I have always been curious and hungry to learn more about history, especially ancient history and how it is represented in art. In high school, I had the opportunity to take an art history course and fell in love with the subject. It combined my love for history and art – how people viewed themselves, their history, and culture through the expression of art. Following this passion, I want to be an art historian and declared it my major when I enrolled in Queensborough Community College in the fall of 2024.
Before I was an intern at the QCC Art Gallery, I had two internships at the Kupferberg Holocaust Center (KHC). During my first internship, I wrote a research paper about how people with disabilities were persecuted by the Nazis. In my second internship as the Joanne Blumin Student Researcher, my research focused on modern art in 1930s Nazi Germany and how the Nazis degraded modern art to elevate the use of the Greco-Roman style to articulate the ideals of the Third Reich. Both internships provided me with critical research skills and how propaganda is used by dictatorships. I also had the opportunity to present my research and findings at the QCC Student Symposia.
Following my experience at KHC, I became a Priva B. Gross intern at the QCC Art Gallery. I had the chance to learn about the kind of work art curators do, including artifact research and exhibition curation. During my internship, I learned about African art and artifacts, how the art styles varied from country to country, what their purpose was, and why it was important to specific tribes in different regions of Africa. I also helped curate a modern art exhibition for Carole E. Feuerman. I began with researching her art, where she’s had exhibitions, what her hyperrealist artwork means to people, and how it is a reflection of human nature. I considered the art placement for each of the works in the gallery. I walked through the gallery and assessed which art piece would captivate the viewers’ eye as they walked through, and what piece would make them reflect on the main concept of the exhibition. I was also in attendance at the exhibition opening, greeting visitors and escorting them through the gallery.
This internship gave me valuable experience as an art curator and helped me gain insight into the kind of work curators do. I am grateful for everything I learned at the QCC Art Gallery.