Museum Ambassadors: Where are they now?

One of the parts of my job that I enjoy the most is watching the teenagers I work with in the Museum Ambassadors program change and grow during the their two years with us. I recently asked some of our current and former Ambassadors to describe what they were like at the beginning of the program.

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While some of our respondents are in their second year of the program and others were in the first class of graduates, all of the Ambassadors view themselves a bit differently now.

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Karolena Kuhn

So what are these Ambassadors up to now? While they’ve have gone in a variety of directions, the program played in a role in many of the students’ current lives.

Karolena Kuhn, a current Museum Ambassador from Valley Forge High School, is studying visual communications and preparing for college. “Lately I have been working on my portfolio to go to art school. I’m super excited about some of the pieces I’ve done.”

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Gloria Collins

Gloria Collins, a 2010-2011 Strongsville Ambassador, recently started her undergraduate degree in art history and is now a volunteer at the museum. “My first event was the Chalk Festival; I absolutely loved helping out and experiencing the unique sense of community that was formed as people from all over gathered to make something beautiful and creative together.”

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Laurel Fehrenbach

Laurel Fehrenbach, who was part of the first class of the program in 2001, translated her experiences with the Ambassadors directly into her career. “I am a Public Programs Coordinator at the Smithsonian American Art Museum [6]…I’m also in my second year of graduate school at the Bankstreet College of Education, getting my master’s in Leadership in Museum Education [7].”

Brittany Smith, a 2009-2011 Bedford High School Ambassador, changed her childhood plan to become an astronomer and is now studying game design at the Cleveland Institute of Art [8]. “The program did actually play a role because the trips we took to the Cleveland Institute of Art helped guide me to be there.” Brittany’s creativity flows outside of the classroom as well. “Right now, I am about to attempt to make a cardboard costume for Halloween. I can’t wait to do it!”

Maia Matyas, a 2010-2011 Strongsville High School Ambassador, is now studying biology and studio art at Baldwin Wallace College [9]. She found a way to combine her interests in science and art. “I am currently working on a series of paintings that are being donated to a local health center. It’s such an honor that I was chosen by the physicians to create works of art for all those who enter to see.”

Stay tuned for future updates from the Museum Ambassadors!

- Hajnal Eppley [10]