You may wonder how I learned about the Philbrook from so far away. Thanks to the website, YouTube and Facebook, I became really enthused about it. The mixture is appealing: gardens, sculptures, paintings, special exhibitions plus weekly special events. There is so much going on all the time. Anyway, it really turned out to be even better than it looked online.
On my first day I was shown what goes on behind the scenes. I had a chance to tour the storage area where the majority of the museum’s pieces are kept, like African artifacts containing poisonous ingredients. You really have to be careful when working with those. So far I’ve been assisting the Curatorial and Education Departments. I’ve been involved in so many diverse projects which include, among others, organizing files, creating slideshows for classes and evaluating surveys. I had the chance to assist at the Free 2nd Saturday in July and got to create Art Cards for upcoming ones. For this I was doing research at the Chapman Library and really got drawn ever more deeply into the background stories. And then I literally fell in love with the painting and the mysteries about Isabel Harpel Storm (below). Isn’t it just downright amazing?
The most challenging project was working on the docent guide for an upcoming exhibition, a show in which classic literature, paintings, films, ballets, and even e-mails are adapted for new video installations. This was just one of many projects that turned me into a Philbrook fan, which leads to the next point: the staff. My time here at Philbrook enables me to gain so much experience for my future career. I am mostly free to choose what I want to work on, so I also wanted to gain deeper insight into the Communications and Development departments.
The staff is so very appreciative and open-minded. I was even invited for a “thank you” lunch and also to join a pot luck lunch at the museum. I am already a little bummed that all this will be over in two weeks. The long journey was definitely worth it!
