National Museum of Mexican Art - Week Two

Hello Young Ambassadors!

It has been wonderful being part of your exciting new internships through reading your blogs. I have dearly enjoyed posting about my experiences with you and to one day look back on as a memory.

I have found myself using Dr. Yajaira Sierra Sastre's advice of always saying yes. This week has been filled with new experiences that have made me so incredibly happy and even more inspired to conquer greatness.

The children had a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry on Monday to become more familiarized with other types of museums, rather than just the art one. I personally was looking forward to attending this field trip because I have been making it a priority to be more well rounded in different areas. Never in my life have I been so amazed by the immense amount of science I learned in just a few hours. It allowed me to appreciate the world around me a little bit more. Also, given the opportunity to see how excited the children were about all the exhibits was my favorite part.

I had a private vault tour scheduled with the Permanent Collection department on Tuesday. It was an absolute honor being able to see where all the art that isn't used in the museum is stored. There were different rooms that sectioned off the different types of pieces of art. One of the things that stood out to me the most were photos that were taken of Diego Rivera by a photographer in the 1940's. Also, there was a rack of clothing that Sandra Cisneros had worn and decided to donate it to the museum. In that moment I realized how blessed I was to be given the opportunity of working a this museum, and couldn't believe what was in front of my eyes. The children also worked on a new project and had the chance to go inside the museum to get inspiration from a piece. In only a matter of days I have truly appreciated my time at the museum. The children have also been acquired great leadership roles, they aren't afraid to help their classmates out and voice their opinions.

The major thing that happened this week was my Community Outreach Initiative! It was fantastic having the chance to see Stephanie all the way from LA. We began by meeting up with our coordinator and setting up the table for the event. We were a bit worried that children wouldn't arrive, but everything worked out in the end. The parents were very happy that we talked about Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, they had a huge smile on their faces. Reading in Spanish was also something that I enjoyed the most, because it gave the children a chance to broaden outside of only reading in English. There were children who were very interactive and answered the questions we had. Since the group was younger, we decided to do the matching activity and coloring sheets. The parents helped their child reading the definitions of the words and spent time coloring the pictures.

It was a group filled with intelligent children who had aspirations to do something in their future. There was a girl names Yvette, in which had a dream of becoming a professional gymnast. She was the girl who participated the most and always had feedback towards everything we spoke about. Her mom told me that she was making her best effort to get her involved in these educational programs to give her better than she had. We both agreed that she had something special in her, and would achieve great things even at such a young age. Yvette even took the initiative to make the flag as seen inside the book. As a YAP member, it was heart warming knowing that I somehow helped the little girl and gave guidance to her mother.

I highly encourage everyone to look into possibly getting into other museums for free with your badges! Through my internship at the National Museum of Mexican Art, I am able to visit any museum in the Chicago area for free! It's a great way to familiarize yourself with different places, just how we did during Washington Week! I visited The Art Institute of Chicago and I learned about various different art from history and around the world. I also went to on the Ferris Wheel in Navy Pier for the first time! This week was FILLED with "always say yes" moments.

Best of luck to everyone with their Community Outreach Initiatives this week.

Mejores deseos!

Andrea Vallejo