Almost six years to the day after starting working at the Art Institute of Chicago, I said farewell to the museum, my colleagues, and my job last month. It was a bittersweet goodbye, and it’s incredible to look back at everything that’s happened in that time and how much I’ve grown and evolved professionally. The institutional photographic collection will always hold a special place in my heart - it’s the collection that acted as a springboard for me to learn about collections care, preventive conservation, archival best practices, and reference services. I completed a graduate certificate and masters degree using the collection as an opportunity to get hands-on experience and apply what I was learning. And the collection itself was such a joy to work with - lots of mysteries but also so many gems.
Silent video tour of the archives.
Black and white contact sheets from the archives.
Aside from the images I worked with on a daily basis, I think I’ll most miss working with so many talented, passionate, and thoughtful colleagues. Museum workers truly are a unique breed, and though it took some time to find community, my experience working at the museum completely transformed once I formed relationships with peers across the institution. This was especially true with equity work through Mass Action, through the changes in communication brought about by the pandemic, and through the unionization efforts. Museum staff make a museum, they are the museum, and I feel so fortunate to have worked alongside so many amazing folks. I hope the field as a whole can evolve to better support everyone.
Black and white photograph in the archive; image depicts a photographer on scaffolding in a gallery.
Silent video of a drawer of exhibition image catalog cards from the archive.
I’m moving on in order to better care for myself, and hopefully to make more of a positive and direct impact on the world around me. Perhaps someday I’ll return to museum work someday, but for now, I have lots to look forward to in the form of a new job and entirely new field to learn about: early childhood education. I am going to be working as the digital asset specialist for Cultivate Learning, which is part of the University of Washington. I’m excited to begin this fully remote job and this next chapter in my career.