During the second call for interns this Spring, we received over 70 applications from students across Santa Clara County, and onboarded 7 new interns to join 2 from our first cohort, for a total of 9 members of the Teen Council for the Spring of 2023. This group of interns will be working on some special social media projects, helping with big events like the ArtNow 2023 Award Ceremony and Celebration, and learning how to give exhibition tours! Scroll through this blog for some updates on what they’ve been up to in the last few months.
Our second cohort of the ArtNow Teen Council was onboarded with the input of Sofia Fojas, the Arts Coordinator for the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE), and our 2 interns Arlie and Sneha who remained onboard from the first cohort. Having input from interns directly was a critical part of the process, empowering them to be leaders. NUMU’s partnership with SCCOE has been evolving over the years in meaningful ways. Sofia has shared insights with the museum on the needs of different school districts, and given advice on how to reach teachers and students post Covid.
From left to right: Arlie, Annie, Dylan, Rachel, Anuhya, Tiffany, Liam
When onboarding our interns we make sure that each one comes from a different school in the County so that the Council represents a cross section of the diversity of the region. We also make sure to select students with a passion for arts and community building. Some of the students have exhibited in ArtNow, and some have never submitted to the program. This diversity of perspective and experience with the program makes for a group of interns that can help NUMU connect with teens who are at all levels of entry into the program.
The goal of establishing the Teen Council is to elevate the ArtNow program to be more widely accessible and more relevant to teenagers living across Santa Clara County. Through establishing the ArtNow Teen Council, NUMU hopes to build a stronger partnership with student artists so that they aren’t just the recipients of the ArtNow program, but the architects.
For the first time ever, Teen Council interns led the direction of the ArtNow Exhibition layout in the NUMU gallery. Arlie and Sneha remained on board from our first cohort to continue working on some more in-depth projects, building off of their deep familiarity with the Theme Unarmed Truth. This included selecting quotes for wall graphics, dividing the artwork into categories based on themes, and coming onsite to NUMU to help arrange everything throughout the gallery.
Arlie and Sneha thought carfully about each artwork placement, with the guidance of NUMU Education Curator Michèle Jubilee. They divided the gallery into 2 sides with sub themes under the umbrellas of personal and universal truths, modeled after the structure of the ArtNow 2023 Toolkit that they helped design.
ArtNow Teen Council members Sneha and Arlie meeting with the NUMU ArtNow Team Julie and Michèle to discuss exhibition layout.
Image from ArtNow 2023 exhibition layout and install process.
A main project for this cohort of the Teen Council is learning how to give exhibition tours. Arlie and Sneha delivered a tour with Education Curator Michèle Jubilee at our VIP Preview on March 30 for an audience of key ArtNow supporters, donors, and teachers. They developed their tour to highlight how they arranged the exhibition and spoke to specific artworks that encapsulated each section of the gallery.
The new cohort met in-person together for the first time at NUMU on Saturday April 8. Arlie and Sneha helped design the orientation to be welcoming for their peers and shared their experiences so far on the Teen Council. We brainstormed ideas for social media projects and prepared for the coming months. Arlie and Michèle led them in a tour and all new interns came prepared to speak about an artwork from the exhibition. They also got a behind the scenes look at the museum.
The Teen Council helped out at our recent event on April 23, Honoring the Earth with Mosaic America and NUMU: Building a Place where Everybody Belongs. They managed an ArtNow booth together to tell people about the exhibition, the Teen Council, and lead an art activity for all ages inspired by the theme Unarmed Truth.
Posted by Michèle Jubilee, NUMU’s Education Curator
