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| A blog from The Phillips Collection in Washington, DC Toggle Site Navigation i Search Search Visit ExhibitionsEvents The Collection LearnConnect Support Us About Shop Phillips@THEARC Toggle Site Search Become a Member The Art of the Journal: Pierre Bonnard and Jenni Bick Posted on May 8, 2024 by Experiment Station Public Programming Intern Erich Brubaker on Bonnard Salon workshop host Jenni Bick and Bonnard’s relationship with journaling. Local business owner Jenni Bick definitely has one thing in common with French painter Pierre Bonnard: they both love a good journal. I am captivated by notebooks of all kinds,” Jenni says. To me they are a blank slate for us to record and reflect on ourselves and our experiences. The blank pages of a notebook are there to gather and contain our inner world – the ideas, images, data points, and notes that make up the story of our lives.” Jenni started making custom journals in 1991, and has been running her own store, Jenni Bick Journals, just down Connecticut Avenue from the Phillips, since 2017. In her store, you will find every journal and notebook is carefully chosen and crafted to help you fulfill your potential. While she imports gorgeous books from places like Japan and Italy, she also crafts journals entirely by hand, sewing and binding books together from start to finish. Left to right: Founder Jenni Bick and her husband, Robby. Sewing pages of a handmade journal. Photos courtesy of jennibick.com It is easy to imagine that Pierre Bonnard might have loved Jenni’s shop and agreed with her views of notebooks. In his lifetime, he filled various journals, sketchbooks, and diaries with the story of his life and his creative process, documenting daily weather conditions, musings about art, and sketches of people and things he encountered in his frequent walks: the inner and outer world that Jenni is also interested in, and the theme of the exhibition Bonnard’s Worlds . Entries from Pierre Bonnard’s Journals, 1931. From an exhibition catalog for The Phillips Collection and Dallas Museum of Art, published by Thames and Hudson in 1984 Inspired by Bonnard’s intensive note-taking practice, Jenni Bick led a workshop on April 26 in the Phillips’s Art Workshop for a hands-on introduction to basic bookbinding techniques. Participants made their own small blank book for notetaking or sketching to take out into the world to write their own story and capture the world around them. Jenni Bick leading the Bonnard’s Journals Workshop in the Phillips’s Art Workshop This inspiring workshop was a part of the Bonnard Salon, a space that details Bonnard’s history with the Phillips and also hosts weekly talks and workshops for participants to engage with the themes of Bonnard’s Worlds . Join us for the May 24 Bonnard Salon workshop that entails a nature walk around the Dupont neighborhood with Carrie Vaughn , and the May 31 workshop about wildflower arrangement with Karen Massalley . And, learn more about Jenni Bick Journals at https://www.jennibick.com/pages/about-us . Be sure to visit her just down the street from the Phillips on Connecticut Avenue NW, and pick up your next beautiful journal to capture your untapped potential. Posted in EducationCommunity Engagement , Experiment Station | Meet Our Spring 2024 Interns Posted on May 1, 2024 by Experiment Station Meet our spring 2024 interns, who have just finished up their internships at the Phillips. Read about what they worked on over this past semester. Thank you, Anissa, Erich, Megan, and Natalia! Spring 2024 interns Anissa Santos, The George Washington University Anissa Santos is a graduating second-year MA student in The George Washington University’s Museum Studies program. With a concentration in Exhibitions and Visitor Experiences, she has extensive training in research and curatorial writing and experience in museum evaluation, programming, DEAI implementation, and content creation. As a first-generation, Latina graduate student, she believes strongly in the importance of establishing Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion practices in the museum field and establishing relationships and trust with local and cultural communities. As the Spring DEAI Intern at The Phillips Collection, mentored by Shelby Bergstresser and Dr. Yuma Tomes, she has conducted research on neurodivergent resources and experiences in museums in order to develop and pilot TPC’s new sensory bags (now available at the Information Desk). She is very excited and hopeful about the future of accessibility and inclusion for current and future TPC visitors. After graduation, she will be returning to her hometown, Los Angeles, CA, and hopes to work at any museum in education, public programming, curatorial research, or DEAI. If you would like to connect with her, please send an email or LinkedIn message her way! Erich Brubaker, Northern Virginia Community College Erich Brubaker (they/he), served as the Public Programming Intern , mentored by Head of Public programs Ashley Whitfield, supporting public events and community engagement projects, including Curator Talks, Third Thursdays, Creative Seedlings, and the Bonnard Salons. Their main projects included devising adult craft activities for Phillips after 5 in March and April, supporting administrative function and event execution in the Public Programming department, writing blog posts related to the Bonnard Salon programs, and arranging a community partnership with a local organization dedicated to the sustainable reuse of leftover crafting supplies. Erich is about to finish an Associate Degree in Art History at Northern Virginia Community College. They already hold a Certificate in Historic Preservation, and plan to pursue a Bachelor’s in Art History in 2025. They currently spend a lot of their free time visiting museums (over 100 globally since moving to the DC area in 2017), watching TV or Studio Ghibli movies, eating good food, drinking tea, and snuggling with their cat Kumo. Megan Sommerfield, The George Washington University Like Duncan Phillips, I’m from Pittsburgh, so I learned at a young age about his family and the incredible art museum they built. Then, I attended Purdue University, where I quickly fell in love with art history. As the Collections Intern for Purdue Galleries, I solidified my interest in museum work as a professional career. When I began my masters in museum studies at George Washington University, The Phillips Collection was the first place I sought out jobs. I have now had the honor to work here as the Library and Archive Intern, mentored by Juli Folk and Amanda Acosta, which allowed me to find my true passion in the museum field, archival work. Archives are home to some of our most precious treasures and information, and I want to play an active role in preserving them for generations to come.” Natalia Georges, The George Washington University Originally from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and of Lebanese descent, I am currently a first-year graduate student at George Washington University, specializing in Marketing. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Suffolk University, and I have had the privilege of being mentored by Renee Littleton as the Marketing and Communications Intern . During my internship, my main objectives were to deepen my understanding of art movements and to enhance my marketing skills within the cultural sector. Throughout my internship, I engaged in several key initiatives, including: data analysis and strategic insights (compiling and analyzing daily and weekly sales reports); content development for an upcoming social media interview series; curate the museum’s Fodor’s Travel 30 Best Museums in Washington” feature; press relations and branding (developing press kits for Bonnard’s Worlds and participate in the press preview); community and partnership engagement (initiated outreach to restaurant partners to analyze discount...