Ana (left) at the intern-led carer lab with fellow high school interns Morgan and Kaylene
«Last summer I was a high school intern at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Working at the Met was a dream for me. Each morning I took the train from Brooklyn to the Museum Mile, with my Met ID hanging around my neck, excited about the day ahead. I've been visiting the Met for years with my family and friends, and had always wanted to be a part of it.»
Alongside the thirty-four other high school summer interns, I spent half of my six-week placement attending and leading gallery sessions and career labs. The other half was spent on the fourth floor of the Museum, in my departmental placement in Studio Programs in the Education Department. I researched works of art in the Museum, using the amazing archives, and wrote syllabi for student art-making instructors. I also shadowed classes and assisted with artistic processes.
During my internship, I co-led a gallery session on a piece from the Department of Islamic Art. I chose a Mihrab, or prayer niche, from the city of Isfahan in Iran. The niche was built in 1355 and weighs 4,500 pounds. It is tiled in cobalt blue, made of geometric ceramic pieces, and positioned to face Mecca at all times, even in the Met. I found the Arabic scripture written on the mihrab wonderful, and I read it aloud and translated it. I have been taking an online Arabic class for a couple of years now and I loved putting the language to use.
Mihrab (Prayer Niche), A.H. 755/A.D. 1354–55. Iran, Isfahan. Mosaic of polychrome-glazed cut tiles on stonepaste body; set into mortar. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Harris Brisbane Dick Fund, 1939 (39.20)
In addition to the gallery session, every intern participated in an intern-led career lab, a kind of career fair where we could share the insights, experiences, and skills we gained through our departmental placements in interactive ways. At my table, I explained my personal research and syllabi work to peers and visitors. In addition, I taught an art-making lesson on blind contours—where you close your eyes, and, without letting your pen leave the paper, draw yourself or someone else.
If you want to know more about the High School Internship Program, watch the video below by Troy, one of my fellow interns. He spent his departmental placement with the Digital Learning team within the Digital Media Department, and one of his projects was to capture the experiences of various high school interns on video. You can also visit the High School Internship Program page. The application for this summer's program is available now and due April 8.
Intern Insights: Summer 2014. Producer and Editor: Emily Sutter; Director and Camera: Troy Parish, High School Intern; Music: "Accralate" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0, © 2014 The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Interning at the Met was an amazing opportunity and I hope that I can be a part of it again someday soon—and inspire others to be too.