By Abigail Wall
The Getty Museum has opened a new exhibit that features the writing of 23 student interns from southern California. Including alumna Brianna Aguilera who graduated from Long Beach State in spring 2022.
The “Our Voices, Our Getty: Reflecting our Drawings” exhibit features two reflections on historical drawings written by Aguilera.
She chose 16th century drawing “Flowers and Beetles” by Hans Hoffman. Aguilera wrote in her reflection that the drawing reminded her of memories with her grandmother in the garden.
Brianna Aguilera standing next to her written interpretation of "flowers and beetles" by Hans Hoffman. Photo credit: Abigail Wall
Aguilera also chose the drawing “Waterfall in the Mountains by Moonlight” by Franz “Innocenz” Kobell as it reminded her of camping with her friends and family.
“I knew that I wanted to be an artist deep down inside, and I tried to ignore that for monetary gain and it just didn’t work out,” said Aguilera. “I just tried to follow my intuition and that led me to Cal State Long Beach and the Getty.”
This is the first display to feature interpretations written only by interns. These personal reflections shared many different voices through each art piece.
The idea for the show was for interns to not interpret art pieces from a historical point of view but rather from more personal reflections.
Brianna Aguilera's written reflection of "waterfall in the mountains by moonlight" by Franz Innocenz Kobell Photo credit: Abigail Wall
Edina Adam, the assistant curator of drawings at the Getty, believed that this was a way to involve interns in the making of an exhibition.
“I figured a good way of doing that would be asking them not to interpret objects from an art historical point of view, which is what we normally do in these galleries, but to write personal or very creative responses to the drawings that they selected,” Adam said.
The 10-week summer internship program has helped students learn about working in the museum industry and make connections.
“I really think it brought the group together,” Adam said. “ I think it really had an impact on them, they became a very close-knit cohort which is awesome.”
Aguilera believes that this exhibit is a good opportunity for interns to learn about museum practices.
“I was able to learn a lot about the ins and outs of the museum industry and that was important to me as an artist because I want to sell artwork,” said Aguilera.
The exhibit lasts from Feb. 7 to April 30 at the Getty Museum.
