DMC Art Students Getting Hands-on Experience By Setting Up Newest Exhibits at the South Texas Institute for the Arts
On-site internship course teaches students more about day-to-day operations at local museums while they earn credit
WHO: Del Mar College students Rebekah Gutierrez, who is majoring in studio art, and Scott Serota, an art major who plans to specialize in conservation work to preserve art created during past centuries; Michelle Locke, associate curator and registrar at the South Texas Institute for the Arts
WHAT: DMC art students setting up the newest exhibits at the South Texas Institute for the Arts, including A Light from the Sky: Tom Lea Retrospective and Stations for Leila, as part of their internships through the Del Mar College Art Departments Academic Cooperative
WHEN: 9:30 a.m., Wednesday, March 30
WHERE: South Texas Institute for the Arts, 1902 North Shoreline (use the barge dock entrance by parking area)
FYI: In fall 2003, Del Mar Colleges Art Department joined forces with area museums and art galleries to give students more hands-on experiences working in such environments. The department began offering ARTS 2389, Academic Cooperative, each fall and spring as an on-site internship course for students wanting to learn more about the day-to-day operations at local sites while earning credit.
This semester four students are completing the internship program, including two at the South Texas Institute for the Arts, one at the Corpus Christi Museum of Science and History and another at the Corpus Christi Center for the Arts.
As part of art majors Rebekah Gutierrez and Scott Serotas internship at the South Texas Institute for the Arts, they are setting up the facilitys newest exhibits. A Light from the Sky: Tom Lea Retrospective will feature 60 works of art that highlight the career of Texas artist Tom Lea, who was a painter, muralist, illustrator and author. The other exhibit is the Institutes permanent collection. Both exhibits will run from April 8 through May 29.
The benefit to students is they see the entire process from beginning to end in all of its complexities, both the interesting and the mundane of presenting an exhibition, says Michelle Locke, associate curator and registrar at the South Texas Institute for the Arts. There are the wonderful parts of opening a crate and seeing a painting and determining where it will go as then the mundane task of putting a crate back together and storing those pieces no longer on exhibit.
Locke notes that students gain valuable experience by handling art pieces. They get to watch as a painting comes out of the crate, participate in its handling, learn how to properly wrap a painting using certain materials and then put it back in a crate for storage, she notes.
Locke adds that students also learn about using space in a gallery. Students see how art pieces look in relation to each other to make sure the story is balanced and to ensure the pieces are visually balanced in terms of interest. The process of setting up an exhibit can be a creative process in and of itself.
In all, 20 students have participated in ARTS 2389 since the College began offering the course. The art program has introduced students to on-site internships with six local facilities, including the South Texas Institute for the Arts, Corpus Christi Center for the Arts, the Asian Cultures Museum, the Corpus Christi Museum of History and Science, the U.S.S. Lexington, and the Botanical Gardens, which is considered a living museum.
The program was designed as a sophomore-level art elective for both art and non-art majors. Eligibility to take the course includes students having taken either art appreciation or art history at the college level. Students work six-hour weeks for 14 weeks and complete a variety of projects, ranging from hanging exhibitions to unpacking artwork to making labels.
Students gain valuable hands-on work experience, so theyre better prepared for a career with museums, says DMC art instructor Cynthia Perkins of the course offering. They also make valuable contacts while interning, which can be helpful when they begin their job searches in the future. She notes that the course is the only internship of its kind in the South Texas area.
Perkins stresses the difference between an intern and a volunteer. More is expected of an intern because the student is earning college credit. We also put more emphasis on the learning aspect and inner workings of a museum or gallery during a students internship, she says.
Students fill out a daily log listing the activities they complete each day. Museum and gallery personnel also complete a grade report at midterm and finals.
