From the Classroom to the Galleries: My Internship at El Museo del Barrio

The first memory I have of visiting an art exhibition was with my father in my hometown, Bogotá, back in 2009. It was the second solo exhibition of the American pop artist Andy Warhol in Colombia, whose visual language had a significant impact on the country. I was particularly struck by the organization of the artworks, the accompanying texts, and how art brought people together to the same space. Little did I know that sixteen years later, I would be involved in curating two exhibitions at El Museo del Barrio, the first Latinx and Latin American cultural institution in the United States. Today, I can connect the sense of amazement I felt at Warhol’s exhibition with my experience when I visited the off-site storage facility of El Museo. The privilege of seeing the artworks entrusted to this institution, witnessing the care taken by curators and art handlers, and contributing to the organization, cataloging, and selection of artworks for upcoming exhibitions was incredibly fulfilling.

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Before starting my summer internship in the summer of 2025 at El Museo del Barrio, I did not have experience working outside academic institutions. My previous roles included teaching language and academic writing, and I occasionally provided tutoring services at writing centers. It wasn’t until I began my Ph.D. program at Duke University that I realized I wanted to gain practical experience in a museum setting. Prior to starting my doctoral studies in Romance Studies, I had earned a B.A. degree and an M.A. in literature, and I ended wanting to broaden my academic horizons by integrating the study of literature and visual arts. The Ph.D. in Romance Studies was an ideal choice because it encompassed the fields of literary, visual, and cultural studies, with a specific focus on Latin America. Acquiring expertise in the visual arts of this region was crucial to me, something I have been able to do under the bright mentorship of Professor Esther Gabara. I knew that this formation could not be completed without working within a museum institution, especially in a curatorial department where I was going to learn what it means to organize, prepare, and develop an exhibition.  As an interdisciplinary scholar, I wanted not just to be able to navigate different fields and frameworks, but to acquire professional skills both for universities and museums. 

The Summer Internship Fellowship was a great opportunity for me to gain this experience and to acquire the skills only possible by pursuing a museum internship. I expected to understand all the layers of preparing an exhibition and how to engage more critically with the way I understand art and art institutions. Additionally, I sought to determine whether a museum institution would be a more suitable career path for me compared to an academic position.

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After I reached out to different museums, El Museo del Barrio, located in New York City, offered me a curatorial internship. I was thrilled and nervous. El Museo started in 1968 as an educational institution in New York City to display and circulate art that was not Anglocentric and Eurocentric. During this experience, I helped to prepare the fall 2025 exhibitions Jangueando, Recent Acquisitions, 2021-2025, and Coco Fusco: Tomorrow, I Will Become an Island. 

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Under the caring and generous supervision and mentorship of El Museo’s interim chief curator Susanna Temkin, I helped to create the signage for both exhibitions in the collaborative environment of the curatorial department. I learned what it was to follow a schedule, fulfilling different tasks during a workday, and having meetings related to different parts of the exhibition (design, graphic identity, installation). Everything was a novelty for me, from working alongside collaborators and under a supervisor every day, to having staff meetings and engaging with people in other museum departments such as education, development, finances, communications, and human resources. One of my most significant takeaways was learning how to collaborate within the rhythm of a work team to make an exhibition a reality, something I was unfamiliar with in academia, where tasks were dependent on my personal rhythm and schedules. 

I am certain this experience was life changing. It introduced me to professional work outside academia, which was a new experience for me. Moreover, it helped me comprehend the contrasts between working in a museum institution and an academic one—a distinction that will shape my job market entry upon completing my Ph.D. The exhibitions I assisted in preparing, while not directly related to my dissertation, provided me with valuable analytic and visual tools that will inform part of my dissertation methodology. Additionally, the opportunity to network with artists, art historians, and curators in New York City is crucial for my career as a scholar and critic. I am incredibly grateful and excited to see how this experience will influence my future knowledge production as a scholar.

AUTHOR

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María Molano Parrado

Ph.D. candidate, Romance Studies

María is a Ph.D. candidate at Duke University, where she specializes in modern and contemporary Latin American literature and visual arts. Her research interests intersect with ecocriticism, political ecology, literary theory, and visual studies, focusing on the relationship between aesthetics and politics. She is currently completing her dissertation, which examines the desert in contemporary Latin American cultural production.