Alumni Spotlight: Sara Stepp

I began graduate school knowing that I ultimately wanted to end up in museums. While I worked on my MA and PhD at KU, I interned in the curatorial and education departments of different museums in the area. The experiences I had confirmed my decision to pursue a career in this field.



In the last year of my PhD program, I learned about an open curatorial position at the Mulvane Art Museum from one of my professors. I began here two years ago as Academic Curator, and I now work as Academic and Exhibitions Curator. It's a rewarding intersection of my interests in art history, museums, and object-based teaching.

Graduate school showed me the satisfaction of digging deeper. I also learned that I'm capable of doing difficult things—sometimes really difficult things!—which helps me to work under pressure now.

Cultivating the ability to learn from challenging circumstances and unlikely sources will strengthen you as a critical thinker.