Madison Imperio, a senior majoring in Studio Art, currently interns with the MSU Museum as an Exhibitions Student Assistant. In this role, she supports the Director of Exhibitions with developing and creating exhibit components. She also helps maintain the museum’s exhibits. 

Thus far, one of the proudest moments of the internship has been helping build “The Observation Experiment” exhibit, which highlights several perspectives on themes of observation, including the observation of humans to understand behavior and the observation of flora and fauna to understand the planet. 

“I learned so much about the exhibit process while having so much fun working with my coworkers,” Imperio said. “The best part was putting the exhibit’s artifacts into their cases. It’s a gentle yet creative process.” 

Imperio has even acquired woodworking skills during the internship, including mastering the table saw. These physical aspects of the job have proved to be the most challenging. 

“Working in a museum is a real collective effort. Everybody works together and it makes the whole place function more fluidly. I plan to continue working in museums until I finish getting my Ph.D. in Art Therapy.”

“Every day I go home very tired,” she said. “I didn’t realize how much manual labor I would be doing, but I have learned the importance of stretching before going to work.”

Imperio’s internship taught her the importance of working in a cohesive and supportive team.

“Working in a museum is a real collective effort. Everybody works together and it makes the whole place function more fluidly,” she said. “I plan to continue working in museums until I finish getting my Ph.D. in Art Therapy.”