Favorite Parts Of Working In The Museum Industry As A Head Of Exhibitions
Louise, Head of Exhibitions, enjoys the collaborative nature of the museum profession, emphasizing the "generosity" of colleagues and the strong relationships built through shared expertise and problem-solving, describing the field as "relationship driven" where "circles are kind of small" and opportunities for creative expression abound. The strong sense of community extends to even seemingly superficial aspects like appreciating "what people wear" at museum conferences.
Networking, Collaboration, Creativity, Problem-Solving, Relationship Building
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Louise Leong
Head of Exhibitions
UC Santa Cruz Institute of the Arts and Sciences
University of California Santa Cruz, 2012
N/A
Fine Arts, Music
Arts, Entertainment & Media, Education
Operations and Project Management
LGBTQ, First Generation College Student
Video Highlights
1. The collaborative nature of the industry, with professionals readily sharing experiences and best practices.
2. The importance of networking and building relationships within the art world, as it is a relatively small and interconnected field.
3. The creative and dynamic environment, involving problem-solving, working with artists, and even observing the unique fashion sense of colleagues in the museum world.
Transcript
What do you enjoy most about being in your industry?
People are very generous with their time and expertise. I took museum studies courses that required informational interviews, and museum professionals were happy to share their experiences, best practices, and discoveries.
This taught me the importance of sharing my own experience with others. I appreciate being able to call a professional colleague at another institution to discuss collection issues. It's like an extension of problem-solving, and it’s also quite nerdy and fun to talk about different filing systems.
I also enjoy making connections with new people. For past exhibitions, we worked with an art handling company. The installers were based in LA and worked at different museums as contract workers.
I discovered we had mutual friends. I even have an internet friend who is a comic book artist, and her boyfriend is an art handler. It turns out another artist I know is also acquainted with him.
It seems that the circles of artists, creative workers, and cultural workers are quite small. This emphasizes the importance of relationships, as trusted recommendations are valuable. It feels very much like a relationship-driven field.
We get to do creative things, and most of the museum and cultural workers I’ve met are also practicing artists, which I think is pretty cool. I just like that it’s a creative field.
On a superficial note, I also love to see what people wear. Creative museum people often have the best clothes. While we might be more functional than fashion-focused, there's a crossover. It's silly, but I enjoy going to museum conferences just to see what people are wearing.
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