Interning Abroad at the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Florence

(Above: A documentary film crew came by to shoot some content about Leonardo.)

My love of Europe and interest in museums brought me to intern in Florence this summer with the Leonardo da Vinci Museum of Florence. Located in the heart of the city, the Leonardo da Vinci Museum focuses on the machines invented by Leonardo and brings them to life in an interactive way. Everyone at the museum has been so good to me and I’m excited to take my professional skills from this experience with me in the rest of my career.

Some kids playing with our invention tables

One of my main duties at the museum is leading guided tours in English. At first, I was a little hesitant about memorizing the museum in such a short period of time and leading visitors on such a detailed tour, but I’ve enjoyed the experience more than I could’ve imagined. Every tour group is very different and challenges me to keep them engaged, go at the right pace, and be ready for hard questions. The skills I’ve learned from tours, such as thinking on my feet, acting patiently and graciously, and learning to read people, will greatly help my future endeavors regardless of what field I choose. I love educating people on the genius of Leonardo da Vinci and hopefully have inspired them to create their own works of art and science.

Another area I’ve developed is the museum’s social media content. As I have some experience in social media marketing and photography, I’ve been able to create exciting images for the museum’s social media posts and advertising. My bosses have let me take full creative control over the content I’ve been producing, allowing me to hone my skills and develop a creative vision. This experience has already led me to a social media position with Amazon, which I will be starting in the fall!

Some sticker ideas from my proposal

Lastly, I’ve been able to give input and create content around a variety of projects, such as products sold by the museum store and new museum layouts. I created photos for an updated version of a book on Leonardo specifically about his machines that will be published later this year. I also proposed a successful plan to sell decals in the museum store and created a Leonardo-related Snapchat filter for our location.

This internship has challenged me in a creative and social capacity while engaging my passions. Overall, this experience has been instrumental in developing a more direct career path for myself by honing in on what exactly I want to do and developing skills in order to get there.

And on top of it all, I get to live in Florence, Italy.

A Facebook ad I created for the museum using my own picture of Florence!

Sofia Filip is a CEA Summer Content Contributor studying and interning abroad in Florence, Italy. She is currently a student at the University of Utah.