Explain your experience working with/ for the Stanley.
I have been the museum programs intern at the Stanley since the fall of 2022, a few months after the building opened. In my role, my primary responsibility has been to record, edit, and caption videos of public lectures, performances, and panels for viewing on our YouTube channel. I have also assisted with development of programming literature like scavenger hunts and self-guided tours, and performed administrative organizational tasks like updating the staff calendar and updating spreadsheets that track our programming. Each year that I have held this position, I’ve embarked on a personal project that ties my interests and skills to the museum. As a sophomore, I curated a series of playlists themed to the different subsections of the Homecoming exhibition. My junior year, I created a series of long-form video interviews with visiting artists. This year, I made my favorite personal project yet: an activity book titled Stan the Gallery Cat. In addition to my internship, I have also had the opportunity to work in other capacities. I have filled in occasionally as a Gallery Host since the spring of 2023, where I have been able to connect my back-of-house experience to front-of-house communications. I was also part of the student team that painted a statue for Herky on Parade in the spring of 2024, which was hands-on and collaborative in a way my work typically isn’t, and was extremely fun. When I look back on all I have done at the Stanley, I am deeply grateful for all of the opportunities I was given to incorporate my creativity into the job. My supervisor, Kimberly Datchuk, trusted my ideas and always took them seriously, which I cannot thank her for enough.
How did your involvement at the Stanley complement your studies/ career plan?
A flyer from the Stanley’s student programming in 2023 hangs on my refrigerator. It reads, “Art is for everyone”. Though it may sound cliché, it’s really what I’ve taken away from my time here. Though I’ve always been creative and crafty, I never saw myself as an artist before college because drawing is not something I’m very good at nor particularly enjoy. My exposure to a wide variety of mediums and philosophies of practice and kinds of artists through the Stanley, in addition to my courses as a Cinema major, have helped develop my confidence in my own ideas. I feel like my mental scope of what I can make has expanded exponentially. I’ve integrated multimedia elements into many of my digital video projects since working at the Stanley, and I think I owe some of those ideas to practices I’ve learned about here at the museum. Whether I pursue film production as a career or not, I will most certainly continue making and expressing through video and photography, and I will leave the museum more aware of what I am capable of and confident in what I have to offer.
What was your favorite moment or part of working at the Stanley?
It is hard to pick just one!! I loved being a part of the launch weekend for the collection catalogue In a Time of Witness and getting to contribute, just a little bit, to such an amazing project. I teared up when I saw the Keith Haring exhibition for the first time. This spring, I shadowed our collections team for a morning (they’re awesome) and I really enjoyed learning about the physical production aspects of the museum that I don’t get to interact with in my job. And also… eating leftover catering at events :)
Where are you headed next?
I will be spending the summer in Iowa City and then moving to a super cool, non-Iowa location that will be decided by Future Abbie, where I will hopefully find a job somewhat related to film, experience a life without school, and thus make the daunting decision of if I want to apply for a grad program.
What will you miss most about the University of Iowa?
My friends!!! Duh!!! I’ve been so lucky to cultivate incredible friendships within the cinema program and through my campus involvement in the Presidential Scholars Program and in SCOPE Productions. I have to mention my gratitude for all of the friends I’ve made here at the SMA and the laughs we’ve been able to share, even though I work independently most of the time. I’ll also miss my favorite Iowa City haunts: Kindred Coffee (matcha!!!) and FilmScene (living a 7-minute walk from the movie theater the past two years made my life at least 25% better).
