The Getty currently hosted an Arts Summit for the Multicultural Interns from 80+ organizations this past Monday. …as explained by Jasmine in her entry “The…Getty!”. One of the most exciting and memorable experiences I had that day was the tour of the Design Studios. The tour was limited to about 9 or 10 interns. Now imagine, there are about 15 sessions that interns can pick from, each session allows only 9 spots. There had to be intense coordination between the 100+ interns. While I picked the top five sessions I was interested in, there was no guarantee that I could attend each one.Considering that I am the Visual Resources Intern at the Williamson Gallery, I was pleased with the number of digital related sessions available. I have been debating on what to do after graduation so I was excited to meet professionals in different digital-related fields. While I know that I want to be a part of the professional digital world…where in the digital world am I going to find my niche? There are many options to explore…graphic design…post-production…but finding the right one for me might take a while. I have spoken to John, the curator of Visual Resources, who has taught me a few things about different career possibilities. So now I had the chance of learning about designing exhibitions as a career possibility.I was not aware of this position before…so when I read the description in one of the many papers that the Getty gave the interns…I wanted to learn more. Yet, many, many, many interns were eager to go behind-the-scenes. Throughout the first three sessions, I kept my eye on the line for the tour of the design studio…but everyone seemed to rush over there. I was not so sure that I would get a chance to see the design studio since the sessions I expressed interest in were on the opposite side of the cafeteria. To my luck, my fourth sessions was close to the meeting place for the tour! But then, Jasmine, who coincidentally also chose the same session as I did…told me that she had been ‘rejected’ once before…Was I going to get a chance to go behind-the-scenes and miss out on a great opportunity? I debated whether I should go ahead and just try or give up. Waiting for the fourth session to begin, I remembered the different individuals I have met at the Williamson Gallery. A consistent word of advice was to just go for it. If you want to try it, just try it. Don’t think about what you want to do. Take the opportunity. The same words that I hear over and over again from Mel at fin aid.The fourth session ended, and I was ready to be one of the few to go on tour for the last session. This was my last chance to go. Luckily, the tour was extended to 20 spots.Overall, the tour was amazing. The studio is simply wonderful. I encourage anyone who has the chance to explore a space to go for it…because it makes a difference on how you view institutions. Looking at how different organizations make of a space is great…small or large. It makes you appreciate what you do have.The tour guide spoke of the different processes they have to undergo for one exhibit. From making a scale model…choosing appropriate colors…meeting with curators…designing the furniture for objects…(look at the walls of exhibits and notice how they are sometimes made to look smaller…or at the furniture that holds a piece…secured for preventing damage from a disaster such as from an earthquake), choosing fonts, etc. So much detail goes into planning and designing an exhibit.After taking this session, I just had to take a closer look at the exhibitions at the Fowler Museum at UCLA on Wednesday. Fortunately, Mary, the director of the Williamson Gallery, helped us think critically of the different choices made for the installations at the Fowler. While I agreed on some decisions, I did not on others. Yet, that goes into personal taste as well.This past week has certainly been one of the best, despite not having as much time to finish working on digitizing and optimizing Barnett Newman’s work which is taking me longer than usual because of certain difficulties…but that’s a topic for another entry!
