Founded in 1958, the Asian Art Museum houses one of the world\u2019s largest collections of Asian art, spanning 48 countries and over 6,000 years of history. This summer, Nguyen served as the museum\u2019s inaugural Learning and Civic Engagement intern\u2014a role the museum created in an effort to become more welcoming.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMuseums historically have not been as accessible to lower-income audiences,\u201d Nguyen says, adding that the institution is also interested in bringing in more young people.<\/p>\n
As the museum\u2019s first intern focused on learning and civic engagement, Nguyen collaborated with her supervisors to define the role. Her duties ranged from developing art education programs to helping install exhibitions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/crop-Photo-2-1024x684.jpg\")
Nguyen (second from right) helps run a tea-bag making station and a Sip and Sketch workshop for the museum\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s the Tea?\u201d tour, an interactive gallery walk exploring various Asian teas.<\/p>\n
Much of her work centered on designing public tours. In July, she led a tea bag-making workshop for the museum\u2019s \u201cWhat\u2019s the Tea?\u201d tour, which explored Asian teas like matcha and chai. She also ran a children\u2019s watercolor painting session.\u00a0<\/p>\n
For Nguyen, the opportunity to intern at the Asian Art Museum was especially meaningful given her own cultural background. She says the experience afforded her \u201can opportunity to reconnect with my heritage\u201d and says working\u00a0among other Asian-American interns was \u201creally empowering.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve all been through a lot of similar experiences, and we\u2019re able to talk about that very openly here,\u201d Nguyen says. \u201cThere\u2019s a sort of solidarity that comes with working at [the museum] as an Asian person \u2026 people just understand where you\u2019re coming from.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although San Francisco is new to Nguyen, museums are not. Growing up in Boston, the rising BU senior took children\u2019s art classes at the Museum of Fine Arts, and later returned as a teaching assistant. Still, she said she never imagined herself working in museums.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI definitely realized that I cannot go into corporate,\u201d she says. \u201cThis is probably the most office and corporate that I\u2019m ever going to get.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The museum posed a sharp contrast to Nguyen\u2019s other job this summer: metalworking at a custom furniture store. While she enjoyed working at the Asian Art Museum, she says the hands-on work also had its perks. \u201cI\u2019m in a dilemma right now, on whether I want to go into more museum, nonprofit stuff, or go into metalworking and potentially trade school,\u201d Nguyen says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Nguyen examines a collection of jade in the museum\u2019s Cornelius Vander Starr China Galleries. The pieces are among the more than 2,000 objects of art on view at the Asian Art Museum.<\/p>\n
Her internship also changed where she envisions living in the future. Had she been asked three or four years ago where she saw herself after graduation, she says the answer would have likely been New York.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t fathom myself going all the way to the West Coast,\u201d Nguyen says, \u201cBut then I came to [San Francisco], and it\u2019s very similar to Boston. It\u2019s very walkable, the public transit is very good, and the weather is great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of what she chooses to do after graduation\u2014and where she does it\u2014Nguyen says she\u2019s grateful for the opportunity the internship gave to explore a career in museum education.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a good test run of whether I want to continue doing this work, Nguyen says. \u201cI really like working with other people, and this internship allowed me to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
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