Editor’s note: Alie Chavez, now in her junior year at Loyola Marymount University, worked for ten weeks this summer under the direction of Marlene Head, the Autry’s director of publications, as the 2011 Getty Multicultural Undergraduate Intern in Publications. Among other things, she helped produce a stylebook for all Autry publications. As her last internship project at the Autry, Alie conducted interviews with Autry staffers and wrote the following article:
What is the Autry? When I first started my internship here, this was a question that came up frequently in conversations with friends and family. My instinctive response would be “a museum,” but the Autry is really much more than that. After spending ten weeks, eight hours a day, and five days a week learning about the Autry, working with everyone who works here, and taking a closer look at how museums function, I can say with great gusto and pride that the Autry National Center is not just a museum—it is the living, breathing champion of the West.
Alie Chavez, the 2011 Getty Multicultural Undergraduate Intern
The Autry National Center does more than house artifacts; it is a center of learning, creativity, and diversity, and a convergence of perspectives, traditions, ideas, cultures, and people. Working at the Autry has taught me many things about the world and about the people who inhabit it. The most essential of these lessons are that you should:
- love what you do everyday
- always strive to further your education with workshops, research, and new activities
- be unafraid to express yourself creatively and ask for opportunities
- never lose the love for discovery, for with discovery comes knowledge and knowledge means opportunities.
I spent my last week at the Autry using my knowledge of the various departments as opportunities to interview a few of the many Autry employees, and what I found was that they are not only doing what they love but also always learning beyond what their job requires.
One of the first people I interviewed was Lisa Woon, producer in the Programs and Public Events Department. She found herself at the Autry after experiences in both education and the museum world left her in a transitional period, and she has been here ever since. She creates activities that correspond to the Autry’s mission to blend the many narratives of the West. Being able to use her creativity to organize activities, programs, concert series, festivals, film series, and lectures—the full gamut of public activities that Autry members, visitors, and employees alike can experience—is one of the most rewarding experiences she says she has had as a producer.
Marlene Head, director of publications at the Autry and Alie's supervisor
“[This job] is very creative,” she says. “ I’m not working on just one thing every day. I get to learn a lot about topics I knew nothing about before.… I’m from L.A., so I knew nothing about what it meant to be a cowboy or cowgirl. I get to learn about these things from experts in the field and apply [that knowledge] to the programs I create.”
Denise Arguijo, the print production manager in the Marketing and Tourism department, shares Lisa’s passion. With a background in entertainment and print production, Denise has used her skills to make the job something it was not before. At the Autry, Denise has grown and expanded the borders of her job. For example, she designed the logo for the Autry’s “Day of the Cowboy and Cowgirl” festival.
“[I like working] at a nonprofit because the emphasis is more on getting projects done well as opposed to trying to create profit and revenue,” Denise said. “It’s a good environment to express what you’re interested in, and oftentimes people will give you the opportunity to design within your likes and dislikes. It’s great to work with people who are open to new ideas, who don’t mind stretching out a little.”
Lisa Woon, producer
I also interviewed Mallory Furnier, project archivist for the Autry Institute for the Study of the American West. Her job entails processing the archives; that is to say, she breaks down the list of materials in a detailed inventory and arranges them to make the information more accessible to researchers.
She started as an intern at the Autry, and after completing her education, began working full-time on the Roy Rogers and Dale Evans archives. For her, one of the most valuable things about working at the Autry has been the encouragement and support she has received. Although she is relatively new, no one has made her feel inferior for not knowing something. One of the most touching things she has discovered was a cache of letters written in the 1950s to Roy Rogers and Dale Evans by children with polio and other diseases.
Denise Arguijo, print production manager
“It’s nice to be able to continually discover new information and continue learning,” she says. “I like that everything in the archive was made by humans and says something about the time period they lived in.It gives more information on the general human experience. You never stop being surprised by finding things that tie the history to the person.”
The answer to the question “What is the Autry?” is not a simple one.It requires an understanding that the Autry represents neither one specific point in time nor a specific view of history. Rather, it presents a series of changing events, places, people, ideas, and perspectives that combine together to make up the West.
The Autry is a museum that focuses on how things converge to create what we know as history. To me, the Autry is a place of learning about yourself, about others, and about the world. I have been extremely privileged to work in such close quarters with so many talented and inspiring people and can only hope to be among their ranks one day.
Thank you, Autry National Center, for being a wonderful host! I will miss being here.
