Alessandra Mistri ’18
Winter internship: Riverdale Country School, Bronx, N.Y.
Award: Nancy Lynn Porter ’43 Fellowship
Major: Art history
Different perspectives: By observing and working closely with the Riverdale art teachers, who are also working artists, I’ve gained a better understanding of what language they use to talk to children about art. In addition, I learned of various projects and assignments that were given to the students to help improve a child’s visual interpretation and understanding of the materials that they are given. Another benefit of working at Riverdale is that I learned to look at art differently through the eyes of the children and the art teachers. These different viewpoints that I was first exposed to at Riverdale have helped me to develop a broader way of looking at and interpreting a work of art.
Career connections: I am very interested in art or museum education as a possible career because it would combine my love of art as well as my enthusiasm with working with children. By interning at Riverdale as a teacher’s assistant, I was able to gain specific knowledge about how art affects children both academically and in their day-to-day life. It was interesting listening to the discussions the teachers had with the children as they looked at the projects that they completed and explained the way they worked. The students were exposed to many different media, cultures and projects based on what they might be studying in the classroom. This last idea impressed me because I saw how the students were able to connect their classwork to something in the art world.
Positive experience: Being surrounded by teachers who were passionate about working with children and sharing their love of art with them was my favorite aspect of working at Riverdale.