Recently we chatted with Mary Catherine Langston (BA ‘23) who interned this summer under Dr. Sylvain Cordier and Dr. Colleen Yarger (PhD ‘14) within the VMFA’s European Art department. During her internship, Mary Catherine assisted the curators with a future banner exhibition.
“Shows, such as the one I am helping with, take the largest gallery space of the museum. This is a great experience for me, for it requires a lot of research and creative thinking. Skills such as these that I am learning from the banner exhibition project will help me in my future endeavors in the art historical field. I am very excited about the fact that I will be able to see the final product of this show in the years to come.”
During her internship Mary Catherine had the pleasure of watching the reinstallation of the Mellon Galleries—slated to reopen in October this year—as well as learning about the day-to-day tasks of a curator. “Shadowing Dr. Cordier and Dr. Yarger during this process has helped me understand all of the work that goes into curating a gallery. I witness everything from label making to actually displaying the works of art in the galleries. This internship really helped root me in my aspirations to one day be a curator.”
Additionally Mary Catherine thanks her French professor, Dr. Murphy-Judy, of the School of World Studies for her assistance in supporting her with opportunities. In terms of her Art History major, Mary Catherine loves the opportunities it can provide like this internship.
”I view art history as a window to the past. Art from long ago gives the viewer the chance to see history in a very beautiful and emotional way that a textbook cannot. I majored in art history because I love the storytelling aspect that it has. Every piece of art has a story and I want to be the one to help tell it.”