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Art Museum Senior Profile Emily Renfrew '08
Position: Education outreach fellow
Major: History
Minor: Educational studies
Hometown: Poulsbo, Washington
Favorite piece at the museum: Annie Lavelle by Robert Henri. It is a portrait of a little girl in a pink dress, but there is something in her giant blue eyes that just draws you in and makes you wonder what she's really thinking. As the Mount Holyoke College Art Museum's education and outreach fellow, Emily Renfrew '08 helps education director Jane Gronau recruit, train, and organize the student volunteers for the "Daily Life and Afterlife in Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome" school program. "The program is threefold, which makes it unique among programming offered by museums in the valley," Renfrew explained. "First, trained Mount Holyoke College volunteers visit local classrooms to deliver a lesson on archeology and ancient civilizations. Next, those classes visit the museum for a docent-led tour, and, last, teachers receive materials to continue classroom explorations of ancient cultures." It was during Renfrew's first Mountain Day--and on the top of Mount Holyoke, no less--that she learned about the museum's outreach programs from that year's education and outreach fellow. "I also learned that the museum was having an informational meeting for students who wanted to volunteer," Renfrew said. "Ever since I was a child, driving into New York City with my parents to visit the Cloisters--a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art--I've wanted to work in a museum and share my love of them with others. So, I knew that the outreach program was for me." Renfrew became a volunteer and continued in that capacity as a sophomore while also working as a receptionist at the museum. Then, during her junior year abroad at the University of York in England, she applied for the education and outreach fellowship position. For Renfrew, one of the best parts of her job is when the schoolchildren do a mock archeological dig for "ancient" objects buried in a container. "The moment when you explain the activity, ask for student volunteers, and then see an entire sixth-grade class shoot their hands into the air really is quite an amazing experience," she said. "The outreach program has taught me that the reputation this age group has for being uncooperative is far from the truth. These kids love learning about archeology, and I love having the opportunity to teach them." 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/5570807
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