Noel Palomino de la Torre ('27), a Visual Studies and Mathematics double major, was an intern at the Arthur Ross Gallery. The Arthur Ross Gallery is a catalyst for creativity, and its mission is to engage, educate, and inspire. This internship was supported by the Summer Humanities Internship Program.
I was drawn to apply to the Arthur Ross Gallery (ARG) through SHIP because I wanted an opportunity to learn as much as possible about how art spaces operate. Interning at the ARG, I conducted research for a future exhibition, developed a communications plan for their Instagram account, and produced an inventory of past exhibition catalogs. Spending the summer at the gallery gave me answers to many of the questions I had about what working in such environments looked like, from how exhibitions are brought into the gallery to how programming is planned.
I feel grateful for the opportunity to have worked on such a small team because I was able to learn so much from each and every one of the staff members: Emily Zimmerman, Dr. Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw, and Miranda Powell. Through weekly staff meetings and daily check-ins, I learned what each person was bringing to this tight-knit community and how much a small team is able to accomplish. Throughout this internship, I was introduced to people from different departments at Penn, such as the Platt Student Performing Arts House, to support ongoing efforts to collaborate with the broader Penn community. Given that I’m still exploring what kind of career opportunities to pursue after graduation, all of these connections were very beneficial because they gave me greater insight into different career paths. Additionally, while I was unable to attend most of the social events programmed for PURM and SHIP fellows, attending the trivia night was a fun way to get to know other people that were on campus for the summer and hear more about what they were working on.
By learning about the research, artwork transportation, and marketing that goes into a successful exhibition, I am better informed about my career options within the art world. While I still want to gain some experience in a different industry before deciding on my post-graduate career, I can say that I enjoyed this internship and would be open to a professional career in the art world. Through the production of the catalog inventory, I also met an academic goal as I learned about the gallery’s history, what sorts of exhibitions it has hosted throughout the years, and why these exhibitions were relevant in their context. This internship has also inspired a new goal for me, which is to further explore and understand how curatorial work is performed.
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