whose career interests and internship focuses on libraries/library science, museums and non-profit organizations.
Wang worked with the media department curator Barbara London, and several other interns. One of Wang's duties was to view artwork sent to London for review or as submissions for museum exhibits. Wang described the job as "exciting yet challenging;" something which allowed her to "appreciate and judge the works just as curator."
Her main task, however, was archival. The Media Department has pieces going back nearly 30 years and Wang was employed to organize the pieces, store them, and enter them into a central database. Although archiving sounds tedious, Wang found her work deeply interesting. Not only did she view the videos themselves, but the archive also included sketches, photos, proposals, resumes, even correspondence between London and the artists. "It really enhanced my understanding," said Wang, who had come to the position with little previous exposure to modern art. She valued the ability to get a window into the life of the artist through handling their work. "I don't think I'd ever get this opportunity to get close to their lives and to their works and to their thoughts," she said.
This is Wang's first internship, although she spent last summer as a Levitt Fellow doing research in her native China. She has very much enjoyed her experience of living and working in New York City. "I feel free to explore," said Wang, explaining that internship programs offered the chance to experiment by working in different career fields. On the application process, she advised, "just go for it; doing is a lot more important than thinking" when it comes to pursuing an internship.
During the year, Wang is a grader for the math department; she will be the RA of Root Hall this year. Although she takes extra classes every semester in order to fulfill her double major in art history major and math, she spends a great deal of her time reading and learning about modern art.
Wang, a rising junior, was helped into the art world this summer by a family friend who is also a respected collector of Chinese modern art. She hopes to re-enter that world after graduation, hopefully in China. "I realized this summer," she explained, "how very active those artists are." She hopes, eventually, to be involved with the organizing of the art scene and the development of museums and archives for Chinese modern art.
-- by Lisbeth Redfield
