New York internship proves there is a professional path for all area of study combinations; even the eye-raising ones
Art history and data science typically evoke opposite images. One of ornately framed canvases… the other an endless string of code and numbers.
When you tell people these are your two areas of study, the combination apparently also produces some puzzled reactions.
“Whenever I tell people about this combination, I get a lot of confused looks and statements regarding their wide variety,” said Westin Hansen ’23.
Hansen talks about this combination because she has minors in both art history and data science in addition to her business administration major at Coe. This past term, she leaned into all those areas as an intern with Goodman Taft in New York City during Coe’s New York Term. The company acts as an art advisory and curatorial firm.
Her job title with Goodman Taft was database management intern which entailed a variety of responsibilities that intertwined art and data. She handled gallery preview communication, research emails and was in charge of the AirTable database, which is where all past, present and future exhibitions the company is involved with are organized and tracked.
“I am directly learning about arts advisory and curating, database management and maintenance, exhibition tracking, professionalism and capitalizing on my organizational skills,” Hansen said.
Hansen said she had a feeling there would be a professional niche for her interests and skills. She turned to C3: Creativity, Careers, Community to help her sharpen her resume and cover letter in preparation for the right opportunity. C3 is uniquely positioned in Coe’s Office of Advancement to facilitate professional relationships, and the office has excelled at assisting Kohawks helping Coe earn recent national rankings for internships (#10), career services (#17) and alumni network (#20). Those ranks are determined by The Princeton Review.
In Hansen’s case, the C3 advisors who work with students from particular majors added an extra level of professionalism to her application materials, she said.
So, when Hansen saw the opening for Goodman Taft on the New York City Foundation for the Arts page, she was ready to pounce. The opportunity was even sweeter because she had dreamed of living and working in New York City since high school. The opportunity to go on New York Term was actually the deciding factor in Hansen’s college decision. Coe sponsors off-campus study terms in both New York and Washington, D.C. which help Coe fulfill its promise to provide 100% of students with an internship, research or off-campus study experience.
“Working in New York City — in what I see as almost the most ideal internship that I could have landed — has really helped me to focus on my future and take myself seriously. A sort of intangible learning outcome has been the development of my self confidence,” Hansen said.
Goodman Taft’s Manhattan location is ripe with networking opportunities and the experience gained and connections she made with the small team at Goodman have already led to a sharper focus on her future. She now knows she wants to concentrate on an art management role in a public setting, ideally a museum.
There is another benefit to her experience as well — it’s much easier to explain how art history and data science can go together.