We are heralding the recent arrival of the LeWitt team. We’ve got 24 master artists plus 12 apprentices. The masters — senior and seasoned assistants who worked with the artist before his death in 2007 — include Tomas Ramberg, Nikolai Angelov, Takeshi Anita, Michael Vedder, Sachiko Cho, Elizabeth Christ, Megan Dyer, Lacey Fekashacey, Gabriel Hurier, Sarah Heinemann, John Hogan, Nick Kozak, Roland Lusk, Hideni Namura, Amy Rashbone, Emily Ripley, Anthony Sansotta, Mio St. Clair, Wim Starkenburg, Andrew Colbert, Chip Allen, Chris Cobb, Nobutu Suga.

Under the direction of Tomas Ramberg and Anthony Sansotta, teams of installers have been created with one of the master artists leading the interns and apprentices. The process of taking LeWitt’s original instructions for a wall drawing through to completion requires great attention to detail, and fosters a strong sense of camaraderie among the installers, who will be in residence through September 2008. In addition to intensive technical instruction, interns will benefit from lessons in art history each week and a behind-the-scenes view of the work of museums. Special gallery tours and seminar sessions will be given by MASS MoCA, Williams College Museum of Art, and the Yale University Art Gallery.

Apprentices, who are recent graduates with studio arts training, and who will be trained extensively in all techniques, are: Emily Arauz from Wellesley College, Sylvia Birns-Swindlehurst from Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Lexie Bouwsma from Hampshire College, Matt Capezzuto from Yale School of Art, Emily Colman from School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (welcome back to Emily who was the marketing intern here last year!), Julia Isenberg from Mt. Holyoke College, Aran Jones from Hampshire College, Heather Jones from Truman University, Sam McCune from Trinity Christian College, Courtney McIlhenney, a North Adams resident, Anna Pickens from Alfred State College, Amanda Sciullo from Savannah College of Art and Design, and Jordan Starr-Bochicchio from University of Southern Florida.

WELCOME ALL. We’re delighted you’re here! Remember April is the cruelest month, but there’s nothing like summer in the Berkshires!

It takes a lot of brawn and brain to be an intern, especially one at MASS MoCA. I am fairly convinced that our interns are superheroes (and I’m not just saying that because I used to be one.) MASS MoCA interns not only help us put up successful exhibitions, and put on amazing shows, but also help us keep the museum functioning on a day-to-day basis. Did you get a postcard in the mail from MASS MoCA about an upcoming show? An intern might have designed the postcard, an intern might have stuck your address label that postcard, an intern might go to the airport and pick up the performing artist you are invited to see, an intern might  help set up the seats you are sitting in to enjoy that performance, an intern might sell  you your ticket to the show or the galleries, and an intern might have done research on the artist whose work you can view in the galleries.

One of the things I love about our interns is that no matter what crazy task we ask them to help us with they are still full of energy and life and overall just glad to be here. For example look at the photos posted here of Emily (the marketing intern who will be posting her own additions to the blog occasionally) and Aimee (one of the performing arts interns.) I walked into the museum this morning to find them dancing energetically in the courtyard. Perhaps they were feeling inspired by the David Neumann work-in-progress they saw this past weekend or maybe they are preparing their moves to show off to the Armitage Gone! Dance company when they arrive later this week, but either way they looked like they were having a ball. And later when I asked them to repeat their show for the camera they not only performed again but, incredibly, with even more energy. Which is just more proof that our interns rock!

We are currently searching for interns to help us out during the 2008 winter/spring season. If you would like to join our team for a season please visit the page linked above and apply now. The application deadline is November 1, 2007.

Cheers,

Brittany

P.S. Only 16 more days until the Teenage Prayers.