At Greater Latrobe Senior High School, the students are fully immersed in art everyday. The art collection the students vote for each year lines the halls. At the end of each year, senior art students have showcases to illustrate their many talents and masterpieces.

Hannah Ciocco, a senior, plans to make a career out of her passion for art. Ciocco had always adored going to museums as a child. She was astonished at museums like the Field Museum in Chicago and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.

Her most memorable visit to a museum as a kid was going to the Louvre in Paris, France with her mom. Ciocco adored seeing such famous paintings like the Mona Lisa. Ciocco said, “We had to go back for a second day because the museum was so big!We didn’t see everything!”

Ciocco’s passion for history naturally grew into an interest in being involved with museums as a curator. For the future, Ciocco plans to major in history with a minor in art history at Juniata College or Elizabethtown College. She hopes to someday work in the Imperial War Museum in London or at one of the Smithsonian Museums in Washington D.C..

Mrs. Mack, the art history teacher, gave insight of what a curator does. “Curators responsibilities include proposing a show to their manager, doing research on a topic, and gathering artwork for their show,” said Mack.

Mack also said that museum jobs are very competitive and to have a successful career one needs to be “tenacious, ambitious, organized, and aggressive.” Ciocco realizes the importance of all of these qualities, and she is striving to become proficient in all of them.

Mrs. Golden, the Director for the Center of Student Creativity and Development, shed some light on the reputation a curator needs to be successful. Golden said, “A curator has to have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of art.” Not only would a curator’s position be vital to a museum staff, Golden claimed that the curator position is “the Holy Grail” of museum jobs.

Both Golden and Mack agreed that internships are essential to obtaining a position at a museum. For a beginner curator, the internships should be involved in the field they would like to go into. Ciocco has already realized the importance of an internship this past summer. She interned at Ft. Ligonier, and she was responsible for giving tours of the fort and helping out with their summer camps.

Ciocco said her experience there “built up her love of history.” She suggested to anyone interested in museums to “get your feet wet” and try out what an actual job would be like.