Evangeline Busso is a rising junior at Lindenwood, studying art history and business administration. This summer, Busso returned to her native Italy for an internship curating an exhibition at the Fondazione Tito Balestra, a museum in Longiano. For this exhibit, Busso worked with family friend Edo Janich and nationally renowned art critic Rolando Bellini.

This exhibition pays homage to Italy’s four master engravers, Janich being the last living one. The successful exhibit debuted at the museum June 14 and runs through Aug. 17. Having completed this exhibition, Busso turns her focus to a new project—she will be the head curator of an exhibition at the Museo della Grafica Palazzo Lanfranchi in Pisa.

Busso explains the ongoing process of curating the Pisa exhibit. She and Janich began by selecting around 50 prints from his collection of one thousand prints of 450 engraved works. With the selection narrowed down, the pair will choose a theme for the exhibition. Busso will then communicate with the museum in Pisa, set exhibit dates, and organize transport for the artwork. Busso will also work with the museum to create a press release and begin promoting the event on social media. When the prints arrive at the museum, Busso will source or create frames and prepare descriptive plaques for each piece. Busso describes one of the curator's biggest challenges as working to create an exhibition that impresses visitors of all ages and the 85-year-old Janich.

Busso says her Lindenwood education has helped prepare her for parts of this process, while new challenges have also presented themselves. While serving as treasurer for several campus organizations at Lindenwood, Busso gained hands-on leadership experience. However, these organizations each have a separation of duties, a luxury curators do not often have. “In the real world, when it's like a smaller setting, the curator does everything,” said Busso. “Plus, there is also part of the curator that's kind of unknown, which is you have to have a relationship with the artist.”

For Busso, the internship experience with Janich was invaluable. “He gives you a knowledge that I don't think I could have ever gotten. Not from classes, not from professors, and not from anyone else, because he's so special in the way he listens and the way he thinks,” she added.

With aspirations of working in the industry, Busso is excited to have such a unique opportunity so early in her time at Lindenwood. She looks forward to applying this experience to upcoming classwork and hopes to work on larger-scale projects in the coming years. Through real experience, Busso embodies Lindenwood’s mission as she begins forging real success in her career.