Bella Marinos (Psychology major, Studio Art minor ’24) was a Summer 2024 Intern at the Escalette Collection of Art. Below are her thoughts about spending the summer with the Escalette Collection. 

My internship began on a hot and humid June morning. I made the mistake of wearing a plaid wool blazer in an attempt to look some form of business casual. I entered the Fishbowl (nickname for the Escalette Collection’s offices) for the first time, sweaty, scared, and very excited. It was then that my 10 weeks with the Escalette Permanent Collection began.

I had had a prior encounter with the Escalette and its fearless leaders, Fiona and Jessica, when I helped co-curate a show as a part of Professor Lassner’s Contemporary Gallery Practices class in the Spring of 2023. At the time I had been a lukewarm Psychology student with my secret interest being art. This curatorial project, “Relative Fantasies,” had been my first taste of what working in art looked like. It helped bring me to a crossroads where I could either 1.Continue to pursue psychology and practice art on the side or 2. Completely immerse myself in the art world and figure it out as I go along. I chose the latter and I am happy I did. Figuring it out as I went along, led me back to the doorstep of the Escalette Collection, this time as their summer intern.

My Tuesdays and Thursdays overflowed with art. My internship revolved around social media, curation, and collections management. As their social media “person” I was in charge of creating Instagram posts and reels. I wanted to highlight how incredibly active the Escalette was over the summer. I documented field trips, installations, de-installations, blog postings, and much more (give us a follow! @escalettecollection).

My curatorial duties centered around several projects with the most notable being the co-curation of “body of the world,” now on view in Roosevelt Hall. “body of the world” is composed of 10 works from Southern California artist Inna Jane Ray. Cassie Chan (my fellow summer intern) and I had the privilege of being up close and personal with her sketchbooks, poetry, and paintings. We were also able to interview one of her lifelong friends Bonnie Barrett, and learned all about her life, hardships, and fierce personality. Inna was incredible!

Lastly, collections management assignments revolved around learning how to store, document, and properly care for the art in the collection. I learned to conduct thorough condition reports and enter that information into “The Museum System.” We built painting stands using archival materials and helped re-organize some of the Escalette’s storage.

As I conclude my summer internship, I leave with heartfelt appreciation for all I’ve learned and experienced. I feel confident and prepared to continue down the path of art, all thanks to Fiona and Jessica. Their dedication to fulfilling the Museum’s mission and tireless support for Chapman’s students is evident. Whoever assumes this role next summer is immensely lucky to work for the Escalette Permanent Collection.