Intern @ UMFA

This semester I am working as an intern at the UMFA, Utah Museum of Fine Arts. I work with the Teachers Resource Center which is a collection of materials teachers can check out and take to their classes.

Basically, the collection is housed in a big closet and piled on top of each other. Nothing is stored properly, and it really needs some help. This is where I come in. I get to manage the storage and make custom boxes for all the items. This may sound glorious, it may sound like I have a lot of responsibility, but let me tell you something. It's fairly boring, menial work that I would be happy doing if I was getting paid. Here are some pictures showing you what I do for 8 hours a week.

Here is a picture of me in the process of fitting an item into some foam. So I get to use that saw there to cut out a basic shape that fits the item, then I use the wrench to yank foam out so the item can fit snugly in place.

 This is a Guan Yin statue that was being fitted for the foam, and other materials I use.

This is a picture of a shelf with some boxes that I made.

I will say this, since I work in a little storage closet, I can basically be on my own and have music playing. Also, the museum has a great cafe. They have a few soups that are so good, and I look forward to that almost every time I work. If you go for lunch (and if they have it that day) the chicken and wild rice soup is delicious as is their asian salad.

So, that is what I do for 8 hours a week. I make boxes, and "wrench" foam. Yes, I'm using wrench as a verb here.

Another thing, the museum docents (old ladies (mostly old) that take the elementary kids on tours) are the worst. Yeah, I guess it's nice that they can do this for free, but they really don't own the place like they think they do. I'm sawing away in the back and they think they can just toss their purses all over the place, but no, I need that space to measure and cut and most importantly wrench.

Other than that, I love the UMFA.