吃瓜网

Each semester, dozens of 吃瓜网 students gain valuable experiences as . With opportunities to work alongside professionals in all areas of museum operations 鈥� including curatorial, collections, visitor services, design, education, public programs, and marketing 鈥� they can then apply what they鈥檝e learned to careers across creative industries. 
  
The Tang鈥檚 endowed internships 鈥� the Eleanor Linder Winter 鈥�43 Endowed Internship, the Carole Marchand 鈥�57 Endowed Internship, the Meg Reitman Jacobs 鈥�63 Endowed Internship, the Charina Endowment Fund Endowed Internship, and the Ann Schapps Schaffer 鈥�62 and Mel Schaffer Endowed Internship 鈥� are year-long pre-professional programs for 吃瓜网 students interested in museum careers. 
  
Paid internships include positions as Tang guides, curatorial interns, design interns, digital media interns, education interns, public programming interns, and registrarial interns. Internships for academic credit are also available each semester on a case-by-case basis. 
  
鈥淲ith five endowed internships, paid internships in every department, and countless other opportunities to get involved and contribute to the community, the Tang works to integrate students into every part of the museum,鈥� notes recent graduate Allie Serapilio 鈥�25. 鈥淚 am just one of many 吃瓜网 students who have had transformational experiences at the Tang.鈥�

Allie Serapilio 鈥�25: Introducing my favorite artist to campus

A major part of the Eleanor Linder Winter 鈥�43 Internship is planning and organizing the Winter/Miller Lecture.  
  
In her interview for the 2024-25 internship, Allie Serapilio 鈥�25 enthusiastically pitched all the artists she would want to bring to the Tang. The first name she proposed: Nina Chanel Abney. 
  
鈥淎bney鈥檚 work has fascinated me since I first saw her bold, abstracted visual language and emotionally complex renderings of sociopolitical issues,鈥� Allie says. 鈥淎bney also works far beyond traditional gallery walls, with recent projects including a mural on the New York City Highline, a collaboration with Nike鈥檚 Jordan, and a deck of Uno cards. Her wide-ranging body of work is exciting to me because it captures the rapid pace and multiplicity of our world today, layering her abstracted figures alongside cultural, political, and digital symbols.鈥� 
  
Allie learned all she could about Abney during her fall semester in the internship, applying research skills she developed as an English and art history student.  

When Abney delivered the 2025 Winter/Miller Lecture in February, she spoke about her artistic practice and autonomy, the changing role of the visual artist in the world, and her use of improvisation 鈥� attributing it to her love of jazz music. 
  
After Abney finished her lecture, Allie joined her on stage for a short dialogue. 鈥淚 had the chance to ask about her artistic practice, her relationship to the art historical canon as a Black female artist, and about the various references in her work. I then moderated questions from the audience, which ranged in topic from upcoming projects and exhibitions to questions about the meaning of art in the digital age.鈥� 
  
Allie says she is grateful to the Tang staff and her fellow interns for their support in the research and planning process, to the Winter and Miller families for supporting the lecture year after year, and to Abney and her team for making the night possible.  
  
鈥淭his was undoubtedly the greatest honor of my 吃瓜网 career, acting not only as my internship鈥檚 capstone but as a culmination of my four years spent at the Tang.

Elio Gottschalk 鈥�26: Summer, the Tang, and thinking on my feet

Arriving at 吃瓜网 with an interest in art education, Elio Gottschalk 鈥�26 also has been involved with the Tang Museum since freshman year. She started on the Student Advisory Council, served as a Tang guide during her sophomore year and half of her junior year, then went abroad and sent in her application for the Eleanor Linder Winter Internship. 
  
The Winter Internship begins with a 20-hour-a-week position during the summer before senior year and becomes a seven-hour-a-week position during the following academic year.

As the 2025-26 Winter Intern, Elio chose to work in the Tang鈥檚 Public Programming Department over the summer, helping to set up for events like the Upbeat on the Roof concert series and helping to plan events for the upcoming year. 鈥淭he orchestration required of people, ideas, and plans to make a Tang event run smoothly and successfully is exactly what I was hoping to see and experience when I applied for the internship.鈥� 
  
Spending time in 吃瓜网鈥檚 Early Childhood Center (ECC) as an education major has taught Elio how to think on her feet and improvise 鈥� a lesson that came into play during her first Upbeat concert.  
  
鈥淎lex Torres and his Latin Orchestra brought an amazing energy and performed a great set. Near the end, sound engineer Frank Moscowitz pulled Tang staff and interns aside to explain what we needed to do if it started to rain. As he spoke, a few droplets fell. Then a few more. Suddenly we were under a torrential downpour! We scrambled to get the sound equipment under the stage. For 45 minutes, we carefully transported sound boards, speakers, and other fragile electronics into the Tang. My ECC experiences prepared me well.鈥� 
  
Spending the summer at 吃瓜网 enabled Elio to explore Saratoga Springs and the surrounding area and interact with the Saratoga community more than ever before.  
  
鈥淪pending my summer with the Tang was a really wonderful experience, and I鈥檓 excited to continue into the school year!鈥�

Norah Cullers 鈥�26: Fieldwork with children, bubbles, and paint

As a summer education intern, Norah Cullers 鈥�26 got the chance to organize her very own workshop for one of the Tang Museum鈥檚 Family Saturday events. Family Saturdays encourage participants to make their own art inspired by a piece in the Tang鈥檚 collection. 
  
鈥淚 chose Sarah Lutz鈥檚 painting 鈥楪arden鈥� because I thought its bright, lush colors would appeal to young visitors and their adult companions,鈥� Norah says. 鈥溾�楪arden鈥� is an abstract work of numerous circular shapes in reds and pinks that suggest flowers, as well as greens that suggest stems and leaves.鈥�

For the art-making project, she chose bubble painting, which involves mixing bubble solution with watercolors, blowing bubbles onto a sheet of paper, and laying another piece of paper on top the bubble to imprint an abstract pattern on the first sheet.  
  
鈥淲hen bubbles filled the tables and children鈥檚 laughter filled the air, I knew I had created something exciting,鈥� she recalls. 鈥淭he children enjoyed talking about Lutz鈥檚 painting, especially how it was made, and they enjoyed it even more when it was their turn to mix soapy concoctions, blow bubbles, and make their own art.鈥� 
  
A visual arts major and an education minor, Norah says she has long envisioned herself becoming an art teacher.  
  
鈥淏eing a Tang Education Intern has been perfect for me,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he three main components of the summer internship 鈥� library visits, craft activities for the Upbeat on the Roof concert series, and Family Saturdays 鈥� gave me amazing opportunities for education fieldwork.鈥�

The Tang鈥檚 team of museum educators visited 22 libraries over the summer. 鈥淚 learned so much,鈥� Norah says. 鈥淚 became comfortable facilitating conversations with groups of 20 kids of various ages, I learned to troubleshoot on the spot, I gained time management skills, and I appreciated how Njeri Jennings, the head museum educator, planned discussions and activities that met kids in various stages of learning development.鈥� 
  
The Tang takes its mission as a teaching museum seriously by engaging people of all ages, she says, from Family Saturdays to the popular ROOM鈥�MATE: Living with Tang Art program for students. 
  
鈥淣ow, I am often thinking about how to incorporate my Tang experiences into my future as a teacher. I want looking at and making art to be a normal, joyful part of life. I鈥檓 thankful that this internship has given me insight into what that can look like.鈥�