Meet a VC Intern: Emma Fukunaga
/Learn about one of VC’s 2024 Summer Interns, Emma Fukunaga, our Artistic Programs Intern!
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi! I’m Emma Fukunaga (she/her), and I’m the 2024 LA County Department of Arts and Culture intern in Artistic Programs at VC! I recently graduated from Scripps College, where I majored in Asian American Studies and minored in Sociology. In my free time, I dance, bake, boulder, and do creative writing! I love dancing with my friends and mostly enjoy modern and contemporary styles. Now that I’ve graduated and have less time dedicated to homework, I’ll be sure to bake some treats for the office. I’m really excited to be spending the next few months in Little Tokyo. It’s always been my favorite part of LA, and I have so many childhood memories here.
How did you hear about Visual Communications and what drew you to apply?
Last summer, I was a Getty Marrow intern at the Chinese American Museum. As a part of the Getty internship program, interns get to be a part of “learning communities” and meet interns from other organizations and museums. I was in a learning community led by VC and got to know last summer's interns. It seemed like such a great place, so it has been on my mind since then! One of my professors in the Fall has been an Armed With a Camera mentor in the past, and we learned about VC’s work in a course called Asian American Women on Screen. I looked further into VC and felt connected to the mission of supporting and uplifting the AAPI community in creative media. I am interested in pursuing a path in public programming, education, and non-profit work more broadly, and I was excited to find out that VC was going to have an Artistic Programs intern this year! Through my academics in Asian American Studies and my thesis on the hypersexualization of Asian American women, I have become very interested in the power of storytelling and media as a tool for liberation. I was excited by the opportunity to work at a place like VC that shares those values. I am inspired by how responsive and caring VC is for the AAPI community in all of its work.
What do you hope to learn from this internship?
I want to learn as much as I can about public programming and everything that VC does! I hope that this internship is an opportunity for me to learn a broad range of skills. In my couple of weeks here so far, I’ve seen how involved everybody is in all of VC’s work, and I hope to get experience in all departments here. All of the VC staffers are so knowledgeable, so I know I will be learning a lot from them every day!
Artist on Repeat: Kacey Musgraves! Maggie Rogers! Rina Sawayama!
3 Favorite Films: The Farewell, Past Lives, Mamma Mia
Favorite Place in the World: My maternal grandmother’s pool. It reminds me of my childhood summers.
What do you like to do in your free time? Dance, bake, boulder, creative writing, go on long drives, visit the aquarium with my best friend!
Hidden Talent: I have an encyclopedic knowledge about Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Hot Take: I don’t hate country music! My sister loved it growing up so I know basically any popular country music that came out between 2009-2014.
Restaurant Recommendation: Dumpling Master in Rancho Cucamonga, the best hand-pulled noodles ever!
dancing in the Scripps Pomona dance show! that's me being carried!!
Venice Obon with my sister (middle) and cousin (left). We dance Bon Odori together at obon festivals around Los Angeles in the summer!
Sunset in Kauai last summer!
