Author: Hattie Lindey
Hattie Lindey, Museum Studies Intern at the Tomayko Foundation - Spring 2024
As an intern with the Tomayko Foundation, I’ve had the unique opportunity to get a closer look at a wide range of museum work. As the Foundation’s only intern, I’ve gotten experience in communications, outreach, marketing, education, and gallery installation/deinstallation. This wide range of tasks has allowed me to try out a breadth of career options in museums, and to better understand what parts of working in a gallery or museum excite and interest me the most. Not only that, but I’ve also seen how a smaller institution can develop and expand their impact in the Pittsburgh community.
Throughout the many roles I’ve held while interning with the Foundation, my favorite part has been a self-directed project focused on curating an exhibition that would fit within the gallery space. While this exhibition will not ever be realized, it has been interesting thinking about different curatorial choices I’d make. Through the process of writing intro texts, wall labels, and artists biographies, in addition to selecting different works that would be represented, I’ve had to think critically about how I’d utilize the gallery’s space, what story I’m aiming to tell, and how to draw in public interest and attention to the exhibit. This process has allowed me to practice writing for a museum and required me to shed the academic tone and writing style that’s typically required for college-level work. Instead, I’ve had to critically examine and reevaluate my written texts to make sure they’re accessible and engaging for viewers and visitors, while also including the historical and critical lens I’ve approached the project with.
With these parameters in mind, I was able to develop an exhibit on glass and glassmaking factories in the Pittsburgh region from the 18th century to mid-20th century. The exhibit would combine a history of Pittsburgh glass, along with an analysis and display of different techniques, patterns, and stamping that can be used throughout the glassmaking process. Through this curatorial project, I’ve gotten to learn more about the history of a field I’m deeply interested in, while also tackling questions about how this can be displayed and made accessible to a wider public.
My time with the Tomayko Foundation has been educational, informative, and vitally important when thinking about my own career in museums. It’s shown me my passion and love for curation and exhibition design and allowed me to try out projects like writing press releases, developing outreach ideas, and the process behind putting on an exhibition from start to finish. This experience has truly allowed me to develop as a museum professional, and grow vital skills in communication, critical thinking, and problem solving.