Coming back to MASS MoCA has truly felt like a homecoming. I worked in the colorful, exhilarating Education Department in 2011-2012 as the full-year intern, and now I’ve returned as the Senior Museum Educator, growing more excited each day to be welcomed back into the MASS MoCA family. I’ve been settling into my new desk in the Education office, which is bursting with sources of inspiration: mementos from artists, letters from kiddos, and even a couple of plastic Despicable Me minions by the window–not to mention my incredible colleagues Laura Thompson and Hilary Knecht.
That said, coming back almost feels like I boarded Michael Oatman’s all utopias fell and entered a time warp. Did that time in between actually happen? I have dream-like memories of moving vans to and from Boston, finally coming over to the dark side and becoming a Red Sox fan, graduate school, and a couple of museum jobs in between. Those latter experiences in particular will certainly shape and inform my renewed work here at MoCA–and what exciting work it will be! As Senior Museum Educator, I’ll be directing the school partnership programs, which involves leading group visits, working with teachers, and orchestrating artist-in-residency projects. I’m particularly looking forward to reacquainting myself with the students from our six original partner schools, and meeting those from our new partner schools in Adams and Pittsfield. One of my other core responsibilities will be to strengthen our teen programs, gathering a core group of committed teens for intensive residencies with exhibiting artists. Work is already underway for our teens to have a presence at DownStreet Art Thursdays this summer–come by and say hello!