b'student perspective: molly mcgehee 21 I never considered pursuing a career in museums This past summer, I had the opportunity tountil I walked into Barbara Kellums first-year seminar,work with SCMAs curatorial department as a remote On Display: Museums, Collections, and Exhibitions. digital initiatives curatorial intern. I researchedAs we read through the syllabus together, I wasmethods of remote engagement with permanentastounded by the variety of collecting institutions wecollections in art museums around the world. Iwould soon visit, by the number of museum-relatedattended a variety of online events and analyzedjob titles I had never heard of and by the excitement their effectiveness and potential impact. I quicklyI felt once I realized there was a whole new world inrealized that the most engaging programs were those the arts that I had yet to discover. I grew up training that involved collaboration within the arts. in different dance techniques in my hometown ofAt a time when its almost impossible to safely Memphis, Tennessee, where I was surrounded bydance together, sing together or play music together mentors who were passionate about sustaining non- in group settings, I knew it was important that Iprofit arts organizations, but I never thought aboutcreate a digital collaboration for SCMA. Throughout how museums related to my dance background until the summer, I developed SCMAs Look and Listen:I took this course.a collaborative three-part video series pairingFrom then on, I knew the Museums Concen-musicians and singers from across the Five Collegetration was a perfect fit for me. I was eager to consortium with works in SCMAs permanent collec-gain hands-on experience in museums that I couldtion. Each episode features a student who performs eventually apply to my coursework at Smith. In a musical piece of their choice inspired by an artwork the summer before my sophomore year, I interned selected with the help of an SCMA curator. at a stately home in the United Kingdom where Im so proud of the final episodes and touched I researched the representation of women throughby the inspiration I witnessed in the students whodisplay and collecting practices. In the summer participated in my project. COVID-19 has taught me before my junior year, I was a curatorial intern at thethat, now more than ever, museums must continue to Toledo Museum of Art, where I researched specificconnect people to art, especially in this digital space artists and potential gifts to the museum. After thesewere working with. The Museums Concentration is experiences, I always looked forward to hearing such a unique program. It has already provided me from other concentrators about their experienceswith opportunities that have impacted the way I view within the field. In our meetings, we were remindedthe history of art and the future of collecting institutions. always to think critically about the role of collectingMolly McGehee 21 is an art history major and Museumsinstitutions in our respective areas of study: art history,Concentrator. She was a 2020 remote summer curatorial anthropology, biology . . .and the list goes on.intern.connecting people to ideasleft and above:SCMA remote summer intern projects by marketing and communications intern Ariella Heise 22 and curatorial intern Molly McGehee 2143'