Christine Jee is the Manager of School and Community Collaborations for the Addison Gallery of American Art at Phillips Academy. Thank you for sharing your time and talents with us!
What’s one thing – either industry/work-related or not – you learned in the past month?
I’m planning ahead for the Addison’s winter exhibition, Alison Elizabeth Taylor: The Sum of It, and have been researching Taylor’s process of marquetry where she uses layers of wood inlay along with painting and photographic imagery.
If you could trade places with anyone for a day, who would it be?
Probably my 10 year old daughter because she seems to be in this sweet spot in life where she’s so mature yet still very much a kid. In comparing my own childhood to hers, I can’t help but feel hopeful for our future.
Coffee or Tea?
Both! I’m trying to be better about drinking green tea for all of its health benefits but I could never quit coffee.
Book/Author suggestion?
Priya Parker’s Art of Gathering and her weekly newsletter offer a practical and thoughtful approach to structuring more meaningful gatherings and have transformed how I think about planning everything from classes to dinner parties.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
According to my childhood diary, I wanted to be an artist.
What do you enjoy most about being a part of an academic museum?
I love seeing all of the different ways that students and educators activate the museum and how they see the Addison as not just being somewhere they can come to explore classroom topics, but also as a quiet study space, a place where they can come for inspiration, and so much more.
What are your hopes for our industry?
Museums need to be more inclusive and diverse spaces for both staff and visitors. This entails making change at every level and many institutions are working really hard to increase representation and trying to be more welcoming, but we have a long way to go.
Bonus: Do you have a favorite joke to share?
I’m always tagging my friends in memes that give me a laugh. This one always makes me chuckle because I see it happen all the time in the galleries:
