Take 5 with Intern Jenna Lozano

As part of our "Month of Thanks" series, The Umbrella was pleased to “Take 5” with Jenna Lozano, a college intern working with our Marketing Team while wrapping up her degree at the School of the MFA at Tufts University. Jenna is contributing her design, social media and accessibility skills to The Umbrella this semester.

Tell us about your background and interests for your studies and thesis at Tufts.

My name is Jenna Lozano and I was born and raised in Chicago, where I started studying art and design at the Chicago High School for the Arts. In my undergrad I have explored design through many different mediums which include printmaking, papermaking, small metals, 3D modeling, animation, and sound design, and have successfully completed my entrepreneurs minor. As my senior year comes to a close I have comprised all my skills and have dedicated my senior thesis to studying the connections between divinity and ecology within the Aztec Empire. I plan to create a screen-printed mural based on my research of my indigenous ancestors. 

How did you become involved in accessibility projects at Tufts and what valuable lessons have you learned?

When I joined Tufts Art Galleries, the organization was going through a revamp and had a mission to make our galleries more accessible in every way. This included Alt Text of our websites and social media posts, where someone has to go into the platform to write the Alt Text for every image manually. This made for great intern work, where I was trained to write Alt Text and have been using Chat GPT to edit my writings for quality and faster workflow.

You’re about to graduate in the class that was most directly impacted by Covid. What are your reflections on how it has impacted your college experience?

The greatest impact Covid had on me as a student was isolation and creating relationships on campus. I was remote the first semester and caught Covid the first week of freshman classes. It was quite difficult to connect with my professors and other classmates. Unfortunately, my senior year is the first time I have felt that I have a solid support system, but I have been more than happy to make the most of it.

What appealed to you about an internship at The Umbrella?

The Umbrella Arts Center caught my eye when they came to recruit at my school. I instantly felt nostalgic seeing all the different disciplines The Umbrella represents, as it reminded me of my high school which had different art conservatories. I was in Visual Arts but my closest friends were in theater and creative writing, so it excited me that I will be helping with marketing galleries and theater. 

What are some goals for after you graduate?

I plan to pursue my Masters at some point, but as of right now I have been searching for opportunities within curating for Galleries and Museums. Additionally I have been searching for residencies as well to continue my research and practice.