Jan. 16, 2024 @ 8:00 am – Apr. 19, 2024 @ 5:00 pm
Cohort Description
​The Spring 2024 cohort marked the inaugural group of interns in the Latino Museum Internship Expansion Project at Mexic-Arte Museum, where eight talented students, eight from the University of Texas at Austin and one student from the University of London collaborated across departments such as Curatorial, Education, Preprator, Graphic Design, Development and Digital Media, contributing to exhibitions like Mix ‘n’ Mash and Creating Encuentros: Changarrito 2012–2024. Their work included assisting with exhibition design, developing educational materials, and supporting digital content creation, providing them with valuable professional experience in the museum field. The program aimed to advance careers in studying American Latino/x/e life, art, history, and culture, fostering the next generation of museum professionals.
INTERNS
Sebastian Barajas
Curatorial
My name is Sebastian Barajas, and I attend the University of Texas at Austin. I am an Art History major with a concentration in Contemporary Latin American Art. I applied to the Mexic-Arte Museum Latino Museum Internship Expansion Project because I am passionate about working with and studying Latino art, especially in a museum setting, so when I learned about the Curatorial Intern position it felt like a match made in heaven. It makes me happy and hopeful that there are growing spaces for Latino art and artists, spaces like the Mexic-Arte museum are so important for this growing community. I have done so much in the short time I’ve been here, but my favorite project was helping organize and choose pieces for the Mix ‘n’ Mash show; I had never worked hands-on with art, or done anything curation related, so assisting Isabel, the curator, with that was so exciting to me. I am looking forward to what else is in store for me here at Mexic-Arte, especially with the upcoming Changarrito exhibition!
Joey Holbert
Graphic Design
My name is Joey Holbert. I am a student at UT Austin, and I am majoring in Design. I enjoyed being able to learn about the Museum and its very important place in the community. The most beneficial aspect of being at Mexic-Arte Museum is working around other people all geared towards the same goal. It is great to be in a creative work environment, and I feel it is greatly preparing me for my future endeavors.
Aoife Hopkins
Development
My name is Aoife Hopkins, and I attend The University of Texas at Austin. I am a Public Relations major and a Communicating Social Change minor! I applied to the Mexic-Arte Museum Latino Museum Internship Expansion Project because ultimately, I am studying public relations and brand communications for nonprofit organizations and social justice causes, and the Mexic-Arte Museum has been one of the most impactful and important cultural institutions promoting values I believe in, so it was a no-brainer for me to apply. My favorite project so far is creating collateral and networking on behalf of our major spring events, The Cinco De Mayo Luncheon and Taste of Mexico. While I naturally lean towards the creative, media-planning side of operations, I’m learning a lot about the business aspects of nonprofit funding in this role, and just how analytical you have to be to be successful. I’m really looking forward to seeing the events I’m working hard to organize come into fruition. One of the best parts of learning to build a brand is watching the public interact with your brand and build a relationship with your organization!
Julio Martinez
Preparator
I’m Julio Martinez, a senior at UT Austin double-majoring with a BFA in Studio Art and a BS in Arts and Entertainment Technologies. Ever since I stepped into the museum for the first time, I felt welcomed into the space. After engaging with events and exhibitions, I understood that Mexic-Arte holds an initiative to share and grow our culture with the community while opening opportunities for artists like myself. I knew I wanted to be part of a unique project like this one. Apart from helping install the Mix ‘n’ Mash exhibition, I have really enjoyed helping to organize Mexic-Arte’s archive and art storage in preparation for its big move to a temporary space. It’s a busy time, and I’m excited about the museum’s future. Understanding how the Mexic-Arte team works together will one day help me structure and run a successful DIY art space. I feel more connected and supported to continue growing as an artist and inspired to create opportunity.
Monica Ruth Olivo
Collections
My name is Monica Olivo and I’m a Mexican American and Latina/o Studies major at UT. I’m also pursuing a certificate in Museum Studies. As a Chicana working toward a career in archives, I’m always interested in how collecting institutions represent marginalized communities. I knew I could learn a lot from an institution like Mexic-Arte, which foregrounds Latinx/e art and culture and engages so much with the Austin community. I’m so grateful to have access to such a unique experience. Lately I’ve been accessioning materials from the museum’s Changarrito residency program. I love getting to interact with the art work, and being exposed to such incredible Latinx/e artists. Through this project, I’m also learning a lot about the technical side of documenting and managing museum collections, which is really exciting.
My time with Mexic-Arte has given me the confidence to pursue opportunities in museums in my post-graduation job search. I love learning, and truly feel that any kind of experience I can get can be useful no matter where the road leads me. As a collections intern, I’ve learned a lot about the workflow of processing and documenting artifacts; and through conversations with my mentor at Mexic-Arte, I’ve learned how my experience in archives and libraries can also be applied in museum work. Since 2021, I’ve been an archives assistant and project manager for Chicana por mi Raza (CPMR), a digital archive that documents and preserves Chicanx histories from the Long Sixties. My work with CPMR has been a guiding experience throughout my undergrad, and a constant reminder that I’m standing on the shoulders of so many brave, resilient, and fierce Chicanas before me. I feel so lucky to support this project as way of honoring and building upon that legacy.
Renata Salazar
Special Events & Marketing
My name is Renata Salazar! I attend UT Austin, am majoring in Advertising, and have a minor in Business Administration. I enjoyed the energy of the office and everyone’s friendly and welcoming attitude. I always felt welcome to ask any questions within any department as well as give my opinion. I also loved to see my relationship with my coordinator grow as time passed and learning more about the bigger picture of her own role.
I’ve definitely gotten a better idea of the actual process that goes behind marketing regarding the build-up to certain events and essential elements to this – like press releases, evites etc. My management classes have actually been surprisingly useful here as I’ve connected different methods of management, specifically working with a smaller team that is very connected. I’ve found growth in tasks that I had not been used to, such as graphics, and I found it very helpful to witness department interaction within such close quarters and conversations.
My goals and aspirations have switched up on me a lot throughout this experience, mainly because, of course, I’m a senior, and my goals are ever-changing and being influenced. But I will say that working at Mexic-Arte gave me a sense of working towards a greater purpose – that being spreading Mexican culture and heritage. Specifically, being part of the initial understanding of the 5th Street Corridor made me feel like I was a part of something bigger that was connected to my groups and experiences.
Zorayda Sanchez
Education
My name is Zorayda Sanchez, I attend UT Austin, and my major is Youth & Community Studies Minor: Art History. I applied to be an education intern because of my passion for art, recognizing its significance as a means of expression, activism, and healing. I also love educational programs and believe they play a big role in student success and personal growth. Because of this, I thought it would be a good opportunity to merge my major and minor. I really enjoyed Family Day. It was nice to see everyone interact with the Mix and Mash and TCTA exhibits, as well as get to participate in our activity. I look forward to engaging more with the community, going to the schools/classes, and seeing the programs in action. I am also excited to see how the students depict their community identity and the overall progression of the Mero Muro art program.
Joel Saucedo
Digital Media
My name is Joel, I attend the University of London (Remote), and my major is Computer Science. I decided to apply to this opportunity to improve my web development skills and expand my network by meeting new people. Additionally, this opportunity aligns perfectly with my passions for art, Mexican culture, and technology. I’m Mexican and I’ve always been passionate about my culture. Back in Mexico I took art classes and I’ve been exploring different mediums ever since and I’ve found web development to be the perfect intersection between my creative side and my technical one. This internship offers all of that.
A project that has been both exciting and challenging, was creating an archive page to improve how past exhibitions are displayed on Mexic-Arte’s website. My supervisor gave me flexibility and ownership in the project. However, I realized that working with WordPress had a series of limitations, and although it was possible to achieve our goal without using WordPress, it had some disadvantages like it being hard to maintain and not the best user experience. Instead I opted to do it with code, it was more work upfront, but once the system is in place, it organizes all the content automatically with the added benefit of being a better experience for the users.
During my time in the internship I learned the process of implementing new features for a website that is used by hundreds of people. I learned that it is important to do proper research and design to make sure that it is accessible to all people, as well as proper testing. Additionally, it has helped me to gain a deeper understanding of how WordPress works and the opportunity to learn some php. Outside of work, I’ve been working on improving my coding skills by contributing to open source projects. This has been really exciting since I’ve met other students and mentors.
