Jun. 7, 2024 @ 8:00 am – Aug. 16, 2024 @ 5:00 pm
Cohort Description
The Summer 2024 cohort at Mexic-Arte Museum brought together five University of Texas at Austin, one Texas State University, and one Emory University student interns who made meaningful contributions to projects like creating an interactive map of the Mexican American Culture Corridor, supported Mexic-Arte’s efforts on the Cultural Heritage District designation of the 5th Street Mexican American Heritage Corridor — which highlights the cultural organizations and business along 5th St.— assisting the Nuestro Estilo summer camp at Austin Public Library, as well as developing press releases and marketing for a banner reveal event. Their work spanned digital media, education, curatorial planning, and community engagement, reflecting the museum’s mission to foster cultural heritage and creativity.
INTERNS
Norma Bickmore
Curatorial
This internship ties with my interests in becoming a curator in the future. Isabel has been very generous in sharing his experiences and walking me through different aspects of exhibition planning, curatorial thinking, and other administrative factors that are important to know when working in a museum. This also ties with my interest in Latinx and Chicano/a art historical studies as we discuss different artists and other scholarly topics.
My experience has been very valuable. I really appreciate Isabel sharing all his knowledge and advice on being a curator at MAM.
Bieke Campos
Preparator
This internship has taught me to pay close attention to details. I’ve developed skills on how to handle artwork.
Working as a team with my mentor has been most beneficial to me. I’ve learned so much & greatly appreciate the skills I’ve developed. I’ve learned that’s it’s best to be a perfectionist because it will help with the end product.
Yufan (Frank) Hou
Digital Media
My name is Frank, I attend The University of Texas at Austin and major in computer science. I applied to this internship because of my passion for art and the opportunity to work with a respected cultural institution. With this internship I get to have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, collaborate with professionals, and contribute to projects that celebrate and preserve Latino culture.
My favorite project has been the interactive map project on WordPress, where I created a detailed map for the Mexican Culture Corridor. I labeled locations and provided detailed information for users to interact with. This project was particularly beneficial as it allowed me to enhance my JavaScript skills, customizing a WordPress plugin to improve the website’s functionality.
This internship has significantly advanced my career by providing hands-on experience in UI/UX design and coding for WordPress websites, ensuring their functionality and user-friendliness. Additionally, managing the database has taught me efficient data cleaning and maintenance techniques. I am looking forward to leveraging my skills in web development and UI/UX design to create engaging and user-friendly digital experiences. I am excited about working on innovative projects that combine technology and creativity. Additionally, I aim to continue expanding my technical expertise, particularly in JavaScript and database management, and to contribute to projects that have a meaningful impact on communities.
Isabella Lester
Development
I am Isabella Lester, I am going to be a senior at Emory University, and I am majoring in Business and Art History. I applied to Mexic-Arte’s Latino Museum Internship Expansion Project because of the close mentorship that the program offers in an innovative and diverse setting.
My favorite project has been measuring and analyzing the community support for a Cultural Heritage District designation of the 5th Street Mexican American Heritage Corridor, which highlights the cultural organizations and business along 5th St. Mexic-Arte’s internship program has allowed me to experience the inner-workings of a cultural institution, especially one so ingrained in its community. As a Development Intern, my work this summer has furthered my understanding of how museums can economically and socially uplift its constituents. Ultimately, interning at Mexic-Arte has strengthened my pursuit for a career in the arts!
Giovanna McLean
Special Events & Marketing
My name is Giovanna McLean. I attend the University of Texas at Austin and am majoring in marketing with a minor in finance. I applied to Mexic-Arte’s Internship program as I thought it would be a great experience to learn more about what a marketing position entails in a creative and diverse field. I have always loved art growing up, but I had never really had the chance to immerse myself in the art community professionally, so being able to intern at a museum has been such a great learning experience! I also really admired Mexic-arte’s dedication to supporting the Latinx community, being from Mexico myself! I have loved being able to work on a press release for our upcoming banner reveal event and am excited about the opportunity to help run it when the date comes. I have also found learning more about how to upkeep a website by using WordPress to be quite interesting. This internship is benefiting my career by giving me insight into what it takes to have events come to fruition and ensure they run smoothly. Additionally, I’ve had the chance to experience the many different parts that come with being in a marketing role, such as managing the website, having content for social media, and helping out with newsletters.
Fabiana Munoz
Education
My name is Fabiana Muñoz, I attend the University of Texas at Austin and I am on track for a Studio Art BFA. I applied to the Mexic-Arte Museum Latino Internship Expansion Project because I had worked with the Museum previously on creative and curatorial projects and had really enjoyed collaborating with the Mexic-Arte team. Having worked with Mexic-Arte in the past, I understood the museum’s importance and role in the larger Austin community as a center for promoting Latinx art and culture and empowering artists and communities through education and outreach initiatives. Being a Latinx studio artist and museum worker, I thought the Education Internship would be a great opportunity to learn about museum outreach and public programming.
My favorite project so far has been the Nuestro Estilo summer camp at the Austin Public Library. Not only was this program fun and well received by students, but it was a program that was increasingly accessible to the community having been multi-generational, free of cost, and multilingual. As someone who envisions themselves working within museum spaces, this internship has benefited my career by allowing me insight into the inner workings of a non-profit museum that coordinates public programs to support artists and art education with a focus on cultural consciousness. I am excited to continue supporting and working with the Mexic-Arte Museum after my internship.
Ximena Ochoa
Graphic Design
Hola! My name is Ximena Ochoa, I’m a rising junior at UT Austin majoring in Design. I decided to apply for Mexic-Arte’s Latino Museum Internship Expansion Project as I was already familiar with the work Mexic-Arte does for Austin’s Latino community. I grew up coming here for the Viva La Vida parade and festival, as it was a way for my parents to teach me about our culture and heritage, and for my brother and I experience a piece of what life was like for them back home in Mexico. Now being in college, I wanted to be able to give back and contribute to further that work to help inspire other Mexican Americans like me to take pride in our culture.
My main project throughout my internship has been to create illustrations for a Dia de los Muertos themed ABCs coloring book to be used for Viva La Vida this year. It’s been really fun to get to draw so many different things and to learn more about my culture throughout the process, and it’s really exciting that I get to work on something for an event that I’ve been going to for so long.
This is the first time I’ve been able to apply my design skills in a professional setting and I’ve already learned so much. I’ve been able to gain so many skills that I know I’ll carry with me long into my career, such as how to react to feedback and apply it to my work and how to present my work and process to clients; I’ve gained a deeper understanding of what the day-to-day of a professional designer looks like, and what areas I’m lacking in that I need to work on during my remaining time in my degree.
It feels very full circle to get to intern here after coming here for so many years and to get to contribute to the work that Mexic-Arte does, I’m super grateful to have had the opportunity to intern here alongside such a supportive supervisor and passionate staff, and for this to have been my first intern experience! I’m super excited to see everything I worked on this summer come to life over the next few months.
Isabelle Perez
Collections
I am Isabelle Perez and I attend Texas State University where I am majoring in both Art History and Anthropology. I applied to the Mexic-Arte Museum Latino Museum Internship Expansion Project because I was inspired the Mexic-Arte mission, in providing learning opportunities and a sense of community. I want to nurture my professional skills within the Mexic-Arte Collections department because of the unique experiences that provide me with insight into how the Collections department functions. As of lately, I have been working on accessioning various objects from the Changarrito collection and I hope to keep encountering more opportunities to research, catalog, and enhance the collection in my day-to-day tasks. I have really enjoyed learning about the proper accession attachments for each object depending on its condition and texture, reviewing the provenance, description, and other identity details for the objects in the Changarrito collection, and familiarizing myself with the objects on display and in the collection.
This internship is benefitting my career by providing me with the opportunity to explore the museum field, I can connect with people who have similar interests or goals as me and mentors with experience that are able to offer advice and feedback on career questions, or my current work. The Collections internship is also challenging me to understand the tasks and learning opportunities that I take on each day at the museum, which contribute to my professional growth, abilities, and skills.
