Sharon Vatsky and Rebeca Mir - Guggenheim Museum

Sharon Vatsky has worked in the Guggenheim for about fifteen years and is currently the Director of Family Programs (which is part of the Education Department). She has undergraduate, master's, and phd in Art Education; she previously taught at colleges and worked at a museum in Queens. Her position in the Guggenheim requires a great deal of writing for the museum's website (writes about resources for students).

Rebecca Mir also works in the Education Department of the Guggenheim, and works with other departments (publication, marketing, etc.) to promote the museum. Since her job is heavily reliant on technology, Rebecca uses the latest technology for education and promotion purposes, and updates the technology for the whole museum.

The Education Department at the Guggenheim is split between the adult program and the youth programs. The adult program protects the art and provides educational programs for artists as well as the general public; there are about twenty programs for youths and children, which includes tours specifically for parents who bring their babies to the museum (stroller tours). Also, the Guggenheim requests volunteers to run activities and tours for the museum. These tour guides have several possible qualifications: public engagement training, being able to speak another language, experience in education (professors or teachers who can submit their own topics for tours), and a high level of education.

Sharon Vatsky and Rebecca Mir discussed methods for digital storytelling. They talked about how the digital medium influences your story, and that you have to take the targeted audience into consideration when choosing your digital medium (make sure it isn’t distracting or difficult to use). Also, they recommended checking out Local Projects and Stority to further research the different mediums and methods for digital storytelling. Additionally, they discussed other career options within museums. I really appreciated the web of departments and jobs within museums that Sharon provided; it showed that there are career options that don’t require an education degree.