Featured photo (above): Student Vansh Kapoor ’26 (back row, second from right) and Gordon Career Center Associate Director Pam Grande (front row, fifth from right) with participants outside the Whitney Museum of American Art. (photo provided by Pam Grande)
An Art Immersion Career Trek in New York City two months ago gave student Vansh Kapoor ’26 a chance to connect with alumni and gain valuable insights into a career in museums.
The Art History major said he is “passionate about preservation, recontextualization, conversations, and accessibility,” and took part in the November 15 event organized by the Gordon Career Center (GCC).
The program included a visit to the Whitney Museum of American Art, where Joshua Lubin-Levy ’06, Director of the Center for the Arts (CFA) at Wesleyan is a Curatorial Research Associate and gave the participants a private tour of the “Edges of Ailey” exhibition.
The Art Immersion Career Trek attracted twelve students, including five majors from Art and Art History and several undeclared.
“We were grateful to have Joshua Lubin-Levy join us for the day and provide his expertise and guidance to help students make the most of their trek experience,” GCC Associate Director for Career Advising Pamela Grande said.
Acquainted with Lubin-Levy’s work through the Director’s Council at the CFA, Kapoor said he signed up for the Trek because he was curious to see Lubin-Levy’s insights into curating the exhibition on artist and choreographer Alvin Ailey.
A conversation on museum careers also offered Kapoor a glimpse into the operations at The Whitney. He felt that the curators and the Wesleyan alumni there “were very honest about the field and the rigor that goes into their work,” he said. “Their relationship with art came from a place of genuine passion and curiosity.”
One of the Art History alumni involved in the event was Emma Kendall ’24, who works as a Research Intern at the David Zwirner Gallery.
Kendall shared with the participants what her day-to-day responsibilities look like, which include “supporting the rest of the research team in the creation of all written materials and provenance research for all David Zwirner exhibitions” across multiple cities worldwide, she said.
As an Art History major, Kendall said she picked up skills from sustained research projects, such as “how to use databases and libraries to look for sources, how to quickly find relevant information in longer books or articles, and how to cite material,” and those experiences are most relevant to her work now.
Sharing her job search experience as a recent graduate, Kendall encouraged students to “apply to jobs even if you aren’t totally qualified for them or if you’re not sure your interests match all the criteria; there are so many jobs (like this one) that I didn’t know existed until I stumbled upon them or tried them out,” she said.
If there is a job you for sure know you want, try to have conversations with people doing those jobs even if that involves cold calling; I have realized many industry professionals are happy to chat and give advice.
Art History graduate Emma Kendall ’24
Besides Kendall, Art History major Brenna Cothran ’01 and Art History minors Florence Colette Finkelstein ’23 and Emma Graham ’19, also shared career advice with the students.
The GCC Career Trek programs are made possible by an endowment from Steve Spinner ’91. “The GCC is excited to work collaboratively with Art History and to offer career-related opportunities for students to connect with alumni,” Grande said.