This panel considers the role of historical and artistic organizations as educational tools and community builders. From museums and historic homesteads to a public art non-profit, we discuss the day-to-day experiences within these institutions and their greater function in the promotion of local culture. Our work included historical interpretation and curation at a local history museum, educational outreach and curation at a historic homestead, funding and outreach at a public art nonprofit, and education and exhibition promotion at a public art museum. We provided spaces for the community to learn and resources for growth; education of the public was an essential part of each of our internships. In our presentations we reflect on our summer experiences and how they fit into the larger context of our studies here at Mount Holyoke and how they will prepare us for the world after graduation.

Moderator: Kenneth Tucker, Helen P. Bibbero Professor of Sociology

Local First: Improving Public Art in Remote Areas
Lily Smith ’25, Sociology major & Art History minor

Educational Outreach and Art Dialogues at CAA Art Museum
You Wu ’25, Art History & East Asian Studies double major

Interning at the Frances Perkins Center
Lily Hayden-Hunt ’25, Art History major & Italian minor

Varied Forms of Historical Education
Cecelia Hooper ’25, History major & Italian; Museums, Archives, and Public History