Missouri State University student Jenna Fallert, a double major in museum studies and art history and visual culture, was awarded a competitive, paid summer museum internship from the Institute of American Indian Arts Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (IAIA-MoCNA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The six-week internship program is offered through the Sealaska Heritage Institute partnership of the University of Alaska Southeast and the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico.

Fallert, who plans on a career as a gallery curator, gained first-hand experience during the internship working with Dr. Manuela Well-Off-Man, site supervisor of IAIA’s Archives and Collections department. Along with other interns, Fallert worked in a museum housing nearly 9,000 artworks of various media, from paintings and ceramics to contemporary apparel, and assisted with developing and installing a summer exhibition.

“The internship offers me a variety of experiences at the museum, from doing condition reports, to object handling, to installations, to painting and preparation, to researching. I do a bit of it all, as museum work requires one to wear many hats,” Fallert said.

Fallert’s advisor, Dr. Billie Follensbee, explained that the internship is both nationally and internationally competitive.

“Jenna’s achievement in landing this internship is outstanding,” Follensbee said. “The MoCNA internship will nurture and develop Jenna’s deep interests in non-Western art and cultures, and the internship experience will be significant in preparing them for their chosen career as a museum curator.”

Fallert described the internship as providing “hands-on knowledge” and “real-world practice” about museum work. It also included an added bonus of extensive experience in Native American art and cultures. The internship also aligned with Fallert’s professional interest in activism through art curation.

“When I become an art curator, I want to support and show appreciation for non-Western cultures and other discriminated-against groups and people. As a part of the LGBTQ+ community, I strongly believe in the power of curatorial activism,” Fallert said.

“I believe that an internship at the Sealaska Heritage Institute will help me to achieve my ultimate goals and to reach out to the diverse current and future generations of museum-goers through the power of seeing one’s culture and one’s self represented in art and history in public forums like the art museum,” Fallert added.

For more information about the museum studies program or majors within the Department of Art and Design, call 417-837-2330.

News written by Taylor Ladd, edited by Reynolds College Communications Team. Photos provided by Jenna Fallert.

Taylor Ladd worked as a graduate assistant for the Department of Art and Design. She recently earned her master’s degree in writing at Missouri State University.