kaysynjones

First Tour

When the tours for the day were accidentally overbooked, I had the awesome chance to come in on one of my days off to conduct my first solo tour!I led a tour group of older students who were a part of a summer program through the museum. It was wonderful getting to work with aContinue reading “First Tour”

Exciting Guests

Something incredibly exciting happened this past week of my internship at The Ritz! Two lovely and extremely knowledgeable women— a mother and her daughter— came through to tour the museum. They were both long time Jacksonville residents and were able to accurately identify many people in the historic photos in the museum. The mother, picturedContinue reading “Exciting Guests”

A Connective Project

Throughout my experience this summer, I was also involved with a separate project that laid at the intersection of history and culture. I was invited to consult on a project that plans to install informational kiosks commemorating notable Black Florida figures who had traveled north along the highway from the late 1800s to the earlyContinue reading “A Connective Project”

Shadowing a Docent

My first experience shadowing a tour with one of the wonderful docents at the Ritz was incredible. A tour group from a local after school program came through and I had the opportunity to follow along and provide additional background information throughout the tour, with the docent’s permission. It was truly inspiring seeing how engagedContinue reading “Shadowing a Docent”

Archival Management and Perfect Pasts

One of my favorite aspects of my time with the Ritz so far has been the chance to learn more about the archival system in place at the museum! The archivist was relatively new to the position and was undertaking a complete survey of the archival documents and artifacts housed at the Ritz. I hadContinue reading “Archival Management and Perfect Pasts”

Research, Research, Research!

The next step of my development of the tour script for the Ritz was an in-depth research dive into each topic to ensure that I had the highest level of knowledge I could for the script. I went through academic papers to see what urban Black domestic life would have looked like in Jacksonville inContinue reading “Research, Research, Research!”

Building a Script

One of the tasks that I was approved to take on during my time at the Ritz was to create a formal tour script for use by docents and community volunteers. The first step I took was touring the museum myself and exploring every detail therewithin, including the animatronic show! The museum was divided upContinue reading “Building a Script”

Collaboration in Curation

In my second week with the Ritz, I had the opportunity to work with a specific artist in order to plan out and design his space in the upcoming gallery, called “10 Walls”, where each artist got one of ten walls in the gallery space. He was able to grab an extra alcove normally usedContinue reading “Collaboration in Curation”

Starting at The Ritz

My first week at the Ritz Theatre and Museum was a jump straight into preparations for their upcoming gallery show! Throughout the week, I was able to meet and speak with artists from the local community and help them bring their visions to life in the space. I never knew how much went into theContinue reading “Starting at The Ritz”

Hey! I am Kaysyn!

Hello! My name is Kaysyn Jones. I am an English major from St. Augustine, FL, and I will be interning at The Ritz Theatre and Museum in Jacksonville, FL. I will be working in the archives and in community outreach evaluating how Black artistic spaces manifest in American society. I expect to be challenged andContinue reading “Hey! I am Kaysyn!”