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Meet the BMA Interns

/ Interviews - Staff Updates

Summer interns posing for a photo in the Sculpture Garden.
Not Pictured Emily Sarvis and Molly Greene

Hailing from different hometowns, schools, and backgrounds, seven interns were invited to the Birmingham Museum of Art this summer to gain hands-on experience in a museum setting. When I applied for this internship, I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect as, admittedly, I had never even been to the Museum. In my short time here at the BMA, I’ve learned countless lessons — most professionally-oriented, others museum-oriented with a few life lessons sprinkled in along the way. Most importantly, I have learned how this institution has united a melting pot of people through the singular goal of providing the citizens of Birmingham with an impeccably cultivated experience designed to spark creativity, imagination, and liveliness.

Interested in interning at the BMA? Applications for fall 2018 are due by August 31. Visit the internship page for more information.

Emily Sarvis
Hometown: Birmingham, AL
University: The University of Alabama
Major: Anthropology and Studio Art
BMA Department: Development

BMA: What are some things you are working on at the Museum?

Emily: I recently digitized the files for federal grants the BMA has received going back to the early 1970’s, and now I’m doing research for grants that coincide with the new Waterline exhibition and shadowing our new Grants Manager, Courtney.

BMA: Why were you interested in interning at the BMA?

Emily: I work full time at Desert Island Supply Co., a nonprofit here in Birmingham centered around teaching creative writing in the Woodlawn community schools. Grant writing is crucial in my line of work as an arts educator. I wanted to use this summer as time for professional development and become an even stronger employee and asset to the Birmingham community. The Museum is also what I call one of my “happy places” in the city, and a chance to spend the summer seeing it from the inside was an opportunity I could not pass up.

BMA: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Emily: I’m a semi-professional tarot card and palm reader and host a comic book club for kids in Birmingham.


Molly Greene
Hometown: Safety Harbor, FL
University: Samford University
Major: Fine Arts
BMA Department: Education

BMA: Why were you interested in interning at the BMA?

Molly: My primary interest in interning at the Museum was to be a part of the institution’s mission, which is to be a place deeply involved in the community surrounding it.

BMA: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Molly: I love to garden and get my hands dirty— even in the Alabama heat. I mostly enjoy planting flowers over food, but I love it all. It circles back to art in the way that it is bringing about something out of nothing.

BMA: What is your favorite work in the Museum’s collection?

Molly: The most recent exhibition of Coe’s work was especially inspiring to me as someone who was not raised in Birmingham. I loved the Museum’s effort to receive responses from viewers at the end of the showing.


Emily Morgan
Hometown: Hayden, AL
University: The University of Alabama
Major: Art History and English
BMA Department: External Events

BMA: What are some things you’re working on at the Museum?

Emily: Managing and assisting with external special events, organizing the revenue brought in for the fiscal year, as well as the value of spaces we volunteer for the community, and brainstorming marketing for our venue.

BMA: What do you hope to gain from this experience?

Emily: I hope to gain more of an understanding of how art museums are managed, as well as general working and communication skills in the field.

BMA: What is your favorite work in the Museum’s collection?

Emily: The Barricade by George Bellows.

BMA: What is an interesting fact about yourself?

Emily: I have been coming to the Birmingham Museum of Art for all of my life, and my mom even brought me to exhibitions here when I was still in a stroller. Apparently, I even enjoyed it then (although I can’t remember it).


Carolina Hechart
Hometown: Oxford, AL
University: Troy University
Major: Graphic Design
BMA Department: Design

BMA: What are some things you’re working on at the Museum?

Emily: We are currently working on a way-finding system for the Museum so that visitors will be able to get around more easily and have an overall better experience during their visit. I have also been working with the design of promotional materials for Art On The Rocks and other upcoming exhibitions.

BMA: What do you hope to gain from this experience?

Emily: I look forward to gaining experience in the graphic design world within a museum setting. I also hope to gain a better understanding of how museums function and all the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep them thriving in our communities.

BMA: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Emily: I am originally from Argentina, so I’m fluent in both English and Spanish!


Emma Adcock
Hometown: Murfreesboro, TN
University: The University of Alabama
Major: Public Relations
BMA Department: Marketing & Communications

BMA: What are some things you’re working on at the Museum?

Emma: I work on small writing pieces for the Museum, assist with the Museum’s social media accounts, and various other marketing endeavors. Recently, I’ve been working on digitizing and archiving the Museum’s press clippings.

BMA: What do you hope to gain from this experience?

Emma: I want to gain a more extensive knowledge on how marketing and communications operates in a private institution rather than in a traditional agency setting.

BMA: What is your favorite work on view at the Museum?

Emma: As Colors Are Fainting by Mark Bradford


Margaret Tronsor
Hometown: Memphis, TN
University: Rhodes College
Major: Studio Art
BMA Department: Development Events

BMA: What are some things you’re working on at the Museum?

Margaret: I have been working on Art On The Rocks primarily, planning and setting up the events, putting together gifts for our sponsors and delivering them. I also work on all other internal events at the Museum, designing and leading art activities. I have been helping Membership with mailings and organizing letters and donations to the Museum. In addition, I have had a blast working with the Registrars rolling quilts for storage in our textile vaults!

BMA: Why were you interested in interning at the BMA?

Margaret: The BMA has been a major part of my life since I was young. The collection shaped my artistic taste and the Museum was a favorite hangout of mine in high school. The size of the Museum was also appealing because there’s opportunity to see what goes on in almost every department as well as knowing everyone who works here.

BMA: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Margaret: I lived through two category 5 hurricanes within two weeks of each other in the Virgin Islands in 2017.


Morgan Capps
Hometown: Chalkville, AL
University: University of Montevallo
Major: Sculpture
BMA Department: Education & Community Engagement

BMA: Why were you interested in interning at the BMA?

Morgan: I was interested in interning at the BMA because I wanted to find a way to give back to the community that helped me grow as an artist.

BMA: What do you hope to gain from this experience?

Morgan: With this experience, I hope to gain teaching experience working with all the children participating in the camps. I would also love to gain an understanding of the inner workings of the Museum.

BMA: Tell us an interesting fact about yourself.

Morgan: My most recent work shown was at Ground Floor Contemporary in a juried group exhibition titled A Look at Us.

BMA: What is your favorite work in the Museum’s collection?

Morgan: My favorite work is from the Third Space Exhibition: Mementos of District Six by Sue Williamson. I was really captivated by the deeply personal and intricate way the piece is constructed.