As a child, Morgan Bakerman ’13 hated going to museums and galleries. “They seemed dry and dull. For many children, the first museum experience is less than ideal,” she says.
“Often, museums are places you are made to go to by your parents or your school…. In retrospect, I think that if I had received a tour from a college student, not an adult, I probably would have enjoyed it more. So much depends on who introduces you to the experience.”
Last summer, Bakerman was that college student, holding in her hands the beginning experiences of many young museum-goers. The art history and Hispanic studies double major worked in New York as an intern at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
On the West Coast, art history and English double major Nicholas Rawitsch ’13 was engaged in a similar effort. He interned at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, a museum and education center dedicated to the study of the arts and cultures of ancient Greece, Rome and Etruria.
Both students helped captivate young museum-goers, as well as put into practice their own Wheaton coursework. They also got to explore their interests in perhaps working at a cultural institution someday.
Bakerman’s internship in the museum’s education department was twofold. She served as a tour guide for camp groups coming into the museum from all around New York City and from around the world. She also was a teaching assistant in two different studio art classes for children and helped with event-related projects.
