Last summer, ten UVA students got an inside track on a career in museum curation at a variety of leading museums and historical attractions throughout the region thanks to the Mellon Museum Internship Program. The program, part of the Mellon Indigenous Arts Initiative, was created to increase access to curatorial experience for students from backgrounds that are traditionally underrepresented in museum careers and to encourage the study of global Indigenous arts. Last summer’s interns enjoyed a vast array of experiences at institutions throughout Charlottesville and beyond. At The Fralin Museum of Art, interns Uzo Njoku (College ‘19) and Paige Taul (College ‘18) worked alongside Will Rourk of the UVA Library on a 3D scanning project surrounding artist Mark Dion’s Virginia Curiosity Shop art installation. At the Flowerdew Hundred Archaeological Collection, housed at Alderman Library, student Erika Chu (2018) worked with lithics from the 17th century Stone House Site, including stone macrotools and projectile points, as a means of unraveling Indigenous activity that took place there. At Monticello, Chris Jackson (College ‘18), an Art History and Interdisciplinary Archaeology major, split time between the Curatorial and Archaeology Departments. The Virginia Museum of Fine Art (VFMA) also offered a vibrant training ground for students including Gabrielle Stanfield (College ‘19), who interned in the Art Education department and served as a guide for parents and students involved in the museum’s summer programs. At Roanoke’s Taubman Art Museum, Gabrielle Pfaeffle (College ‘19) worked in community engagement and marketing, including creating a video entitled How to Visit an Art Museum.

-Amanda Wagstaff & John Kelly