Although my internship is remote, I was able to take advantage of being local to the Smithsonian last week. My internship supervisors met me at the National Museum of American History for a tour of the Molina Family Latino Gallery and the current exhibition, ¡Presente! I have been on museum tours with guides and docents, but walking through a gallery with the professionals who were part of the design was an extraordinary experience.
Discussing the choices in design – from the color palette, organization and even fixtures in the Learning Center to the addition of cane guides by QR codes that will describe the contents of the vitrine allowed me insights into both what the vision of NMAL is and where it its trying to go next. Most important, it greatly improved my understanding of NMAL and who the staff building it out are. Meeting the team in person, as well as some of the staff that work at the gallery gave me a sense of belonging that I sometimes feel is missed in remote work. I also appreciated the pride they took in the NMAL signage up in the gallery, staking it out as an exhibit and a museum in and of itself.
I am however enjoying the practical part of learning about how a mostly online museum represents itself and its work. My first tasks looked overly simple, but were really heavily tied into how museums introduce themselves and engage with their physical and virtual communities. Walking the exhibit, the building block nature of how to look at digital museums was much more clear.
Taking advantage of all the opportunities for networking, seminars and events targeted at interns may create the space to continue that type of learning. In the spring semester as we move toward the changing of the installation to a music and dance themed version (hence the mapping to be done later), I would like to pursue opportunities to occasionally be on site.
I have known for a while that I do better in a hybrid or in person work environment, as I enjoy some level of camaraderie and the learning that can come from conversations.
