Interns at the Denison Museum spend time with antiquities, art and objects that enhance their learning, and deepen their connection to their research. They learn how to handle and clean ceramics, printed materials, textiles, wooden and painted objects. And they learn how to research items and curate collections. It’s all about observing, thinking and asking critical questions.
Anne Mattoni ’22
- I was the Vice President of Active Minds and the House Chair of Kappa Kappa Gamma
- Working at the Denison Museum allows me to experience a field very different from my own with professional guidance. It has given me different worldviews and the opportunity to be surrounded by art, as I have been since I was young.
- I love reading anything and everything, and listening to music with my friends!
- I stayed on campus over the summer and worked at the Denison Bookstore. I was also the KKG summer “house mom” - I lived in and managed out house over the summer.
- After Denison, I plan to attend grad school to pursue a masters degree in Forensic
- Psychology. Whatever my career, I hope it involves travel.
- Every other Saturday morning, when I was very young, my mom would take me to the Cleveland Museum of Art. These trips remain some of my favorite memories, and are the reason I applied to intern at the museum.
Maya Barlow ’23
I am currently Vice President of Denison Film Society and treasurer of both the Denison Socialist Association and the Denison Photography Association
I enjoy working at the Denison Museum because it allows for the creative expansion of skills I’ve developed in the classroom in a real life setting. As a cinema major, I’m always looking for ways to apply my technical camera skills to other things I’m involved with on campus. Videos are the most powerful tool of communication to share the hard work we’re all doing down here at the museum with the rest of the Denison community, and I love being a part of that process.
I like baking, crafting, and watching movies that are so bad they’re good.
Over the summer, I worked remotely for a film data company as a Media Genome Analyst and as a lifeguard.
Post graduation I plan to complete a volunteer year with a nonprofit organization while I figure out how I want to use my cinema degree.
Isabelle Monyak ’24
- As a Studio Art major, I have always loved art and art history. I am interested in the field of Museum Studies and design, so I love getting the hands-on experience that comes from interning at the Denison Museum. It has challenged me to think outside the box and explore new creative mediums and platforms.
- I love drawing (especially people), listening to music, and going on drives with my friends!
- I am a new transfer, but between my first year at another college and my sophomore year at
- Denison, I took a gap year and interned at an art gallery in my hometown of Atlanta for a year. I was able to learn so much, including exhibition design, curation, and graphic design.
- After graduation I would like to do something in graphic design, like becoming an Art Director or going into the museum field, like curation and exhibition design.
Talia Ferguson-Nieves ’23
- I am currently the (It’s) My Pleasure Issue Editor
- I love working at the Denison Museum because I have always been heavily involved in the arts. I love learning about the behind the scenes processes, especially the research aspect of my job. I also enjoy getting to help present art to the campus community.
- I love music, fashion,food history, reading, and watching period dramas with friends! Over the summer, I worked as a camp counselor. I also got to visit my family in Puerto Rico and spent time planning my senior research.
- Once I graduate, I would like to go to grad school abroad for Museum StudiesMuseum studies, Arts Management, Linguistics, or Medieval Literature.I also play two instruments, Harp and Viola. I’ve been playing viola for about 13 years and harp for about 3 years.
Ava Goodwin ’23
- I am a member of the Varsity Squash Team, Outdoors Club, New Beginnings Club, and Women in Business
- As an art major, I love to be surrounded by and learning about art. I also really enjoy getting to pull and look at all the art and artifacts that are part of the museum’s collection.
- Some of my favorite things include art, fashion, photography, cooking, exercise and reading
- Over the summer I worked a retail job and spent time with my family and friends
- A career goal of mine is to get a job in the art, fashion, or lifestyle world.
- A fun fact about me is that I won last year’s annual Podcast-a-thon at Denison.
Emma Driver ’23
- I am a member of the orchestra and also the orchestra librarian. I am also the treasurer for the Eta Sigma Phi Honors Society.
- Working at the Denison Museum is a great way for me to learn about what a career in Museum Studies would be like, which is something I am interested in pursuing after graduation. I love that there’s not really an “average” day at work; each day I could be doing something different. I also love exploring the collections area, because the museum has such a wide variety of art and artifacts.
- In my free time, I like listening to all kinds of music, but especially 60s rock. I also love reading historical fiction or mystery/thriller books, as well as watching period films and tv shows!
- Over the summer, I worked at the Wilton Historical Society Museum, a small heritage site in my hometown of Wilton, CT. It was a really cool experience, and I got to put what I’ve learned at the Denison Museum to work.
- In the future, I’m hoping to go to grad school for Museum Studies and hopefully continue to work in the museum industry.
- I can play the violin and over quarantine, I started teaching myself guitar.
Ellie Blasko ’23
- I am a member of Track and Field team, participant in various ensembles on campus, and the VP of Public Relations for SHARE
- As a piano performance major, I really love classical, baroque, and romantic music. I also like lifting heavy and going on hikes!
- I enjoy working at the museum because this is great exposure to what I want to do as a career! As an Art History and Global Commerce major, getting hands on experience at the museum is just what I need. Denison’s collection covers a wide variety of artistic periods, so I really get to apply to my knowledge to the artworks of different periods.
- After I graduate, I would like to work in an auction house or an art gallery in NYC or abroad. I have an internship while studying abroad in Milan next semester, so I’m hoping to make good connections while I’m there.
Dana Randall ’21
- My time at the museum has been so valuable to me because it has given me exposure to what I might be interested in pursuing career-wise. I am interested in collections and archives in particular, so getting hands on experience with the museum’s collection is an unparalleled opportunity. I also appreciate the opportunity working here gives me to learn about what goes on behind the scenes to put together a successful exhibition and connect with the artists whose work is on display.
- On campus, most of my extracurriculars have been work-related, like working as a research assistant in the History Department, as an intern with University Communications, and for the dining hall.
- Over the summer I was doing odd jobs for most of it, cleaning and organizing homes for neighbors, catsitting, and gardening. I also had two of my best friends from campus visit me in Chicago, which was nice after over a year of not traveling.
- Some of my favorite things are helping others, outsider art, fashion, food, true crime podcasts, and documentaries.
- I would like to work in a museum or for a publication where I can combine my passions for writing and history, and potentially going to grad school for Museum Studies in the next few years.
Emily Harris ’24
- I am active in the theater scene here. I am currently in the upcoming production Take 5, and a member of Denison’s planned parenthood generation action.
- I love working at the museum because it is such a fulfilling line of work. Applying and developing my research skills in order to share art and knowledge about it feels so worthwhile.
- I am a theatre major, so making art through acting is very important to my life and identity.
- Over the summer I had a part time job working for a local Peruvian restaurant in my home city, Milwaukee.I got to learn a lot about Peruvian culture and fell in love with Ají de gallina, a chicken and yellow pepper stew that never gets old.
- I tend to live in the moment, but of course I have thought about my future. I cannot say the specifics of what I will be doing after graduation, but over all, I just want to be happy with whatever it is. I enthusiastically and deliberately chose Theater as my major because I could not think of any other way of life for me besides making art through acting. If I am able to do that at all in the future, I will be happy.
Allie Mohn ’22
- I am minoring in Bluegrass/American Roots Music and have had a very active role in this years travel band. I am also a member of Denison’s Guitar Ensemble and the Delta Gamma Sorority.
- Early last year, I secured a position at the Denison Museum after seeing the description in the student jobs list. While not exceptionally well-versed in visual art, my experience studying Medieval Art and Architecture with Professor Karl Sandin revealed that understanding art in historical and social contexts benefits ones perception of the world at large.
- In my free time, I enjoy playing guitar and writing music, running and hiking outdoors, and reading, especially historical fiction.
- This past summer was my second year working as an assistant to the owner of a landscaping company.
- Ideally, a career in the music industry that allows me to utilize my creative and musical passions, but as long as I find a job that stimulates my brain, I think I will be satisfied!
- I attended a small boarding school called Suffield Academy and was very involved in various parts of campus life. During quarantine, my friend Aidan and I recorded a demo of one of my songs and they actually played it during our commencement video! It’s called Heavy Hearted Blues and you can find it on Soundcloud.
Elizabeth Sullivan ’22
- I am a member of greek life, an Art History Fellow, and a member of the Kappa Pi Art Honor Society
- I enjoy working at the museum because I think it is a really wonderful opportunity to experience how interactions with art can be so engaging and informative. I also think being surrounded by art in the ways we are able to be as interns evokes a lot of creative thinking and intrigue around so many different topics/issues.
- Over the summer I lived in Santa Fe, NM and had an internship at the Museum of Contemporary Native Art where I worked with the education manager and the head curator. I also worked at a restaurant while I was there.
- When I graduate, I hope to work in the art world in some capacity. My dreams is that it involves traveling, meeting new people and new artists, and the like.
- My senior research in the spring will be on the structure and theories of contemporary indigenous architecture and exploring different forms of built environment that juxtapose traditional indigenous techniques with contemporary ones.
Ellie Schrader ’23
- On campus, I am the Bullsheet Editor, RISO TA, a member of the Denison Creative Network, and a member of the Kappa Pi Art Honor Society
- I love working at the museum because I love seeing art with history. I’ve always been very interested in ancient artwork.You experience a very strange feeling looking at pieces that have been around longer than some societies, knowing that at some point in history another human took the time to create work that they likely assumed would be lost to time. It inspires me in my own work, as I can incorporate different mediums, techniques, and aesthetics.