Meet Claire

Hi! My name is Claire Davey. I recently graduated from Wheaton College (IL), where I studied Sociology and urban studies. This summer, I am interning for the Harrison Center, specifically working with the Polklore Micro Museum and Greatriarchs. 

Art has always been an important aspect of my life. As I've spent time experimenting with embroidery, sewing, painting, and ceramics in recent years, I have seen how art can catalyze engagement with others. The process of art-making has taught me ways to connect with others during seasons of isolation and despair. My studies and experiences through college have sparked a passion for the intersection of art and urban-based community development. I have found that art done in community has the ability to address injustice and create an active imagination towards what reconciliation can look and feel like. 

I have seen this firsthand through various experiences in Chicago, Louisville, and my home city of Portland, OR. Two summers ago, I interned with a church in Louisville, which fostered connections between the arts and church congregants. Junior year, I spent a semester in the Woodlawn neighborhood of Chicago, involving myself in a church, which taught me how art can play an active role in engagement in the greater neighborhood context. This last year at Wheaton, I directed a ministry team that mobilized Wheaton student involvement in various community development nonprofits through Chicago. As a team, we led visits to several museums in the city, which showed me the role that museums can play in the storytelling of a neighborhood.

When I was considering the age-old question of what comes next after graduation, the Harrison Center became a clear answer in its posture towards community interaction. I am excited to work with the Harrison Center as it interacts with its urban context through art-making and storytelling, specifically the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood where the Polklore Museum bases itself.