|
Art Museum Senior Profile Kathryn Plass '08
Position: Curatorial assistant, Skinner Museum
Majors: History and biology
Hometown: Mountain View, California
Favorite piece at the museum: Hetch Hetchy Canyon by Bierstadt because of the light and because I come from an area served by water from the reservoir. Kate Plass '08 became interested in the Joseph Allen Skinner Museum--the Mount Holyoke College museum housing a collection of American and European furniture, decorative arts, crafts, tools, and geological specimens--after visiting it on Commencement weekend as a first-year student. As a volunteer, she then spent a semester entering data into MIMSY, a museum collections management software, and subsequently began working at the Skinner Museum during Reunion weekends. Now, as its curatorial assistant, Plass does "pretty much anything that's needed at the Skinner Museum, from cleaning cases to helping collections management assistant Meghan Gelardi with exhibits." Her contributions include the creation of a manuscript collection of documents previously stored at both the Skinner Museum and the Art Museum; an institutional archives to better store documents relating to the Skinner family, as well as to the museum's history; and a complete inventory of the museum's four buildings. This latter project is one in which Plass takes particular pride: "I felt like I'd done something to make the museum better and easier to use," she said. During her time at the museum, she's come to appreciate the eclectic nature of the Skinner collection. Her favorite pieces are the sword inscribed to General Ulysses S. Grant, "although we don't have a firmly established provenance for it, and the Service Flag, which I believe memorializes the South Hadley dead from World War I." Plass chose Mount Holyoke because she felt that the College would allow her to pursue her interests in both biology and history, "which it has wonderfully." Along with completing a double major, she dances with the Five College Dance Department. "I studied ballet for 17 years, and have continued to take classes here. My most recent performance was in Blind and Running, the spring student dance concert," she said. Plass also serves as a first responder for MHC's Medical Emergency Response Team. This summer, Plass will be working with the Gettysburg Foundation at the Gettysburg National Military Park, helping move the museum and archive collections into storage in a new building. "Beyond that, I plan to continue working in the museum field and hope to attend graduate school," 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 Skinner Museum
Permanent link to this story: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/news/story/5570801
News Office · Mary Woolley Hall · 413-538-2455 · Additional Contacts
|
