UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A Student Engagement Network (SEN) Group Grant, in collaboration with the Max and Shirley Kogan Museum Experience Fund, supported two internships in the College of Arts and Architecture’s School of Theatre Fashion Archive in summer 2024, giving students the opportunity to visit local and national museum textile collections and facilities and learn more about career options in museum studies.
The cataloging and maintenance of the Fashion Archive, directed by Charlene Gross, associate professor of theatre in costume design, is a collaboration between the School of Theatre and the Department of Art History’s Center for Virtual/Material Studies (CVMS), which is managed by Carolyn Lucarelli.
The summer 2024 interns were fourth-year students Julia Matthews, who is majoring in history, medieval studies, and classics and ancient Mediterranean studies, and Kyra Muramoto, who is majoring in acting and women’s studies.
They continued the work in the Fashion Archive that began with the 2022 collaboration between the CVMS and the School of Theatre to catalog and conserve the archive’s collection of approximately 3,000 items of historic clothing and accessories (most of them donated) that chart the progression of fashion from 1850 to 1990. The CVMS is a University-level research center that supports innovative research into the materiality of historical objects and explores virtual means of conveying that materiality. Currently, staff and faculty from both the CVMS and the Fashion Archive are creating a digital inventory of the archive that will massively expand access to this unique collection.
During their internship experience, Matthews and Muramoto learned the process of accessioning, cleaning and photographing the items, in addition to uploading the new content to the publicly accessible online collection.
Matthews noted the internship provided valuable experience in collections management.
“This summer was an important period for my professional growth and development in the field of collections management, which has come at a pivotal time as I begin thinking about and applying to graduate schools,” she said. “Through my work with the School of Theatre’s Fashion Archive, I have honed practical skills in conservation and cataloging, as well as seen how missions and goals can vary by collection, translating into different emphases on storage and stability versus accessibility.”
Field trips funded by the grant afforded the students the opportunity to explore museums and their cultural importance, as well as to connect with museum professionals. Locally, they visited the Boal Mansion Museum, the Centre Furnace Mansion, and the Penn State University Libraries Conservation Centre. To broaden their experience further, they also traveled to the George Washington University Museum and the Textile Museum in Washington, D.C., where they met with the registrar and toured the offsite collections storage facility in Ashburn, Virginia. The trips allowed the students to learn about textile collections of different qualities and sizes with varying resources.
Gross said she is grateful for the support of the Student Engagement Network and the Max and Shirley Kogan Museum Experience Fund.
“This summer we could not have asked for better support than the Student Engagement Network Group Grant with the Max and Shirley Kogan Museum Experience Fund. Jason Kogan’s commitment to provide travel funds for students to visit and meet museum professionals in a large metropolitan museum brought a new dimension to the summer internship,” Gross said. “This amazing opportunity allowed the students to learn about career paths within museum studies, ask questions, and network with professionals at the top of their field.”
Jason Kogan created the Max and Shirley Kogan Museum Experience Fund "to provide flexible support for students to gain immersive museum experiences and to encourage them to explore the fast-growing museum field." He said he believes that the "engagement experiences afforded by the grant can enhance students' professional development."
Lucarelli echoes Gross’ appreciation for the Student Engagement Network and Jason Kogan.
“We are grateful to the Student Engagement Network and to Jason Kogan, who made this valuable opportunity possible through his establishment of the Max and Shirley Kogan Museum Experience Fund,” she said. “The work in the Fashion Archive, combined with the trips to the local and national museum textile collections, provided an avenue outside the classroom for the students to garner transferable skills and gain meaningful hands-on training in collections management and textile conservation, digital literacy and research methods.”
The Max and Shirley Kogan Museum Experience Fund supports students interested in museum experiences. For more information and requirements for applying, see the SEN website.