Art Museum Senior Profile

Tanya Fonseca '08
Position: Collections management assistant
Major: Architectural studies
Minor: History
Hometown: Geneva, Switzerland
Favorite piece at the museum: The galvanized steel and aluminum Donald Judd piece in the Futter Gallery

Tanya Fonseca '08 works as a collections management assistant at the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum. "I specialize in digitization," she said. "I edit digital photographs or scans of the museum's objects and link them to our database. This, in turn, makes the images more easily accessible through an online Five College Museum database. Currently, we are collecting images of all 14,000 objects in the museum."

Fonseca also helps with the installation of shows, which she describes as "especially rewarding." During her time at the museum, she's assisted with three shows and had the opportunity to work with artist Rosamond Purcell. "I visited her home and studio, which gave me a better understanding of her processes," Fonseca said. "I had the chance to speak with her about her work and about art in general."

Fonseca says that another great part of the job is traveling with Linda Delone Best, collections manager, to pick up and drop off art. "This is really fun because you get to visit artists' homes, other art museums, and conservation labs," she said. Her museum travels have taken her to Boston, Williamstown, and Easton, Pennsylvania.

A Montana native, Fonseca was living in Geneva, Switzerland, when it was time to apply to college. Because she'd never been to the East Coast of the United States, she began researching schools in the region. "I decided it was time I go somewhere new," she said. "I wanted a small liberal arts college with great offerings in architecture and biology. The women's colleges proved to be the best fit for me and I was drawn to the Five College area."

In addition to her museum work, Fonseca is a DJ and the program director for WMHC, the College's radio station. She's also worked as a tour guide, tutor, and photography editor for the Mount Holyoke News.

As graduation approaches, Fonseca envisions spending the immediate future in Boston. "I am looking to work at a design firm or an art museum--or whatever happens to fall into place," she said. "After exploring the Northeast for a couple more years, I'll head off to graduate school for something architecturally related, probably urban planning or historic preservation."

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

Permanent link to this story: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/story/5570748

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