Release Date: July 1, 2011

National Gallery of Art Awards 13 Summer Internships, Two Volunteer Internships, and One Culturex Fellowship to an International Group of Students from Eight States and Four Foreign Countries

Washington, DC—The National Gallery of Art welcomed 13 graduate students and recent bachelor's degree recipients to participate in its 2011 summer internship program. The summer interns this year are also joined by two volunteer interns and a Culturex Fellow funded by the Ministry of Culture, Spain. The international group was selected through a competitive process. The nine-week internships began on Monday, June 13, and continue through Friday, August 12.

Interns are chosen for this rigorous program based on a strong interest in museum work, outstanding academic achievement, and letters of recommendation, among other relevant criteria. In addition to placements in traditional areas of museum internships—curatorial, education, conservation, and administration—the Gallery also offers internships in horticulture, graphic design, architecture, publishing, archives, music, and public safety. As part of their regular work schedule, interns attend biweekly seminars to become familiar with the broad spectrum of museum work by visiting Gallery departments, staff, functions, and programs.

Support for the internship program comes from individual gifts and endowment funds, and the program is administered by the department of academic programs in the division of education. Information about the summer internship program, as well as other Gallery internships and fellowships, is available at www.nga.gov/education/interned.html or by calling (202) 842-6257.

2011 National Gallery of Art Summer Interns

Marguerite Bodem
Fenton, Michigan
Marguerite received a BA (psychology, minor in art history) from the University of Michigan. She is currently pursuing a JD at the University of Michigan Law School. She previously interned with the Honorable George Caram Steeh at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. This summer Marguerite is working in the department of personnel, assisting attorneys in the preparation of cases before the EEO Commission, the Merit Systems Protection Board, and the Federal Labor Relations Authority.

Dwight Carey
Los Angeles, California
Dwight received a BA (art history) from Oberlin College and an MA (art history) from the University of California, Los Angeles. He will begin coursework for a PhD (art history) at UCLA this fall. Previously, he interned with Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions and the Presidio of San Francisco's Student Conservation Association. This summer Dwight is assisting the department of library image collections with cataloguing and digitizing portraits of artists and architects from the late 19th century to the present.

Lauren Dodds
Grand Rapids, Michigan
Lauren earned her BA (art history, minor in English) from Pepperdine University and her MA (art history) from Southern Methodist University. She has interned at Christie's, Inc. in the American Paintings section of the Los Angeles office. This summer Lauren is working with the department of library image collections to catalogue, inventory, and digitize reproductive prints in various media of Italian old master works of art.

Michalle Gould
Austin, Texas
Michalle received a BA (political science) from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She earned an MFA (creative writing) from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently pursuing an MS (information studies) there, specializing in archives and records enterprise. She previously interned at the Chinati Foundation and the Judd Foundation. This summer, Michalle is assisting the publishing office in the preparation of exhibition-related publications as well as materials for distribution and use at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October.

Marie-Claire Guy
Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Marie-Claire completed her undergraduate degree (communications) at the Institut d'études politiques. At the École du Louvre, she received a diploma (museum studies, and technical and industrial patrimony) and is currently pursuing a master's degree (museum studies and art history). She has interned at the International Contemporary Art Fair in Paris and in the costume library, education, and exhibition departments of the National Museums in Berlin. This summer, she is assisting the department of photographs with research and organization for an exhibition on the 19th-century French photographer Charles Marville.

Sarah Montross
Sturbridge, Massachusetts
Sarah received a BA (anthropology) from Vassar College. At New York University's Institute of Fine Arts, she received an MA (art history) and is currently a PhD Candidate. Previously, she interned in New York at the International Center of Photography and in the photography department at the Museum of Modern Art. This summer, Sarah is assisting the art information program by working with volunteers, presenting gallery talks, and researching and preparing responses to written requests about art from the general public.

Leá Norcross
Denver, Colorado
Leá earned a BA (art history and history) from Colorado College and is currently pursuing an MA (art history/museum studies) at the University of Denver. She previously interned in the publication department at the Colorado History Museum, and in curatorial departments at the Denver Art Museum and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center. This summer Leá is documenting many of the 9,000 volumes in the library's rare book collection.

Megan O'Connor
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Megan received a BA (anthropology, minor in Greek and Roman studies) from the University of Victoria and an MA (museum studies) from the University of Toronto. This fall, she will pursue a graduate diploma in collections conservation and management at Fleming College. She served as a collections assistant in Greek and Roman Art at the Royal Ontario Museum, and as a records intern at the American School of Classical Studies. This summer, she is working with the department of curatorial records and files to integrate new systematic catalogue research into the curatorial files and update bibliographic and provenance information in the collection database.

Jennifer Parsons
Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania
Jenny earned a BA (art history) from the University of Delaware and an MA (art history) from the George Washington University. She is currently pursuing a PhD (history of art and architecture) at the University of Virginia. She has been visiting scholar at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and subsequently worked in the PMA's executive, registration, and special exhibitions offices. Previously, she had interned at the Delaware Art Museum and the Phillips Collection. This summer, Jenny is assisting the department of American and British paintings in researching and organizing a retrospective exhibition devoted to the career of George Bellows.

Aliya Reich
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Aliya received a BA (art history and French) at the University of Virginia and is currently pursuing an MA (art history) at Washington University in St. Louis. Previously, she interned in education departments at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Chrysler Museum of Art. This summer, Aliya is developing a family guide to the Gallery's collection of French art, and participating in research and evaluation of smart phone museum applications for the department of education publications. She is also assisting the department of teacher, school, and family programs with summer programs for family audiences.

Diana Roberts
San Antonio, Texas
Diana completed a BA (music) at the University of Texas at Austin, and is currently pursuing an MA (art history) at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is a past National Endowment for the Arts Fellow of the Arts Journalism Institute in Classical Music and Opera, hosted by Columbia University. This summer, Diana is assisting the department of old master prints with the cataloguing of a major gift of European prints.

Kathryn Wilson
Katy received a BA (art history) from the University of Virginia and is currently pursuing an MA (art education) at the University of Texas at Austin. She has interned at Phillips de Pury & Company auction house and the Blanton Museum of Art, and has worked with the Smithsonian Associates' summer camp. This summer, Katy is assisting the department of teacher, school, and family programs with the preparation and implementation of the summer program schedule for family audiences.

Kamal Zargar
Sacramento, California
Kamal completed a BA (Italian studies, studio art) from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is currently pursuing an MA (art history) at the University of California, Davis. Previously, he interned at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection. This summer Kamal is assisting the development office with fundraising and administration. His projects include identifying new donor prospects and major gifts, and also preparing stewardship documents and communications.

2011 National Gallery of Art Volunteer Interns

Samantha Le
Rockaway, New Jersey
Samantha received a BA from Barnard College and an MA from University of Rochester in both English and film. She has worked at The New York Observer and the University of Rochester, and has interned in editorial departments with Seventeen magazine and Daily Front Row in New York. Samantha is consolidating, processing, digitizing, and creating published book files in the publishing office. Her term at the Gallery is June 1 through September 16.

Matthew Turner
Green Tye, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Matthew earned a BA (history of art) from University College London. He has worked at the Brick Lane Gallery in London and the Henry Moore Foundation. Matthew is assisting the press office in disseminating information about the Gallery nationally and internationally. He is also assisting the art information program by attending the art information desks and updating information sheets for volunteers. His term at the Gallery is March 14 through August 12.

2011–2012 Culturex Fellowship, Ministry of Culture, Spain

Felix Monguilot Benzal
Elche, Alicante, Spain
Felix received his bachelor's degree (art history) from the University of Murcia and his master's degree (history and aesthetics of cinematography) from the University of Valladolid. He is currently pursuing a PhD (foundations and methods of art history) at the University of Murcia. From late May 2011 through February 2012, he is conducting research for a film project on Joan Miró for the department of exhibition programs.