The Blog

Meet Josephine Buccini, Digital Media Intern at the Arthur Ross Gallery!

August 7, 2024

Earlier this summer Josephine Buccini joined the Arthur Ross Gallery as our CURF/SHIP summer intern! Over these past three months, she has authored thoughtful and timely posts for the David C. Driskell & Friends: Creativity, Collaboration & Friendship exhibition, collaborated on amazing student events for the upcoming semester, reorganized the Gallery’s archives, and started a retrospective series of social media stories on remarkable exhibitions that have taken place at the Arthur Ross Gallery over its first 40 years!

To start, would you tell us a little about yourself?
I’m majoring in English and Art History, and I’ll be a senior at Penn in the fall. I’m from the Philly area and in my free time I like to paint, collage, and cook!

How did you become interested in the arts?
My mom studied art history, so she always took me to museums and put me in art classes when I was younger. Throughout middle and high school, I painted a lot, took art classes at school, and participated in art summer programs. My senior year of high school, I took AP Art History, and from then on, I was hooked!

What has been your journey in the arts at Penn?
I applied to Penn as a fine arts major but was very unsure of what I wanted to study. After a couple of years of taking classes in art history, fine arts, design, English, history, and more, I landed on majoring in English and art history because the coursework had the most impact on me. I love my majors because they really make me analyze the world around me and think deeply about important subjects and histories. Outside of the classroom, I was the Arts Editor at 34th Street Magazine, working for the Daily Pennsylvanian. 

What’s your favorite exhibition that you’ve seen in the last few years?
Last semester, I studied abroad through a French immersion program in Paris. There, I had the chance to see “Paris 1874: Inventing Impressionism” at the Musée d’Orsay, which honored the 150th anniversary of the movement. I also love the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s current exhibition “Mary Cassatt: Modern Woman.” In 2022, I volunteered there, helping with some of the research for the show, and she’s one of my favorite artists!