Meet Our Summer 2025 Interns

Meet our summer 2025 interns, who have just finished up their internships at the Phillips. Thank you, Sandra, Andi, Da’Mya, Caitlin, and Ben! Learn more about the Phillips’s paid internships.

Andi Ko is a senior at the College of William & Mary majoring in history and minoring in religious studies. Back home in Syracuse, New York, and at school in Virginia, she has worked in libraries and has experience in research. This summer, Andi worked under Juli Folk as the Library & Archives Intern. During her time at the Phillips, she has worked on inventories of archival materials, as well as working with Juli to restart an interlibrary/intermuseum catalogue exchange. Andi is passionate about libraries and their importance in the world, so it was a privilege to be able to work at a place where people feel the same and strive to make them accessible. After graduating in the fall, she wishes to continue working in libraries, potentially returning to school for her MLIS. Andi is grateful to Juli and everyone in the library, as well as Shelby and the other interns, for making this a memorable and insightful summer!

Da’Mya Dumas is a senior BFA student at Howard University with a concentration in Interactive Media and Design. She has an interest in graphic design, animation, and painting and her core belief is that everyone should be connected to art given that art is the foundation for everything we have around us. She worked as the Community Engagement Intern and was mentored by Laylaa Randera this past summer. During her time at Phillips@THEARC, she helped facilitate and setup for community programs and workshops while also being able to learn from local artist’s and interact directly with the community who attended these programs, further solidifying her belief. Da’Mya has also learned about the complex logistics that go into planning community programs and running a smaller scale gallery/workshop space. Da’Mya is extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity to intern with Phillips@THEARC and learn more about museum programming and the impact these programs have on communities who come together to learn about and create art.

Caitlin Yan (she/her) is a senior at the University of Maryland, College Park, pursuing a double degree in Computer Science and Studio Art. She worked as a Human Resources Intern this summer, under the supervision of Angela Gillespie and Asta Liutuke. She spent the summer event planning, creating a new program within the Phillips internal portal, and completing other projects to show care and appreciation to The Phillips Collection staff. She’s passionate about listening to and recognizing others, understanding that the people behind the workings of the museum are just as important as the artwork it houses. Caitlin is also very passionate about studio art and graphic design.

Ben Newsom is a second year Master’s of Public Administration student at American University, focusing in Nonprofit Management. In the fall he will continue his work as a Graduate Research Assistant, where he focuses on LGBTQ+ population and demographics research. He is passionate about DEAI, as well as philanthropic service and program development. During his time as the DEAI intern, his main focus was creating resources and brainstorming ideas to make The Phillips Collection more accessible to neurodivergent visitors and families. His main projects included revamping and implementing sensory bags that were started by a previous intern, and creating a social narrative/sensory guide for neurodivergent visitors. He also had the opportunity to conduct research for the September DIDS (Diversity in Dialogue Series), as well as exploring multilingual and American Sign Language resources in museums. Ben hopes to either move back to Chicago or to Milwaukee after graduation in May 2026, and would like to work in DEAI programming or program development for nonprofit organizations. He would like to thank Shelby Bergstresser, Dr. Yuma Tomes, his fellow interns, and everyone at The Phillips Collection for making his summer at The Phillips Collection such a wonderful experience!

Sandra Koretz is a senior and first-year Master’s student at George Washington University, where she is pursuing a BA/MA in art history alongside a BA in journalism and mass communications. She combines her love of writing and art by centering her research on underrepresented artists and communities. At GW, she has undertaken a Luther Rice Undergraduate Fellowship to explore the ethical display and restitution of West African headdresses. During her time at The Phillips Collection, Sandra served as a Curatorial Intern under Global Contemporary Art Curator Tie Jojima. In this role, she conducted archival research on Asian American artists in the collection, pitched acquisitions of African and Haitian works, and compiled research materials for future exhibitions. Beyond her academic and curatorial work, she enjoys reading and exploring local museums.