Alumni Profile
Renana Kehoe, GRS 2008
1) What have you been doing since you graduated from BU? Details about your current and past employment? Accomplishments you’re proud of? Challenges you’ve encountered?
Since graduating 10 years ago, I have held positions at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (where I was fortunate to have been a part of the museum since breaking ground on the new wing and through its growth several years after its opening), at the Harvard Art Museums, and have taught art history at local universities and as a tour guide at the Institute of Contemporary Art. My latest venture is founding Parent Tours (www.ParentTours.com), which offers museum tours for parents of newborn babies at various cultural institutions around the city and Greater Boston. The tours offer these (often new) parents a chance to get out of the house and explore some of the most amazing local museums.
2) How your time in the department shaped your professional and personal lives?
Other than deepening my love for (and knowledge about) contemporary art, one of the best things about the program was the people I met. I am still close with several of my classmates and it has been so wonderful to grow together (both in our careers and with our families).
3) Any advice that you would’ve given to your younger self?
Have more confidence! There were many things I wish I had tried earlier that I didn’t have the confidence to do until later. Also, I would say keep an open mind. I began the program thinking I knew exactly what I wanted to do and then I learned about other museum positions that I never even considered beforehand.