Museum Studies Intern at Associated Artists of Pittsburgh - Fall 2019
by Emily Hrynko
In the fall of 2019, I had the opportunity to intern with Associated Artists of Pittsburgh (AAP), an organization that has been bringing together artists of Pittsburgh and the surrounding region for over 100 years. Through the years the AAP has supported and showcased the works of hundreds of distinguished artists including Andy Warhol and Mary Cassatt. As an intern with AAP, I got to research some of these artists in the organization’s archives, as well as assist in the set-up of their most recent exhibition, the 107th Annual.
Artist biographies I wrote for the 107th Annual catalogue.
Many of my duties for the 107th Annual related to the setup of the exhibition. The Annual one of the longest running annual exhibitions in the country, and a lot goes into the set-up of this exhibition, which I got to see and experience firsthand. I assisted with membership and PR duties, as well as with the annual catalogue. For each Annual, the organization produces a catalogue that features the art in the exhibition and awards, as well as to pays tribute to past members. In the 107th catalogue, I had the opportunity to research those members of the organization who had passed in the past year and write brief biographies on their lives and careers as artists. My research and writing were utilized for the catalogue, which will be read by the hundreds of visitors to the exhibition. Creating something that would be read by that many people was exciting and rewarding.
Researching Robert Motherwell in the CMOA archives.
During my internship, I had another in-depth research opportunity, though one of another kind. Late this summer, AAP was contacted by the Daedalus Foundation. The Foundation was preparing a catalogue raisonné of Robert Motherwell’s drawings. Motherwell was an abstract expressionist known for his paintings and prints. He came to Pittsburgh to jury the 40th Annual exhibition in 1950. The Foundation was looking for any information on his time in Pittsburgh. I searched the AAP archives at the Heinz History Center, as well as the archives of the Carnegie Museum of Art where the 40th Annual Exhibition was held. I searched through the 100+ years’ worth of monthly meeting notes, exhibition catalogs, and scrapbooks for anything I could find on Motherwell. I found quotes in newspaper articles from Motherwell, records of the luncheons members had before the exhibition, mail correspondences between Motherwell and other members, and more. It was great to be able to help out the Daedalus Foundation, and I got to learn about Motherwell and gain experience in conducting archival research from primary documents.
My internship with AAP has been so enlightening. I gained valuable experience in helping set-up an exhibit, conducting archival research, and in helping with the office duties in an artist’s organization.