Sara Johnson, Class of 2022

Operations Manager, Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art (Great Falls, Montana)

"The Square" is the only contemporary art museum in North Central Montana, and it holds a collection of roughly 2,000 art objects. We're housed in a former school building (read: castle) built in 1896. I support all the other departments -- Admin, Development, Curatorial, Education, Gift Shop/Visitor Services and Facilities) with their marketing, office and IT needs.

At “The Square,” all of us are passionate about our work and come to work wanting to do what's best for the museum. I particularly enjoy the chance to work on curatorial projects, because that work seems closest to what I studied at KU.

My goals for my KU MUSE degree were always to get as many possible tools in my toolbox. I took a variety of classes both within and outside the program with the goal of hopefully working in exhibition design the or curatorial field. I had a background in English, graphic design and marketing, so my coursework was geared toward expanding on that. I credit a lot of my professional experience to my graduate internship at the Spencer Museum of Art on campus. I learned a lot not only about curatorial work from Dr. Susan Earle, but also about working with a large, multi-department team

Overall, my KU MUSE M.A. definitely made me more marketable to potential employers -- enough so that The Square hired me from four states away!