SARAH S. TROTTY INTERNSHIP
As part of its initiative to formalize its program in museum studies, the University Museum and the Department of Visual Arts and Performing Arts are pleased to announce the establishment of the Sarah A. Trotty Cultural Internship Program. Ten students will be selected each year to work at local community art institutions which have historic collaborations with the African American community and with Texas Southern University. Each student will be given a specific project to work on at their assigned institution during the week- long internship and will have a mentor working directly with them. The students will each receive a stipend of $500.00. The program will be coordinated by Dr. Alvia J. Wardlaw, Director/Curator of the University Museum and Professor Leamon Green, Interim Chair, Department of Visual and Performing Arts.
Dr. Sarah A. Trotty served for nearly a decade as chairperson of the Department of Art at Texas Southern. While maintaining the strong traditions of the art department, she brought the department into a new era, establishing a graphic arts program as well as a more comprehensive art education curriculum.
Dr. Trotty has served in numerous leadership capacities in the art world including serving two terms as President of Five A, the African American Art Advisory Association at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. She is co-founder of the Community Artists Collective, a Board Member of the Rutherford B.H. Yates Museum (for Freedmen’s Town cultural preservation,) and a Trustee of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
The establishment of the Sarah A. Trotty Cultural Internships was inspired in part by the participation of the University Museum in the professional activities of the Alliance of HBCU Museums and Galleries, and the opportunities made available to Texas Southern students through those initiatives established by Dr. Jontyle Robinson, CEO of the Alliance and Dr. Caryl McFarlane, Executive Consultant for the Alliance.
Upon completion of their respective summer programs, interns will participate in a symposium at the University Museum to discuss their experiences. With the very real need for more professionals of color in the museum industry, this program serves to provide critical training in the field.
This project is made possible in part by the generous support of the Center for Curatorial Leadership, New York; the Emancipation Park Conservancy; the Volunteer Circle of the University Museum, and Elizabeth Easton.