My name is Natalia Lemus and I am currently an illustration senior concentrating in Printmaking and Book Arts. During the summer of 2012, I worked as an education department intern at the Walters Art Museum. I was hired as a full-time, paid diversity intern to focus on community outreach and visitor services/evaluations. I found the position through my academic advisor, Nicole Evans, a semester beforethe application deadline, so I contacted many professors early on to confirm my list of references.
At the Walters Art Museum I worked with the senior coordinator of community outreach, Andrea Vespoint; the vice-chair of the education department, Kathleen Nusbaum; and the manager of docents and interns, John Shields. I accomplished a variation of tasks related to the temporary summer exhibition, Public Property, wherein I evaluated visitors and maintained the interactive activities on a daily basis. I also participated in a multitude of outreach activities working with community arts programs, neighborhood associations, the Youth Refugee Project, Latino Network Providers, and summer school programs. I conducted several tours alongside supervisors and docents and designed programs for Walter’s partnerships.
The internship at the Walters Art Museum exceeded my expectations because I learned about the multifaceted and thorough nature of museum planning and programming. Although I worked within the education department, I worked alongside people from the conservation and curatorial departments, i.e. I joined meetings for future exhibitions such as African Presence in Renaissance Art. Moreover, I enhanced my ability to communicate with professionals, meanwhile forming close associations with them. Having worked at the Walters Art Museum helped me learned that I love art conservation, having met conservators who mostly come from art backgrounds.
