English and Art History Double Major | Martel College, '20 | Summer 2019 Curatorial Intern, International Center for the Arts of the Americas (ICAA), Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
“At the beginning of my Rice career, I either thought or was told that there are not very many career possibilities or opportunities for humanities students. Now I'm certain that that's not true.”
Ellie Mix’s previous internship experiences in the art world include conducting research at the Menil Collection, an art museum near Rice, and interning with Talento Bilingue de Houston, a Latino community art organization in Houston. This summer, she interned at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, with funding from the Department of Art History.
At the MFAH, she and fellow Rice intern Grace Earick worked together in updating and helping to improve the accessibility of the museum’s International Center for the Arts of the Americas digital archive of 20th-century Latin American and Latino Art documents.
Associate Director of the ICAA Arden Decker spoke to the importance of Mix and Earick’s perspectives as undergraduate students to building an archive that meets the needs of researchers worldwide.
“Ellie had a lot of really interesting ideas in terms of how to visualize information,” says Decker. “She is very interested in the digital humanities, which is a relatively new field, and we’re very interested in finding new ways to connect to this project through that field.”
In addition to sharpening her research and design skills, Mix notes the impact of meeting with different museum departments and learning more about viable career paths for art historians.
“It's been really cool to hear from people from the education department and the design department and about the way that we can apply our skills to a cause we care about in different ways,” says Mix. “That's been very informative to us in terms of what opportunities are available to humanities majors or art history majors.”
Mix and Earick’s enthusiasm for learning about the inner workings of the museum and potential careers in the field was apparent to Decker. “They have not just shown up for those extra sessions, but actually they very actively take part in the conversation,” she says. “They really both stand out in that regard, that they’re really willing to jump in and learn from any part of the museum. In that regard, they’ve been a huge asset to the museum because they’re so willing to be engaged.”
“I feel like at the beginning of my Rice career, I either thought or was told that there are not very many career possibilities or opportunities for humanities students,” Mix says. “Now I'm certain that that's not true.”
Profile written by Katelyn Landry, Editorial Assistant, Office of the Dean of Humanities