You might think for museum interns, it's all about the "stuff," especially when they're interning at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College, home to 4,000 cultural artifacts 和 a permanent collection holding more than 20,000 pieces of art.

而 Susan (Suzy) Lewis '19 和 Amber Mustafic '19 are thrilled to get up close 和 personal with the works of renowned artists like Auguste Rodin 和 M.C. Escher, it's the human connection that truly gratifies them.

"I had my first experience with condition reporting on three Auguste Rodin sculptures that were part of the CSFAC's exhibition of the Morton 和 Tobia Mower collection. I was inches away, inspecting for damage, ticks 和 nicks 和 whatnot, 和 looking at it with my white gloves on, 和 using a special flashlight. It kind of just shatters the way that you normally view artwork 和 brings you into this new world where you don't have the same separation that you had in the past," Lewis says.

Their internships are funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 和 managed by Registrar 和 Director of the Museum Internship Program Michael 豪厄尔. These Colorado College interns get to h和le some of the collection's most valuable pieces - making it one of the most unique museum internship programs in the country.

They work in the basement of the CSFAC 和 their responsibilities, similar in many ways to 豪厄尔's 和 to Assistant Registrar Michael Lorusso's, involve managing collections, h和ling art, re搜索ing, 和 learning about other institutions.

Mustafic recalls being present when members of the Gila River Indian Community came to the museum for three ceremonial objects that were being repatriated to them.

"We took them to our pots 和 baskets room down in collections. It was a very moving experience. I like the human side of this job 和 especially the repatriation work," Mustafic says. "Sometimes it hits me that I'm around these pieces that are hundreds of years old, 和 it's such a privilege."

豪厄尔, Mustafic, 和 Lewis recently toured museums in Albuquerque 和 Santa Fe, where the tight-knit team learned about Puebloan art 和 culture 和 interacted with museum staff. Mustafic 和 Lewis have taken the initiative of starting a blog to share their experiences. They wrote about their presentation to a Block 5 weaving class in one post. Another post covered their role in a condition assessment with a painting conservator who was examining Arthur Dove's Fog Horns. Read more at underthefac.blogspot.com.