This week’s blog post is the first in a series that will be highlighting the student workers, interns, and volunteers of The Phillips Museum of Art.

Deena Gittle, Art History, Class of 2012

Hi, my name is Deena and I am a senior Art History major. I have worked at the Phillips Museum since the summer after my junior year. My first assignment at the museum was to catalogue a private collection that housed works that were going to be used in a future exhibition at the museum. My assignment was to use a program called, FileMaker Pro to classify this private collection that had over four hundred works of art. This was the first time I would be doing this type of work, which included handling the art, doing condition reports, and photographing the collection. I was fortunate enough to be taught by the museum staff how one would go about working with a collection like this to put it in a computerized database. The museum staff made it clear to me what fields of examination would be for each work and what would need to be observed in depth. They taught me the whole process to follow. I learned how to catalogue a collection through hands on experience that I would only be able to gain through my work at the Phillip’s Museum. Throughout the summer I catalogued most of the works that were in this collection. I ended with just over four hundred pieces of art in my database. After the summer ended I began to work at the museum as a docent. I am currently responsible for knowing about each current exhibition and being prepared to learn about future exhibitions being held at the museum. I have enjoyed working at the Phillip’s Museum and learning a lot of the behind the scenes work that goes on in a small museum setting.