Blog 1: Mentorship - AMOCA

Literal (Know)

Mentorship Log

Susan Reed

 sreed@amoca.org 

(909) 865 3146 x 103 (office)

Literal (Need to know)

What does it take in order to put an exhibition together?

How do you find collectors willing to donate or lend their pieces to you?

What is the best way to choose which pieces go into an exhibition?

How do you correctly catalogue it so that it isn't lost?

What does curating an art show entail?

Interpretive

  Honestly, I could say that the most important thing that I have gained from this experience is the knowledge of different artifacts of ceramics. Before this internship, I barely knew anything about ceramics except that it was simply pots and things made out of clay. Now if you were to ask me, I could give you a detailed response on different areas in which certain art forms have originated and could even name a few priceless pieces that I have seen and helped photograph on special occasions.

  I really enjoy working here because of the friendly atmosphere of the workers and interns and also because of the immense amount of freedom I have to photograph and do my work. They give me the right amount of time and means in order to get what I need to done and I really am appreciative of it all.

Applied

 This experience has helped me with choosing my subject because I had a simple idea of what I would like to DO for my senior project, but I had no idea which subject would capture my vision. After spending time at the American Museum of Ceramic Arts, I realized that one thing I became interested in was the way they put a show together. 

  Getting to be a part of the process is simply amazing, especially for only being a Senior in high school. So, I decided that I want to spend the year on being a curator for my own show. This will help me not only learn more about what it takes to create, produce, and market a new exhibition, but it will help me in the process of marketing my own art show at the end of the year.