These first few weeks have flown by, and they have been full of fun and interesting discoveries! I have been working as a curatorial intern in the Everhart Museum, under the wing of Francesca Saldan, the museum’s curator. I have been specifically working on inventory, which entails taking down information and accession numbers of items in the museum’s storage rooms and entering their location into an online database. Being a student of art history, being able to actually see and hold items from all over the world, paintings from the last few centuries and artifacts from times forgotten is very valuable to me. It turns out the Everhart has a very large collection of Oceanic art- that is, art from the pacific islands, which I had never seen up close. The craftsmanship behind these pieces is certainly not disappointing. I am also a student of studio art, and the collection of fine art on paper and paintings on canvas is very satisfying to see as well. The Everhart has things from medieval illuminations to modern expressionist art. I have also found ancient pieces of glass and sculpture from Greece and Rome! It is certainly true that this humble little museum in Scranton, PA has its fair share of hidden little gems. I am having a great time already, and I look forward to unearthing other secrets as I continue to work through the rooms of storage here at the Everhart.
Until next time,
Jordan Oakey
Liberal Studies with concentrations in Studio Art, Art History, and Education Theory
Jordan,
Great post! Are you interning with Virginia? It is awesome to hear about new places in Scranton… well “new” to me. I had never heard of this museum, but am intrigued by it and wish to check it out! It is awesome to read that despite being a smaller museum, there are many valuable pieces of history!
Quick question – do you know where from Greece and Rome the artifacts are from and/or how they may have potentially arrived in Scranton, Pennsylvania? Good luck with the rest of your summer!!!
Hi, Blake!
I can tell you that we have one piece on display now (which means of course, you could see it if you came to the museum!) that is purportedly form the ruins at Pompeii! We also have on display a small marble bust of a man that comes from ancient Greece, which is amazing to see in a small town like Scranton- most people think they need to travel to the Met in New York to see artifacts like this! If you are interested, email me and we can further discuss some of these details!
jnoakey@gmail.com
Best,
Jordan
Jordan,
I had never knew that the Everhart Museum had such great collection because like you’ve mentioned it’s a small museum. Being a science major, I have never really focused on art, but I have began to value art after reading your blog and how you are learning from this summer internship. You must have saw some great pieces of artwork which you might have only learned in a class or lecture before. I am sure this experience will definitely lead you towards your career goal. Good luck for the rest of your internship!
Mili, I am so glad that my post has given you a reason to think of art in a different way! If I may suggest some things to look at: daVinci was not only an artist, but a brilliant scientist for his time! His notebooks are full of studies on human anatomy, animals, botany, and physics, to name a few. It is crucial to remember that without trained and skilled artists, early medical books (even later books- Grey’s Anatomy comes to mind) would have been pretty bland without all of those etchings for illustrations! If you want to see some spectacular etchings of human anatomy and form, check out some of the prints my Albrecht Durer! Another interesting point to make is that a trained eye (in artistic OR scientific anatomy) can usually tell the artists who have studied anatomy in depth (like daVinci) from those who have not spent as much time on it (like Michelangelo, if I may be so bold as to sat that)!
Best,
Jordan