Michaela Paulson working on an Etruscan sarcophagus[/caption]
SMFA’s
Office of Career Services
supports and guides students in securing internships each semester. For students with a serious passion for art conservation, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s (MFA) Conservation Pre-Program Internship offers an incredible opportunity to work with objects from the Museum’s comprehensive collection.
Michaela Paulson (Diploma ’15)
has been interning with the MFA’s Objects Conservation Lab since September 2012. We caught up with Michaela to learn more about her experience.
What program are you in at SMFA, and what is your artistic focus?
I am a second year Studio Diploma student. I am not at the School to become an artist, per se. I am striving to become skilled at working with many materials and making the objects I will be faced with fixing during my time as a conservator.
What got you interested in conservation?
My degree in archaeology took me to London on my year abroad and to a dig in West Dean, East Sussex. I realized then that the objects unearthed by archaeologists are quickly given to the conservators to receive treatment and hands-on attention. I wanted to explore that aspect instead of the research and digging faced by archaeologists, though I would love to eventually work as a field conservator on an excavation.
How did you hear about this internship?
Pre-program internships are advertised by many institutions, especially those like the MFA, Boston with large collections. I had applied to the internship twice before I was accepted on my third attempt.
Tell us about a few of the projects you are involved with at the MFA.
The first project I began and saw through to the end on my own with minimal supervision was a ceramic jardiniere currently on view in the Art of the Americas wing. The process included cleaning, removal of an old fill, reconstruction, and inpainting of a new fill. The largest project was assisting mountmakers, engineers, and the design department in the mounting of an Etruscan sarcophagus in gallery 117 of the Museum’s Behrakis Wing. I was able to use skills I learned in the welding and wood shops at the School to be really useful to the staff. Currently, I am working on four ceramic plaques, cleaning them of dirt and aged overpaint and retouching them to obscure the old fills.
How will this experience benefit you moving forward?
The staff as asked me to continue with them next year and have offered to help me with my applications for graduate programs where I want to focus specifically on objects/archaeological materials. This internship has also helped me to better understand the processes going on behind the scenes in large museums. The skills I am learning with these conservators will be essential to my time as a graduate student and beyond.
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