The time has finally come to bid farewell to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Cody will no longer be my “home-for-now” as I embark on the next adventure beginning a master’s program in Museum Anthropology at Columbia University. However, Cody and the Center will always have places in my heart.
Let me provide a recap of what I’ve accomplished in my eight-week Curatorial Internship with the Whitney Western Art Museum.
My Projects:
Upon arriving, I was quickly immersed in the Whitney world as I helped to prepare for the “Inspiring Sights: Yellowstone through Artists’ Eyes” symposium. During this event, I was able to (wo)man two cameras simultaneously and thereafter, I produced a video for each of the five symposium presentations, which were published on YouTube.
In addition to these videos, I created sixteen Facebook posts, sixteen Twitter posts, and four blog posts to increase the Whitney’s presence on our feeds.
I spearheaded an interactive activity for a new Whitney acquisition, James Prosek’s impressive ten-by-ten foot work of art, Yellowstone Composition No. 1. The interactive can be seen on the Center’s website, as well as installed on a touch screen tablet in the “Invisible Boundaries: Exploring Yellowstone’s Great Animal Migrations” exhibition.
In addition to the James Prosek Interactive, I pulled together a collection of historic William Henry Jackson photographs which will be viewable on a tablet in the “Inspiring Sights” exhibition.
My final project during this internship was the production of six new audio stops for the Whitney’s iScout audio tour, including an introduction of Karen McWhorter as the current Scarlett Curator of Western American Art.
That being said, I couldn’t have imagined succeeding in any of these projects without the help of others. It sounds cliché, but it’s true. More important to me than the products that culminated from this internship are the individuals who helped me to accomplish these tasks.
Every employee that I encountered at the Center greeted me with kind welcome and generous advice, but there were a few people who went above and beyond to bolster my achievements. Drum roll please…
Certainly, most of my project completion is due in no small part to the commitment and humor of Seth Johnson. The bulk of the work for the James Prosek Interactive fell on him, and still he helped me pull this project together in a mere few weeks from start to installation in the gallery and on the web. I also owe Seth a great thank you for helping me to get the Jackson photos installed on a tablet in “Inspiring Sights,” for publishing our new iScout content on the web, and for the tea and laughter.
Nancy McClure, Marguerite House, and Michaela Jones all provided valuable insight into best social media and blogging practices.
A big thank you to all of the contributors of the “Invisible Boundaries” exhibition for their constant inspiration throughout my internship, as well as for allowing me to produce digital media content around their awe-inspiring work.
Further, I’d like to thank Levi Meyer and George Miller both for their digital media expertise and their recommendations on how to pursue these types of projects in the Center.
A big thank you must be given to Mack Frost for providing both the brilliant introduction to our iScout stops and for working after hours to scan all of the William Henry Jackson photos for us.
As well, I must show gratitude to Mary Robinson and Nicholle Gerharter for aiding me in locating photos for iScout and from the William Henry Jackson collection.
Thanks to Gary Miller, for pushing my fractions abilities to their limits.
Chuck Preston, for reviewing the James Prosek Interactive content and for being a fellow martial artist.
Jerry Ludlow, for your effervescent morning joy. It is truly contagious.
And thank you to countless others who showed me warmth and welcome from day one. I cannot mention all of you here, but certainly, I won’t forget your smiles.
Most importantly, I have to express my sincerest gratitude to Karen McWhorter. My supervisor, mentor, and friend, Karen has created an environment of positivity and productivity. In addition to mentoring me in the ways of curation and museum work, she’s also supported my digital media endeavors every step of the way. The effort that she’s put into cultivating these projects and into cultivating me as a young museum professional has not gone unnoticed. Thank you, especially, for being such a magnificent person and for being someone who I’ve looked forward to seeing and working with everyday.
So with all of my thanks given, it’s time to say farewell for now, Cody.
