Second Annual Mirken Trip to New York City
Thirteen Studio Art and Art History majors just returned from New York City, where they participated in the second annual trip funded by The Mirken Family Endowment for Fine Art Practicum and Museum Practice at Colby. This unique capstone opportunity, made possible by the late Alan B. Mirken ’51, allows senior majors in the Art Department to visit a major city to explore career opportunities in the arts. This year the trip was coordinated and led by Assistant Professor of Art Marta Ameri, Associate Professor of Art Gary Green, and Mirken Family Postbaccalaureate Fellow in Museum Practice, Francisca Moraga López. The group met with arts professionals, including several Colby alums, at institutions such as the Whitney Museum of American Art, (where they met with Major Gifts Coordinator Kayla Zemsky ’09), NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, MoMA PS1, and Cooper Hewitt Museum of Design. They also visited the studio of artist Peter Soriano (father of Art History major Francesca Soriano ’16, and whose wall drawing Permanent Maintenance is now installed in the Colby Museum lobby) and Deborah Bell Photographs, where they were warmly welcomed by the owner along with her gallery director, Katherine (Kat) McElroy ’13, who majored in Art History at Colby.