By Alexis Dalton
As we get into the colder months, senior Cleo Wynn has been reminiscing on her art-filled summer. Specifically, as an intern at the High Museum.
Cleo found out about this internship through her art teacher, Mrs.Story, who strongly recommended she apply. “It was a long application process with an essay and interview,” Cleo told me. “I procrastinated a little bit but turned it in in January and found out I got accepted in March.”
A little over one hundred people applied, and fourteen people got accepted. “Getting to know the other people who got selected for such a highly selective internship was cool,” she said, explaining how everyone was equally excited and enthusiastic about their work.
Cleo loved having something to do every day, as her past summers had been more low-key. It was a paid internship, and she worked 9-5 Tuesday through Sunday with Monday as their day off.
Their main focus was planning events for kids and teens. “We had this event called Teen Night that’s based around one of the big exhibits going on in the museum,” she described. “Alicia Keys and her husband Swizz Beats had a big exhibit, so we did a hip hop and R&B themed disco.”
Her favorite part of interning at the museum was getting to meet the people who worked there and “learning about different careers that I might want to do one day,” she explained. “We shadowed a bunch of careers.”
But it wasn’t just the interns who benefited. Some of the museum staff approached the interns for social media advice. They gave them a thorough “teen perspective” on what to post.
Just because Cleo’s internship is over doesn’t mean she’s done with art. As a junior, Cleo completed an AP Art portfolio. “My subject was stuff you see in dreams and being able to relate that to reality,” she said. “Basically taking stuff that I’d seen in my mind and then putting it onto a canvas.” She included drawing and painting in her portfolio.
“Not to hate on CollegeBoard, but they really focus on the writing,” Cleo said when explaining the portfolio. “I waited until later to do the writing because I told myself it was an art test.” She explained how she had to do fifteen pieces that took months but the grading felt as though it was more focused on the writing than the art itself.
This is her second year taking Honors Visual Arts. She explained that it’s not an AP credit, but they take the AP class. Though she is taking the class again, she is not doing the test this year. Because of this, she’ll be able to fully focus on her paintings. “I’m still making art, just not for a test,” she told me. “Last year was stressful because you had to make fifteen pieces under one topic sentence.”
This year, she’ll be able to explore new topics while she prepares for her senior project which will be an art gallery.
Right now, Cleo is painting a scene of one Goldfish cracker among a sea of real goldfish. “It’s playful,” she said happily. “I really like stuff that’s not too serious… that’s my ongoing inspiration.”
