by Hunter McIlvain

On Thursday, March 11th, the Museum of Modern Art hosted an Alumni roundtable where participants could ask questions to current employees at the museum. Everyone who was on the panel was either a CUNY alum or a faculty member; Sarah Kennedy, Adbed Haddad, Amara Thomas, Paul Galloway, William Umana, Mack C-E, and Sydney Briggs all offered the audience their knowledge.

After panelists introduced themselves, the audience was invited to ask questions in a Q&A style discussion. Some valuable advice that the panelists gave involved that in the hiring process they do not discriminate based on age or what particular education people possessed. They emphasized the importance of experiences of internships and experience above all in terms of getting one’s foot in the door of the art world. Experience doesn’t have to be strictly internship or museum based.

Some panelists shared ways they gained experience when they weren’t able to afford internships. For example, one panelist talked about how she organized group activities with her friends. She coordinated a time for her and her friends to meet at an area and skate for a certain amount of time, which shows her skills with scheduling and communication, basically taking an ordinary fun group activity and learning how to talk about it in a way that shows her organizational skills in a job interview.

Any experience can most likely be applied to a job. It was also advised that people who are interested should reach out to people who have the job or a similar job that they want, and you may be surprised how generous people can be. Overall, this panel was extremely insightful and helpful to those who are looking for museum jobs in general and advised that students take internships or any experience that they can get their hands on. In order to further help students and potential employees, MOMA is also hosting a resume workshop on Wednesday, March 24th., 10-11:15am

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