Our graduates have gone on to pursue a variety of internships, and careers.
Below you will find a sample of internships and employment opportunities our Alumnae have pursued.
Internships:
Twelve-Month Internship, Museum of Modern Art
Fulton County Arts and Culture Internship
High Museum of Art
Museum of Contemporary Art, GA
Employers:
National Portrait Gallery
Personal/Research Assistant for Judy Chicago, New Mexico
Modeling Agent, London
Industrial Designer, Goody Products
We invite you to take a moment to read about a some of our featured Alumnae and their lives after graduation:
Becky Bivens, ’08
I first read Claes Oldenburg’s “I am for an Art” (1961) in Katherine Smith’s “Contemporary Art and Theory.” In the text, Oldenburg suggests that he is for an art of anything and everything. “I am for an art that embroils itself with the everyday crap & still comes out on top…I am for an art that flaps like a flag or helps blow noses, like a handkerchief,” he writes. The beautiful thing about Oldenburg’s text—which takes the form of a long list—is its potential to become infinite. The last line ends abruptly, and the reader is left wanting to add another item, to find another kind of art to embrace. At the risk of cheesiness and sentimentality, I want to offer an Oldenburg inspired litany for my Agnes Scott education:
1. I am for an Agnes that taught me not only how to make art, but also how to think about it.
2. I am for an Agnes that helped me go to graduate school and get more than a couple of jobs. (E.g. a Master’s from the University of Chicago in the Humanities, an internship at the Brooklyn Museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, and a current position as an instructor for The City Colleges of Chicago.)
3. I am for an Agnes that offered a safe place to make mistakes, to develop my passions, and to become competent at writing and speaking about them.
4. I am for an Agnes that has an awesome art gallery.
5. I am for an Agnes that has an art history and studio art department that works together, which is incredibly hard to find and incredibly exciting.
6. I am for an Agnes that gave me both a structured, rigorous education AND an enormous amount of creative freedom.
And the list goes on!
Jill Carson, ’01
Senior Designer for Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC
Carmen Cervantes, ’09
I am a marketing and architecture consultant, with my own firm: CCervantes Ltd. I graduated in May 2009 with my March.
Robin Dana, ’97
I was born in picturesque Savannah, Georgia in 1975. In 1980 I moved with my family to the middle of the state, where I began an ongoing fascination with the lifeblood to the town, kaolin clay.
I earned a BA in Studio Art from Agnes Scott College in Atlanta and an MFA in Photography from the University of Connecticut. Since graduation I have taught photography in the US and abroad through the University of Georgia in Athens, curated art exhibitions, and written on contemporary artists. I have also exhibited my fine art photography in galleries up and down the east coast.
I have been photographing the mining industry in my hometown since 2004, resulting in the ongoing study Kaolin. My recent work from residencies in DC, NY and travel abroad focuses on the scarification of our contemporary landscape. The collection Watershed: How Industry has Changed the Water of the World includes photographs of the Hudson, Potomac, Arno and Tiber Rivers. The international project Superfund: Photographs of Toxic Landscapes is currently underway.
http://www.rdana.com/
Ashley French, ’05
Graphic Design degree at Creative Circus, 2009; currently working as a Package Designer at Kids II, Alpharetta, GA
Adrienne Gonzalez, ’04
After graduating from ASC with a BA in Art History (magna cum laude) I worked in the Admission Office for three years, doing recruitment travel along the West Coast, Austin & San Antonio, Texas, throughout Georgia & Florida, and in the D.C. area (Northern Virginia & Maryland). In 2007 I began working in the Anthropology Department at Georgia State University as a staff administrator. Effective October of 2011 I moved to the Dean’s Office in the College of Arts & Sciences. In addition to working full-time at GSU I am also pursuing a Master’s Degree in History part-time, and have become a member of the High Museum’s Docent Volunteer Corps where I give tours and attend exhibit and education workshops several times a month. I continue to maintain close friendships with several Scotties around the country.
Kirby Hager-Johnson, ’06
I am currently serving Agnes Scott College in the role of Director of Marketing Services (focusing on fundraising and alumnae relations) and pursuing my MBA in marketing at Georgia Institute of Technology. The exposure to art and art history and the practices in theoretical and analytical self- and peer-critique while studying as a Studio Art major at Agnes Scott prepared me well for my work in marketing, management, fundraising, and design. Plus, since my job mixes traditional communication styles with new media, I have been able to weave my art background, a creative approach, and resourcefulness into my work every day as I collaboratively develop direct-mail, social media, email, e-solicitation, and print pieces to market and raise funds for the college.
Anne Harris, ’91
Major: Art History, Classical Languages
Additional Degrees: AM University of Chicago (’92), PhD University of Chicago (’99)
I’m a professor of art history at DePauw University, a small liberal arts college in Greencastle, IN. I can honestly say that every time I sit down to prepare a class, and every time I enter the classroom, my Agnes Scott experiences frame what I am doing. Education and social change are inter-related through dialogue, debate, conversation and confrontation. The late-night dorm discussions, and the intense seminar exchanges created lines of questioning that I am still pursuing. I entered college looking for something inexhaustible, for a set of questions I could devote my life to: I found those in medieval art history, and it is thanks to Agnes Scott College, the tremendous professors I had here, and the beautiful friendships I made that those questions remain a vibrant motivation to greater pursuits of knowledge, and through those pursuits, to social change, and on good days, to social justice.
I came alive to the world in the summer of 1989 on Donna Sadler and Richard Parry’s Global Awareness trip to Greece. We read Socratic dialogues in the evenings and studied archaeological sites in the days – there was a continuity between the past and the present, whether it was about the definition of courage in a Socratic dialogue, or about the visualization of beauty in the Parthenon. There are abstract ideas that move ever forward towards greater and more widespread human dignity, and on that trip to Greece, I learned how to ask questions of these ideas.
Emily Hauck-Allred, ’08
Designer at Response Mine Interactive
Claire Huddleston, ’08
In my current position as Development Associate for Exhibition Funding at The Museum of Modern Art in New York, I am constantly reminded of the value of my experience working in the Dalton Gallery while I was a student at Agnes Scott. The Gallery provided many opportunities for me to put into practice the skills I learned in the classroom, in particular, the ability to research, interpret and share a variety of information about works of art and how to cater that conversation to diverse audiences. Whether I was speaking with a group of fellow students, writing wall text, or giving a tour to Trustees – these experiences proved incredibly beneficial in preparing me for my current interactions and communications with a wide array of donors, fellow staff members, and Museum visitors. During my work in the gallery I also learned about the broad range of activities and responsibilities that contribute to the functioning of an arts organization as a whole — more than just the scholar/curator– which has given me perspective and a better understanding of my role in the Museum today.
Andre Keichian, ’08
Photographer, videographer, video and installation artist.
Lauren Lee, ’05 – Art History Student Turned Graphic Designer
Project Manager/Graphic Designer
Co-Author of AsianCajuns.com
Eight years ago, I was walking across the stage, shaking Hilary Clinton’s hand, grasping my diploma from Agnes Scott College. I was ecstatic on graduation day: being with all my fellow Scotties and achieving what had felt like an elusive goal four years ago. I had worked really hard and reached all of my academic goals. I was ready to celebrate all the hard work and then tackle the next challenge that came along.
Post graduation day I was a little less enthusiastic. What now? I had spent four exhausting and exciting years working towards a goal, and now there seemed to be too many options.
I surprised myself by not having more of a plan. I’ve always liked plans and paths and structure, even if I change them daily. Fall of ’04 (two semesters before graduation) I had seriously considered applying to graduate school for Art History (my major). My dream was to become a curator at a large, international museum. But by the time spring semester rolled around I was burnt out academically. If I did apply to grad school, I wanted a break first.
Post graduation, my twin sister Catherine (also an ASC graduate) and I decided to move in with a few fellow Scotties down the road from campus. I planned to spend my summer working part time at a local bookstore, part time at a gallery in Castleberry Hill, and part time at a local graphic design firm while deciding what my next move would be.
I thought after four hard years of striving I would tumble out of Agnes Scott and land a fabulously successful job and never look back. It was a little discouraging at first to be working 60 hour weeks at three jobs with what felt like no direction.
Giving myself some time to figure out where I wanted to go next, turned out to be the best move. I realized working at the gallery that I loved being around art and studying it, but not selling it. At the same time I was enjoying the creativity of graphic design more and more.
At the time, I was not at all computer savvy. I owned an old Toshiba laptop that I barely touched except for paper writing and checking emails. I had never used a Mac (the most essential tool to about 90% of the graphic design population) or learned how to use Photoshop or Illustrator.
Even without any computer know-how, I realized that what I had been missing at Agnes Scott, buried in all the academia of Spanish (my minor) and Art History, was creating something of my own– beyond the paper writing. I’ve always been artistically inclined, but I always just thought of my creativity as a hobby.
Currently I am working at Lampe-Farley Communications as a graphic designer/project manager. I spend my days designing websites, posters, flyers, newsletters, business cards, and brochures.I absolutely love my job. I get to be creative, learn daily how to work with clients and push myself in new directions with design.
My other creative outlet is a blog I started with Catherine called AsianCajuns. We write about our love of fashion, art, design and Decatur/Atlanta. It’s another way for us to branch out and be creative by styling shoots, interviewing people around our great city, working with photographers and designing our blog. Although it’s just a hobby and can be time consuming, we love being able to share all the greatness of Decatur/Atlanta with the world. We won Best Local Style Blog by Atlanta Magazine and were interviewed by the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Click here to visit our blog – we love when fellow Scotties visit and leave us a comment!
Current Scotties, explore all the possibilities open to you, and you will flourish at whatever you decide to do. Good luck, fellow Scotties and Alums! I can’t wait to hear more about what all of you amazing women are doing!
Elysia Lock, ’04
I spent from 2004 – 2009ish slowly building my studio practice and taking in as much art as I could, visiting galleries and museums in the States and Europe. I became heavily involved with the Burning Man Community and art scene in general in Chicago around 2009. In 2010 I was awarded a B.U.R.N. art grant with Yva Neal for “The Fungus Humongous,” and joined the Steering Committee. I joined B.U.R.N.’s Art Grant Committee in 2011. I was awarded a grant in 2011 for my interactive glow-drawing piece, “Drawing From Light.”
The one event of which I am the proudest is We Burn: Chicago Burning Man Art. I came up with the idea of an exhibition of art by Chicago burners, presented it to the Steering Committee of B.U.R.N., and they funded it! Both the October 2010 and April 2011 events were a success. I have truly loved curating these events, looking through other people’s art and picking things that speak to me and hopefully others.
Julia Lutgendorf, ’04
Julia (right) and Leah ’01 (left) are two Alums who have come together to start their own business, Paper Moon, a custom wedding and event stationery company. They got their start working on the wedding invitations for a couple of mutual friends. Paper Moon specializes in handmade collections of signature invitations for special events. They also offer custom design services to provide a look as unique as you!
For her “real” job, Julia divides her time between working for her alma mater, working as a freelance graphic designer and as the third member of Yay Studio, in Avondale Estates.
Alexandra Marr-Bundrick, ’01
Associate Creative Director at EM2
EM2 is a 22-year old company with a history of building strategic, integrated communication campaigns for colleges, universities, non-profits and Fortune 500 corporations.
I would have to say that hands down the number one aspect I use every day related to what I learned at ASC is critical thinking skills. It’s not enough to make a pretty picture or nice design with what I do. Above all I have to communicate a message to an audience that is authentic to who they are and who they aspire to become. This messaging goes beyond the aesthetic. Every choice has to be intentional and necessary.
Generally Agnes Scott taught me critical thinking skills by offering a space in which it is expected to question the status quo. Another part of this was using writing as a tool to express your thoughts in nearly every subject–not just the humanities, as it is in most schools but also math, science, etc.
Specifically art history holds the roots of critical thinking–as art is a reflection of the time and culture in which it is created (yes even Rococo). In particular our deeper studies in Post-Modernism helped set the framework for pushing the boundaries of art as commentary too.
Fine arts sets you up with the basic tools first–really seeing your world around you in relation to form, proportion, etc. But it is really in the critiques where the critical thinking steps in–Is this saying what I want? Do other people ‘get it’? If not, why? What’s going on here that is working/not working? I feel like this process benefits from the smaller class sizes, passion of the instructors and a less competitive, all-female environment. Criticism at this level is new for most people, and the best introduction to this is a more collaborative environment.
In addition to critiques, being taught the creative process as a skill was key. Although creativity is often spontaneous, it does need some framework in order to thrive. Learning these steps keeps you on track to reach your ultimate message or goal and also helps you deal with any hiccups along the way. It’s a process of constant evaluation that in the end leads to a better outcome.
Erin McKellar, ’05
I am currently attending Boston University where I am working on a PhD in History of Architecture. I received my MA in Art History from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2010. My research centers on modernism as a construct and how it was ‘built’ and disseminated through text, image, and exhibition. I’m particularly interested in the intersecting national and international narratives that emerged from these modes of communication.
I came to Agnes Scott knowing that I had a fascination with visual objects, but not understanding how I could channel my interest into a focus of study. I emerged convinced that we can use visual objects, much as we use texts, to decode history. I particularly value the time Katherine Smith invested in making me the writer I am today. My professors in and beyond the Department of Art & Art History were always more than willing to engage critically outside of class, and I find that these discussions were often methodologically valuable to me.
Leah Owenby, ’01
Leah (left) and Julia (right, class of ‘o4) are two Alums who have come together to start their own business, Paper Moon, a custom wedding and event stationery company. They got their start working on the wedding invitations for a couple of mutual friends. Paper Moon specializes in handmade collections of signature invitations for special events. They also offer custom design services to provide a look as unique as you!
For her “real” job, Leah helps to manage the art gallery at Agnes Scott College.
Ruth Reveal, ’11
Traveling down an uneven, dirt road carved out of corn fields, it finally dawned on me: I was in the middle of nowhere. In Africa. It has always been a long-standing dream of mine to see Africa, but I never would have imagined that I would make that journey at twenty years old, or it would consist of donning colorful costumes to present dance-dramas to Ghanaian students and villagers. Regardless, I had survived the nine-hour flight, successfully maneuvered my way through customs, and I had arrived. I had arrived in Accra, Ghana to do something I felt very passionately about: HIV/AIDS education.
The Sankofa Center for African Dance and Culture is an arts-based, HIV/AIDS education program through which volunteers learn traditional Ghanaian dances which are modified in order to express aspects of HIV: transmission, situations that could put one at risk, etc. The volunteers work with a professional dancing and drumming troupe and aid with the HIV 101 program, condom demonstration, and free rapid HIV testing. I learned about the program through a press release sent out to Agnes Scott College, where I was a sophomore, and for some reason I knew this was what I wanted to do for part of my summer. Surprisingly, my parents showed no signs of hesitancy when I asked them if I could do the program, and after months of fundraising, searching for the best flights, getting various vaccinations and applying for visas, I could finally feel the heat of Africa encasing me.
The people of Ghana are extraordinarily welcoming, and even though they would heartily laugh when we attempted to speak in their native tongue, Twi, they were always willing to open their hearts and their home to us. They opened their country unabashedly and without resistance, and it was these people that I so desperately wanted to help. I found, however, that although I could discuss the mechanisms of HIV/AIDS with a true scientist’s distance, when it came to the testing portion of the program I had to take a step back. Looking into the faces of mothers, sons, grandfathers–all of whom were taking this test, all of whom had the possibly of contracting this terrible virus, I was shocked at my reaction. As a person who had thought of medicine and research as her calling, a person who could outline the entire reproductive cycle of HIV, I finally realized the implications of the virus. I finally saw the potential of this terrible disease for real people. Real people that I talked with, touched and who touched me.
When I came back to Ohio to begin an internship with AIDS Resource Center of Ohio, my perspective had changed. On the other side of the state-mandated paperwork I filed were real people. I had become invested not in the science of HIV but in the effects it had on the lives of the people who contracted it and the lives of those who cared about them.
Sankofa is an Akan word that translates to “go back and take,” and symbolizes the looking back on one’s past and prior knowledge as a way to shape the future. I am beginning, after my experience in Ghana, to shape my future, incorporating all my knowledge, both the portion that understands the research and the portion that can finally see the people behind it.
*For more information about the Sankofa Center for African Dance and Culture, visit their website: www.thesankofacenter.org
Nicoline Strom-Jensen, ’06
Where am I now: I am currently in New York City, having finished working on a M.A. in Art History at Hunter College.
How has my degree from Agnes Scott in Art History worked for me: I believe my Art History degree works for me in many ways on a personal level especially in terms of my creative engagement with the world. On a more concrete level my degree not only in Art History, but also in German, helped me take my education to the next level and enter graduate school.
Nancy Thebaut, ’08
I’m currently pursuing a PhD in art history at the University of Chicago, and it is without a doubt my experience studying art history at Agnes Scott that has helped me get to where I am now. While an undergrad, the Art History faculty helped me gain the skills (and confidence!) to apply for and work as an intern at the Cloisters, MOCA GA, and secure a spot in a field study of French Romanesque and Gothic churches with Columbia University. My friend and fellow art history student, Maja Tokíc and I also started the now-annual Collage Arts Colloquium at Agnes Scott, which features a student-curated and juried exhibition, keynote address, and conference. The department was always encouraging and supportive of any and all student initiatives like this.
Following my time at ASC, I completed an MA in Art History—with a focus on medieval manuscripts—at the Courtauld Institute of Art in London, and I then had the good fortune of meeting Judy Chicago, for whom I began to work the following year. A year later, I returned to graduate life as a student at the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, where I attained a “diplôme de muséologie” and interned at the Cluny Museum, the National Museum of Medieval Art. I’m now entering my third year at the University of Chicago as a PhD student in medieval art history but continue to be interested in postwar American art, too. I’ve written art criticism and medieval art history pieces for Bitch: A Feminist Response to Pop Culture, the UK-based publication Above, Marginalia review of books, and Medieval Feminist Forum.
My peers and faculty mentors at Agnes Scott not only helped me discover where my academic interests lie, but they also created safe yet intellectually challenging spaces to explore these interests in rigorous and creative ways. I continue to be so grateful for the relationships, conversations, and array of experiences I had at ASC that continue to shape my academic outlook (and prospects!) today.
Jacqueline Urda, ’03
I work as a product designer for Okabashi Brands Inc., a metro Atlanta company that manufactures plastic comfort and fashion footwear, which are sold under the Okabashi and Oka b. brand names. Recently, I was appointed as the lead designer for the Okabashi brand and was in charge of footwear design, packaging, brand management and graphic standards. 2009 was an exciting year for me because several of the shoes that I designed were be introduced to the market. That was a big first for me! (see spotlight)
Shannon Yarbrough
, ’09
As a liberal arts graduate and studio art major from Agnes Scott, Shannon is interested in all aspects of new media. After graduation in 2009 from Agnes Scott, she served as the College’s first Digital Design Fellow, where she helped faculty, staff and students use social media as tools for teaching and learning. She then joined Atlanta creative solutions agency, SolDesign, as Junior Producer in June 2010. Shannon now works with the Initiative for Affordable Housing, leading their marketing and social media efforts for their start-up social enterprise, re:loom.
She especially loves writing, video planning and production, and exploring how visual media can promote peace through inclusivity.
Jennifer “Bunny” Young-White, ’03
Jennifer is an Atlanta-based professional tattoo artist, comic strip creator, blogger, piano teacher, illustrator, and muralist. Her experience as an Asian female tattoo artist working in one of Atlanta’s most prestigious shops forms the basis of her comic strip diaries–”The Inkbunny Diaries” and the “The Apprentice Diaries”–which have been published in eleven volumes and counting, and included in various anthologies. Her tattoo work has been featured in publications such as “Skin & Ink Magazine,” “Haute Magazine” and “Common Creativ Atlanta”. Her commissioned murals and art pieces can be found at the historic Highland Inn, Chinese Buddha Restaurant and other locations around Atlanta. Her illustrations have been displayed in art galleries including Youngblood Gallery, MINTGallery, The Art House, Yay!Studio and ASC’s own Dalton Gallery. Most recent works in progress include faith-based illustrated story books. A Minnesota transplant, she received a bachelor’s degree in Art from Agnes Scott College in 2003.
www.theinkbunnydiaries.com
The Department of Art & Art History 