Through the generosity of the Getty Grant Program, which offers funding to Los Angeles area museums and visual arts organization, candidate selections were based on scholastic achievement, community activism, and personal enthusiasm and commitment toward working in a non-profit, grass-roots organization such as CAM. During the ten-week course of the internship (June 23 – August 29), the interns will have a unique and exciting opportunity to receive hands-on work in helping to plan, develop and implement portions of the organization’s core educational and curatorial programs and activities in preparation for the Museum’s 2003 Winter Grand Opening.

Welcome to the CAM family Emily, Laura and Lida!

CURATORIAL INTERN: Emily Mayeda
SCHOOL: ‘03-‘04 Senior at Mills College

“I was interested in being a Getty Intern at the Chinese American Museum because I thought that it was the perfect opportunity for me to get more involved in the Chinese American community. I wanted to learn more about Chinese Americans and their role in the development of Los Angeles. It is an exciting time to be working at the museum, as we prepare artifacts to be moved into the new museum space and a unique opportunity to learn all the steps necessary to open a new museum.”

CURATORIAL INTERN: Laura Sue
SCHOOL: ‘03-‘04 Sophomore at University of California, Berkeley

“I decided to participate in the Getty Internship Program because the Chinese American Museum sounded like a great place to nurture my longtime personal interest in Chinese American history. As a culturally-specific institution, the summer internship at the Chinese American Museum is particularly appealing as an opportunity to bridge a larger community and a specific ethnic group’s culture and history. Because the Chinese American Museum is situated in an historic, ethnically diverse part of Los Angeles itself, working at the Museum has meant striving to become part of an eclectic community. I look forward to gaining knowledge about an area in which I have always had interest, but have not had the chance to explore thus far. As we hope to open the museum by the year’s end, it is certainly an exciting time to collaborate with the Museum.”

EDUCATION INTERN: Lida Shao
SCHOOL: ‘03-‘04 Sophomore at Brown University

“The Getty Internship Program was my top choice because it not only allowed for my exploration of my Chinese American cultural heritage and identity, it also is situated in California, an area that I am curious to explore as the birthplace of Ethnic Studies and where ethnic minorities are becoming the majority. Working specifically at a Chinese American Museum is significantly different for me because I am normally accustomed to working in an Asian American context, a more political identification. I realize that because this environment is not as politically and progressively charged as am I accustomed to, there will be frustrating differences to be dealt with. Also, as a museum, CAM is responsible and held accountable by the community it is supposed to represent, which adds a truer dynamic to the work that I'd like to be doing. During this internship, I hope to learn to balance, without compromising, my politics with the community I am apart of; to understand the inherent complexities of a community as diverse as the Chinese American community; and lastly, to network with great people who are enthusiastic about documenting, sharing and honoring all heritages, voices and identities, their intersections and their impact on the cumulative historical and present day stories.”

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