Meet a VC Intern: Dani Nalangan
/Learn about one of VC’s 2024 Summer Interns, Dani Nalangan, our Archives Exhibition Intern!
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hey! My name is Dani, part of the Archive team as this year’s Getty Archives Exhibition Intern! I just graduated from UCLA this spring as a double major in Musicology and Communication, with a minor in Professional Writing. A bit of a mouthful, but that just basically means I did a lot of research and writing about music that I cared about (specifically, music as a means of identity formation in the Filipino American diaspora)! My performance background is in jazz music, piano, and mallet percussion, but nowadays you can find me singing, songwriting, and learning how to play the banjo! I also love to draw, do creative writing, and curate Spotify playlists while fantasizing a career as a DJ. That all being said, it’s been such a pleasant surprise how comfortably I’ve found a place within VC, eccentricities and all—among creatives of all kinds of disciplines who also care so incredibly much about AAPI history, narratives, cultural heritage, and the community. These are my people!!
How did you hear about Visual Communications and what drew you to apply?
I honestly only found the organization through browsing the internships offered by the Getty Marrow Undergraduate Internship program. Most of my professional experience is in academic libraries and arts nonprofits, and in my senior year of college I became interested in archives as a means of preserving cultural and musical heritage, as well as education through collection activation and programming. My research interests also centered around my ethnic identity as a first-gen Filipino American, so the listing for the internship with Visual Communications really encompassed all these interests and values of mine in one perfect package. The opportunity to participate in this cultural stewardship through the archives was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up, and every day I feel so honored and privileged to be doing the work that I do here to help sustain important, albeit overlooked, histories of local communities.
What do you hope to learn from this internship?
Becoming more acquainted with the diverse experiences and nuanced histories of the AAPI experience. How to ethically interface with community archives and the communities it serves, how to navigate the privilege and power of being “The Archivist” within that dynamic. What it means to be a good leader within the arts field. How to curate and produce programming that meaningfully engages with the community, using the archives. Grants. Licensing. Preservation. The whoooole nine yards, really. I already have a really detailed notebook so far!
Artist on Repeat: Currently: Vulfpeck! Tank and the Bangas! No-No Boy!
3 Favorite Films: This is a really hard one! Maybe Knives Out, Coraline… I also was late to the Everything Everywhere All at Once bandwagon, but I saw it a couple months ago and like it did for many others, really touched my heart. Not represented in my 3 so I also want to say I’m a huge enjoyer of rom coms, teen coming-of-ages, and period dramas.
Favorite Place in the World: I think it would be a disservice not to mention this one semi-secret cliff side in my hometown that overlooks all of the Santa Clarita Valley, where I spent many introspective nights in high school stargazing, reflecting, etc. But really—cheesy, I know—I’m a believer in “it’s not the place, it’s the people” kind of mindset, where really any place in the world where I’m with the people I love is my favorite place. But also, the beach (bonus points if it’s isolated).
What do you like to do in your free time? Life drawing in locally-owned cafés, watching live music within the L.A. jazz scene (especially my own friends’ shows), camping and outdoor adventures, organizing events with my best friend, journaling, listening to podcasts, reading comics, karaoke during long commutes, taking walks with good company… stuff like that!
Hidden Talent: I don’t really know, haha. I guess I’ve been off-and-on trying to learn how to play the spoons (used in American folk percussion and other cultures too), so that would be a cool hidden talent. Can’t say I’m there yet though, so I’ll keep practicing!
Hot Take: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky is the HANDS DOWN BEST game in all the Pokémon franchise. Story, gameplay, music, graphics. If you know, you know.
Restaurant Recommendation: Honestly those roadside taco stands in the Northridge area beat ANY brick and mortar place IMO (especially the one that sets up in front of the Harbor Freight Tools on Reseda). Bring some cash, some friends, get yourself a burrito, get yourself some horchata. Find a place to park and enjoy the warm, summer desert evenings. Soooooo good.
My friends and I demonstrating the Evolution of Man at the beach. Our friend group is called The Eggs—we get into some shenanigans and I love them very much!
My finished observational nature drawing of the view from the peak of Mt. Pinos, using oil pastels (ft. my best friend)!
A picture of the Sacramento River taken during my trip to Walnut Grove. I did field work there as a first foray as a travel/culture writer, and wrote about the lasting legacy of the migrant workers who used to live there!
