#teachingmuseum

I began my job as an Exhibitions Assistant almost a month ago, and I can’t believe how time has flown by! As an art major at Skidmore, I spent a good amount of time in the Tang for classes or to view exhibitions on my own, but working here has really opened my eyes to the inner workings of the museum and the contemporary art world.

I had no idea how many people collaborate behind the scenes to make sure everything is the best it can be; there is a great amount of research and fact checking, and then more research and fact checking to ensure everything is accurate. I also was unaware of how many projects are being tackled at once. Since I’ve been here, I’ve proofread labels for pieces in the mezzanine, helped organize and file images for an upcoming photography exhibition, and looked for scholarly articles on a number of upcoming shows for the 2015-2016 academic year. It’s exciting to get an idea of everything that’s going on both in and out of the Tang, and I feel that every day I’m gaining real knowledge about contemporary art history.

Currently, another assistant and I are sifting through and documenting the history of the Tang’s exhibitions since it opened in October 2000 (the 15th anniversary is coming up!) with the help of our online archives and our collection of exhibition catalogues. I love working on this project because it’s amazing to see how much the Tang has accomplished in the past 15 years and how it has always tried to promote collaboration and involve Skidmore students.