Introducing "Between the Lions," a new Bowdoin College Museum of Art podcast series

As the Education Intern and Shop Assistant at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) this summer, I split my time between the staff offices and the museum shop. I am grateful for this dual role, as I had the opportunity to engage with visitors and see the impact of my work on them. It has been wonderful, for example, to see children enjoying the family guides I developed for the Gordon Parks: Herklas Brown and Maine, 1944 and John McKee: As Maine Goes exhibitions. Over the past eight weeks, I have also gotten to know the museum officers and shop staff better. Those relationships inspired me to create an original, six-episode podcast series called Between the Lions for my independent project.

Named after the Museum’s newsletter published from 1987 to 1991, Between the Lions features interviews with three gift shop staff members and three museum officers. I wanted to highlight the members of the BCMA team whose perspectives are not often publicly featured, though these individuals welcome visitors to the Museum, ensuring their safety and addressing questions that may arise during their time in the galleries. With each episode between 15 and 22 minutes long, I asked my interviewees questions like, “What drew you to working at Bowdoin and the BCMA specifically?” and “What is the most rewarding part of your job?” Each interview stemmed from the same set of questions but yielded different insights and reflections.

This project gave me the opportunity to pursue my academic interests of sociology and art history outside of a formal classroom setting. In my Introduction to Social Research course this past spring, I learned how to conduct and analyze interviews as a qualitative research method. As someone who has always enjoyed hearing people’s stories, I found the work extremely interesting and rewarding. I’m happy that I could continue practicing the skill of interviewing at the Museum this summer, and I’m excited for the BCMA, Bowdoin, and Brunswick communities to hear the episodes.

Each recording session, whether in Studio D of the Media Commons or the staff offices at the BCMA, ended up feeling more like a conversation than a formal interview. Below are some highlights of these conversations:

• It was such a pleasant surprise when Paulla mentioned Thomas Cole’s painting The Voyage of Life, because my favorite podcast had just recently discussed it. I remember listening to Paulla describe the paintings and realizing that I knew exactly what work she was talking about.
• I loved learning that Toni was on the College Bowl team as an undergraduate at the University of South Florida. Not only that, but her team’s determination to nail the art questions led her to develop an appreciation for art that continues to this day. It’s such a fun story!
• I didn’t realize that Gordon Parks had written poetry until Jonathan told me that he stumbled across one of Parks’ poetry books at Twice Told Tales, the local used bookstore. It was such a cool coincidence, considering that one of the BCMA’s summer exhibitions features Parks’ work and that Jonathan is a poet himself.
• I enjoyed hearing about Tom Mullin’s fondness for the Art, Ecology, and the Resilience of a Maine Island: The Monhegan Wildlands exhibition and his experiencing in having met artist Jamie Wyeth through his work at the Herring Gut Coastal Science Center. It was lovely that he was able to share this experience of meeting Wyeth with visitors.
• It was wonderful to hear that Tom Rehn has helped children visiting the Museum with their families become interested in exhibitions, especially when they were initially disengaged. He took the time to find what unlocked their curiosity, and that made all the difference.
• I’m always compelled by creative people reflecting on their work, whether they are musicians, actors, writers, or artists, so I was deeply struck by my conversation with Dan. Listening to him speak about how he uses material with surface history was a true highlight for me. 

This summer at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art has been unforgettable. I’ve learned so much and met incredible people, and I will always treasure this first experience working in the museum world as I continue on my professional journey.

All six episodes of Between the Lions are out now! You can listen and find episode details on the Between the Lions podcast website.

Whitney Pellegrino ’27
Education Intern and Shop Assistant