From getting a head start on her Longhorn experience with OnRamps to completing two internships through the College of Fine Arts’ Arts Administration Fellowship, recent studio art graduate Stacy Nguyen took full advantage of what The University of Texas at Austin has to offer.
“I think UT, for me, was a very obvious choice,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen credits her UT coursework with inspiring her to pursue mediums beyond drawing — including woodworking, welding and fiber art, like tufting — and to use her art to visualize data.
As an intern at The Contemporary Austin as part of her Arts Administration Fellowship, Nguyen was able to put her data visualization skills to work, creating brochures, designing infographics and analyzing surveys for The Contemporary’s education programs.
The two-year Arts Administration Fellowship offers students fully funded summer internships with University- and Austin-based arts organizations to help them grow professionally.
“Stacy came in with a lot of skills that we already needed, so she … fit in really well,” said Alice Brandenburg, education programs manager for The Contemporary and Nguyen’s supervisor during her internship. “I hope [Stacy] achieved everything she wanted because we felt like her experience was really valuable for us.”
Now, Nguyen has returned to Austin’s own UMLAUF Sculpture Garden + Museum, named for the late Professor Emeritus Charles Umlauf, to begin her post-graduate career. Nguyen previously interned at UMLAUF as part of the College of Fine Arts’ Minor in Arts Management and Administration.
“What I do right now — and what I hope to do forever — is community engagement and event programming,” Nguyen said. “I’m big on … showing kids career possibilities in the arts, so I hope to inspire the next generation.”
