This presentation will investigate the ways in which material culture is studied from the discovery, acquisition, exhibition, then preservation of art and archival objects. Our panelists embarked on a variety of meaningful and engaging internships across different disciplines, contexts, and regions. Beginning with discovery, one panelist was a student archaeologist who unearthed and analyzed Etruscan artifacts in Tuscany. Progressing to acquisition, another panelist interned at a small Massachusetts auction house specializing in the handling of fine antiques and fine art objects. Moving to exhibition, the third panelist interned at the MHC Art Museum’s curatorial department and worked with historical Chinese objects. Our final panelist explores preservation as an archival assistant for a local historical museum in Maryland handling documents and photographs. Using our internships as case studies, we will present the sequential order of how art and historical works transform from object to artifact.

Moderator: Emily Wood, Assistant Curator

Making History: Interning With Historic Takoma
Coira Williams ’25, Art History major

Alternative Professions within the Arts: Auction Work and Art Appraisal
Sharon Bosco ’26, Art History major, Politics minor

Historical Method and Curatorial Practice: Internship at the MHC Art Museum
Keyang Zhao ’25, History major, Art History minor, Museums, Archives, and Public History Nexus

Doing Dirt: Etruscan Archaeology at Poggio Civitate
Juliette Auslander ’26, Ancient Studies major & Jewish Studies and Museums, Archives, and Public History Nexus