CC at the FAC: a glimpse at what interns do

A volunteer assists with the large scale installation of one panel of the HUMONGOUS Boardman Robinson mural.

Here's a special guest post from the Colorado College museum interns:

Interns Davis Tutt and Abby Stein are putting on the plexiglas vitrine over
fragile Native American artifacts in current exhibition, Honoring a Legacy.

Museum interns are involved with a whole range of different projects at the FAC. Working mostly under the mentorship of Registrar Michael Howell, interns from Colorado College come in throughout the week to work on specific projects or help out wherever needed. We do a little bit of everything, which is unique to small institutions. Although we work with Michael, oftentimes - especially before big exhibition openings, we'll be helping out the curatorial and exhibit preparation staff.

Even when there aren't big exhibitions going up, we are still busy, busy, busy! One of the Registrar's responsibilities is to make condition reports for objects that are loaned to the FAC, as well as objects that are travelling to go on view at other institutions. It is always helpful to have extra hands and eyes when doing condition reports because you have to be careful in recording all the imperfections of a piece -- whether it's a slight chip on a corner of a frame, or a fingernail-sized paint chip. It's important to note these imperfections as there are legal and ethical concerns between lenders and borrowers.

Another plus in working for the museum is you get to meet the artists themselves! We've had numerous Colorado artists exhibit their work in the past year: Terry Maker, Scott Johnson and now Floyd D. Tunson. Sometimes, you're working side-by-side with them to make the exhibition look exactly how the artist and curators want it. 

Katie Smith working with the Colorado College collection
of Native American artifacts.

The hands-on work we get to do as interns at the FAC is another cool feature of this institution. We're not "just interns” at the FAC, there is a strong sense of community with the staff, and they trust you to do really big projects! Handling art is no walk in the park, especially since you're working with one-of-a-kind stuff on a daily basis! 

Museum work is not JUST for the art folk, even though a lot of us are majoring in either Art History or Studio Art. We also have academic interests in History, Philosophy, Political Science, and Museum Studies, just to name a few.

Lila Pickus inspecting a painting coming back from being on loan. 

Jenna Schmidt doing a condition report
on a painting.

Kelly Cheung doing a condition report on a Floyd D.
Tunson multi-media piece, entitled Crate of Paintings 3.Check
it out in the second-floor galleries.

Davis Tutt doing a condition report on Brett Weston photographs.

Katie Smith and Rebecca Simpson working with
Native American textiles from the Colorado College collection.

Abby Stein working with the world-renowned
Native American collection.

Registrar Michael Howell and Davis Tutt arranging paintings in the "rack room." 

Lila Pickus organizing the print collection in the flat-file
storage room.

Abby Stein and Davis Tutt installing a
Native American head dress for one of the
current Permanent Collection exhibitions,
Honoring a Legacy: Selections from the
Taylor Museum Collection of Native
American Works.

Abby Stein, Davis Tutt, and Registrar Michael Howell do a light cleaning of pieces from the Native American collection using special museum-grade brushes. 

Kelly Cheung assembling one of the many pieces
in Floyd D. Tunson's behemoth, ceiling-height
multi-media installation, Hearts and Minds.

Exhibit Preparator Aaron Jakos and Kelly Cheung installing
Untitled 96 for the current exhibition of Manitou Springs artist,
Floyd D. Tunson: Son of Pop.

Remember, the FAC is free to CC students (as well as some other educational institutions -- check with your school for details) and we have PUBLIC FREE DAY every 3rd Tuesday of each month.

Perhaps your next visit will be a little different now that you've seen what goes on behind the scenes!