Stories

Alex McCarty, Art History '18, completed an internship at the San Jose Museum of Art this summer, thanks to the Hearst Foundation's CIVA grant, which funds art and art history-related internships and other initiatives on campus and in our surrounding community. Alex worked with the Development team at the San José Museum of Art. His internship at SJMA consisted of two primary sections. In the first, he focused mainly on researching and drafting grant proposals. In addition to helping draft the language for an NEA grant proposal for an upcoming 2019 exhibition, he also researched private avenues to secure funding for this exhibition. Alex says that "this grant-writing portion of the internship gave me invaluable experience working with a skill I am eager to develop." In the second half of the internship, his focus pivoted towards helping plan the 2018 Wonder Ball and Mirror Ball, the 2018 iteration of SJMA's annual gala that raises a significant portion of the museum's education and programming budget. His primary responsibilities for the gala were creating several videos and slideshows for the Gala's honorees--Toby and Barry Fernald and Hung Liu--all well-known figures in the national and international art world. The auction--raised well over $250,000 on 17 lots--and Alex also produced a backing slideshow acknowledging the gala's sponsors and various associated committees. Alex reports, "Whereas I had seldom ventured into the realm of design before this process, I had to become much more attuned to design decisions and also learned basic Photoshop, another skill I was eager to learn. In addition to the slideshows and videos, I also got to experience first-hand the terrific amount of work that goes into pulling off an event such as the Wonder Ball."

 

Alex's summer experience has led to the next step in his career: a coveted internship at the Guggenheim Museum in New York this fall. He remarks, "My internship at SJMA taught me valuable skills such as grant writing while also preparing me to apply for and be accepted to a similar role at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. My role at the Guggenheim presents an exciting opportunity. I am confident that were it not for the CIVA grant funding my internship at the San Jose Museum of Art, I would not be interning at the Guggenheim Museum right now."

 

Alex was also able to connect with other SCU Art History alumni in New York; the SCU family takes care of its members wherever they are. Stay tuned for more reports from our students this year!