Internship #14

*My mentor picture will be posted tomorrow morning when I get back in the office*

Lauren Popp, Education Programs Coordinator, The New Children's Museum, Downtown San Diego.

Interview Highlights:

What is your favorite type of art/artist/gallery?

Throughout the interview Lauren mentioned artists that worked with more material items, rather than just paint. I asked if she preferred those to paintings and she said she likes "to be immersed in a space with a piece of art." Some of her favorites include Tara Donovan who is currently showing at MCASD. She also mentioned she favored the work of controversial artist Eduardo Kac.

Where have you travelled and where do you wish to travel?

Lauren has been to Mexico, France, Switzerland, Germany and Spain. She wishes to travel more and wishes she went abroad for a year or two to teach English. She has plans to potentially go to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. She mentioned that she thought it was "valuable to stay in one place for a longer extended time."

Do you have any regrets in your career path?

Growing up, Lauren had a pact with her best friend in college that if they didn't have jobs by the time graduation came around, they would move to Ireland for a year or so and become nannies. All for the experience. Lauren said "it doesn't do you any good to regret, so I don't regret not going, I just wish I could have split myself in two after college to do both things. Have a job, and go travel."

How did you choose your major in college, since you mentioned you were a dancer prior to being a museum educator?

Lauren was always very college driven, she danced throughout her life and through college, worked with choreographers and started college as an English major. Her sophomore year in college, she called the Art History professor Mary Vidal and asked why she would want to be an Art History Major. Mary said that art history is literature, visual art, science, history, politics all in one, and if Lauren wanted to be surrounded by beautiful things all her life she should major in Art History. She took one of the classes in Impressionism and was sold. She changed her major and has been dedicated to being an educator of Art History.

Internship #13

Post 3 Pictures.

These blogs are getting harder to complete with the end of internship approaching because I have so much to do, so if one isn't up very early, that's why.

My desk is my primary base for the day, I do my blogs for NCM here, try and balance the school work we get with my internship work here as well. You can see I'm working on the Podcast Project since GarageBand is on the computer and my script is out on my desk.

"AEH Conelrad Device" is another Teen Studio installation, and I spent a lot of time assembling those little IKEA chairs, and thinking of possible safety restrictions. I spend a lot of time in Teen Studio.

My notepad, since I wasn't able to get a picture of my mentor since she was ill is the most important thing in my internship. I take it home with me and I always have it with me, it helps me remember everything since I have terrible memory. It remembers dates and deadlines and ideas for me like a good little notepad.

Internship #11

Please post a summary of your week at internship. What were the highlights? What were the challenges? What was memorable and why?

Well, this week I was sick on Friday, and we didn't have any internship on Monday due to MLK day. I spent a lot of time at the computer researching podcasts to finish my project and I spent some time researching green ideas for a camp NCM is doing during the week. I FOUND POLAR TREATS! They are so cute and they symbolize how global warming is drowning polar bears and they're edible! Kid friendly of course. Some challenges I had were I really didn't feel well toward the end of the week, and it was kind of tough to be running around doing everything I needed to be when I felt under the weather. But Tuesday I'm having a meeting with Margaret and Lauren! And Friday is my Panama meeting and the POL and a guinea pig show. So I'm foreshadowing an excellent week!

Sidenote: I am really upset that I missed my site visit with Sarah and Sabrina though :( I was really excited to show them the show and everything I'm working on/doing. :( :( :(

Internship Pictures!

I had a request to put more pictures in here, so I figured I would make a post dedicated solely to pictures of my internship. There is some of my work I've done, some of the museum it's self etc..

My newest favorite installation in Teen Studio. Currently writing a blog for it for NCM.

Typical desk for me.

Assembling stools from IKEA for the newest Teen Studio installation.

You know, being business casual and whatnot.

This is "Missing Links" by Felipe Dulzaides. It's a huge jumpy.

Entrance Animal Art sign.

"Toy an Horse" by Marcos Ramirez Erre. You can go in it's belly!

One of our Art Studio options is to create your own Birdhouse.

The Fundreds installation was just replaced, but this is what it was prior, idea by Mel Chin.

One of our own installations "Animal Sounds!"

Oh and just a shoutout to Diana's advisory, my favorite advisory for actually reading these things and making me take pictures for everything!

Internship #10

This is my desk for the major part of my morning, I have read and researched "green activities" for our summer camps green week.

Sometimes I really wonder when I'm here how people can sit at a desk all day. I don't really sit at a desk all day, I have different activities I do at intermittent times in the day, but sitting here from 9-6 would kill me! I think it's a really good helper in showing me what I don't want to do.

Some questions I'd like to ask my mentor would be-

1) How did you decide what you wanted to do when you were younger since you have mentioned you used to take dance classes?

2) Why didn't you pursue being a teacher, since you were a teaching assistant earlier?

3) Do you pull a lot of your educational program ideas from your past educational experiences?

4) Do you feel like growing up all over America helped in understanding other cultures?

From these questions I plan on asking more branched off questions, but as of now those 4 are what I could come up with without seeming redundant from my past interview.

Mentor Questions

Where did you grow up?

I’m an air force brat, so I grew up all over—born in Omaha, Nebraska, lived in Ohio, Alabama, and Santa Maria, California.

Where did you go to school?

I did my BA at the University of California, San Diego, and my MA at the University of California, Riverside.

Do you have any interesting educational experiences?

I loved my programs at both UCSD and UCR. Something that really sticks out for me is work I did as a grad student in several Riverside High schools. I taught a course called “podcasting in the arts” and really loved working with the high school students.

Where did you work before NCM?

In college I worked for Trader Joes while doing internships at UCSD and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. After college I worked for MCASD, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., as a Teaching Assistant at UCR.

Do you have any siblings?

Yes, I have one brother who is 25 years old.

If you could move anywhere where would it be?

I can’t choose one place! Here are a few of my top choices: New York City, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Chicago, Spain, France, Sweden.

What do you wish you had done after college but haven't/didn't?

Taught English abroad for a year or two, or backpacked around South America.

What do you want to do before you die?

I want to speak Spanish fluently, live in New York City for at least one year, visit artist Donald Judd’s museum in Marfa, Texas, travel to (just to name a few places) India, China, Russia (where my family is from), Japan, Thailand, Peru, and Croatia, and become an expert seamstress.

Internship!

What new appreciations (for who? of what?) have you gained through internship that you did not have before? How did you develop these appreciations?

I have a new appreciation for everyone who works at a museum. I did not in a million years think it would be this hard to run a museum! I also have a new appreciation for my mentor Lauren. She is the person that so many people go to because she seems to have all the answers and ideas. I really developed these by just watching and listening to what people say about her when I tell them she's my mentor and listening in on what people say about the attendance of the museum, all the artists etc.. I have also gained a new respect for the people who staff the floors, they have to stand out there monitoring the safety of children all day and they all love it.