Useful Summer

Above: Earl Grey with her mentor and the Jester Calabazas (a work of art that previous Methods students know!). They are standing in the Spanish Baroque Gallery in the Cleveland Museum of Art.

I received an email from an alum sharing the news that she has been accepted to a grad program (Yay!). This happy report reminded me how important it is for students and recent grads to use summer as a way to make a difference and push yourself toward a professional goal. Take a peek at GCVA's post on May 2, asking and answering the question of what to do with an art degree.

Where could you begin this process of taking up a useful summer? Those of you interested in museum careers should consider purchasing/borrowing/acquiring Elizabeth Schlatter's Museum Careers A Practical Guide for Students and Novices. It's a phenomenal resource that still has relevance, even though published in 2008.

If you're not sure what you'd like to do down the road, or if you've graduated and are working in a non-art or non-museum field, but really want to stay connected, consider serving as an intern, short-term or long-term and paid or unpaid. Information on the internship process at Georgetown College is located here. Within our department we offer internship experiences, primarily through the art galleries, and there are other opportunities available on campus and off, including area museums such as Cardome, the Scott County Museum, Ward Hall, and further afield in Lexington. If you're interested in a hands-on experience that will enable you to move beyond book-work and engage in a field and take responsibility, consider an internship! Start by reviewing your schedule this summer to see what you can realistically accomplish -- paid or unpaid -- and the number of hours. Give some thought to what you'd like to experience. Locate a potential site, and begin emailing/calling to make contact with the organization. While on the one hand, this process requires a lot of independence and initiative, the rewards can be great. For evidence of this, check out Devon's "reflective rant" as she calls it.

If you're interested in knowing the financial side of thing, that is, income down the road, check out The Chronicle of Higher Education's recent story by Beckie Supiano that studies and analyzes earnings based upon majors. The article title is: What Are You Going to Do With That?

Enjoy your summer -- and make it a useful one!

PS: I tried to locate a photo of me at my first internship, many moons ago at the Dayton Art Institute. Since I could not find that, I wanted to share an image of me with my mentor, an esteemed professor from Case Western Reserve University. A visit last week to the Cleveland Museum of Art with him provided an opportunity to banter about works of art. While it's not an internship photo, per se, it is one that gives evidence of a useful summer through engagement and learning!