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Art Museum Senior Profile Jacqueline Finnegan '08
Position: Collections management assistant
Major: Studio art
Minor: Complex organizations
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Favorite piece at the museum: The newly acquired Jasper Johns prints Zero through Nine. Johns created something like an optical illusion where the numbers pop out in front of each other and move back and forth in space. I can't wait until Wendy Watson designs a show to display them. A studio art major, Jacqueline Finnegan '08 applied to work at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum as a junior in hopes of getting a different perspective on how art is displayed and handled. "I also didn't want to be a starving artist when I came out of Mount Holyoke. That, too, motivated me," she added. Finnegan, whose medium is printmaking, now has spent two years as one of the museum's collections management assistants. In that role, her duties include evaluating the condition of works coming into the museum and, likewise, preparing condition reports before loaned pieces are returned. She also helps put up exhibitions and says that her background in studio art serves her well in that capacity. "It has equipped me with some of the tools needed to prepare works for exhibitions, such as framing and matting. For example, I know firsthand that if a piece is done in charcoal then it needs this certain mat, this deep a frame, and nothing can touch it in the process." Her favorite part of the job is meeting artists and helping facilitate the exchange of artwork. In January, Finnegan accompanied Linda Delone Best, collections manager, to New York City to visit an alumna who was donating artwork to the museum's collection. "They were prints by an artist that I am absolutely in love with--Jasper Johns. It was amazing to take this little adventure and meet an art collector, who also is an alumna. It remains one of my best MHC experiences," she said. Finnegan, who comes from Orlando, Florida, also has served as treasurer of the student art board, which runs the student gallery in Blanchard Campus Center. A member of a state champion high school golf team, she played on the College's team during her first three semesters. She says she's always had an interest in graphic design and thought that perhaps her future would be in advertising. Come September, however, Finnegan is headed to Syracuse University for a master's degree in museum studies. "This is a direct result of my fabulous experience at the museum. I'm really excited," she said. Related Links: At the Museum: An Outstanding Senior Class
By the Numbers: Class of 2008 at the Art Museum Meet the 11 Art Museum Seniors
Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
Permanent link to this story: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/story/5570730
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