Angelina Morales sits on her bed, swaddled in a vibrant red blanket. Directly above her is a simple black frame containing four animals Picasso drew with just one pen stroke. On the same wall is The Kiss by Gustav Klimt, the two figures hunched into each other amidst a swirl of gold. As she starts passionately talking about The Kiss, her body loosens and her entire face lights up.
A senior BFA Acting major at Emerson College with a minor in Art History, Morales is pursuing her dream. Or at least one of them. The New Jersey native acted in Emerson Stage’s production of Oh, Beautiful and even performed student organized street theater. While acting is a passion, recently her love of art has taken center stage.
She was hired as a gallery officer at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, and says, “It’s my favorite job I’ve ever had. The people are amazing, the museum is beautiful and well run. I actually love my job.” She talks about the secret corridors she gets to walk through. In reality it’s just a basement that’s cut off for visitors, but the way she describes it makes it seem like a hidden piece of the museum. She’s even toying with the idea of one day opening up her own gallery, a place that would serve the community.
She’s not only a gallery officer, though. She babysits, creates costumes at Emerson’s Costume Shop, ushers for ArtsEmerson and is an assistant at an up and coming Boston art gallery. It’s hard to imagine she could have time for this many jobs while also being a full time student who is trying to plan her future.
Angelina isn’t worrying too much about post-grad life just yet. She’s trying to enjoy her last semester of senior year, spend time with her great friends and explore Boston while she still can. She optimistically says, “I’m going to continue to pursue art and museums and galleries, but I haven’t really found my place in that world yet. So I want to continue exploring it and continue auditioning and just see what happens when life happens.”