Meet Greta Oelberg and Selen Ozakhun

In March, I interviewed  Greta Oelberg, Guide and Tour Specialist (School Groups) and Selen Ozakhun, Guide and Tour Specialist (Adult/Multi-Generational). We spent a delightful hour getting to know one another. Following are highlights of what I learned.

Greta (left) and Selen (right)

Photo: Maryam Marne Zafar

Give us a sense of your educational and career journeys:

Greta: I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. I moved to Minneapolis to attend college at the U, partly because I wanted to have more access to the arts, which Madison didn’t have. At the U, I majored in Art and minored in Spanish and Racial Justice in Urban Schooling. I was part of the DirectTrack to Teaching Program,  which sets up students to have experience in schools before pursuing a teaching license, and of Community Engaged Scholars, a community service program that required 400 hours of service, reflection and an internship. I studied abroad in Nicaragua and Argentina.

I worked as an infant and toddler teacher through undergrad and grad school and was also hired by the Minnesota Center for Book Arts as a teaching artist. I obtained a Masters in 2020 in Curriculum and Instruction and a teaching license (K-12 Visual Arts). For the past six years, I taught art at New Millennium Academy, a charter school founded to serve the needs of the Hmong population in the Twin Cities.

Selen: I am originally from Istanbul, Turkiye. Most of my studies were done in Florence and Istanbul. I have a BA in World History with a focus on the Ottoman Empire and an MA and PhD in Art History, obtained at the Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in Istanbul, founded in 1882 and rooted in art and architecture. My research focused on conceptual craft practices, which use traditional craft media and techniques in unconventional and subversive ways. Before I moved to Minneapolis thirteen years ago, I founded an organization in Istanbul whose mission was to revitalize underserved communities by promoting handicraft skills and providing job opportunities for women who had never worked for salary.

Since  2009, I have been a member of AICA, International Association of Art Critics, Turkiye Branch. Before joining Mia, I was with a national non-profit organization, Ampact, which is the second largest AmeriCorps Program in the country. I was a Program Manager for Minnesota Education Programs. I was responsible for the training, coaching and supervision of AmeriCorps National Service members during each school year. I was also responsible for monitoring student data and volunteer fidelity to access the program’s impact across public school districts in the metro.

What drew you to Mia?

Greta: After I moved to the Twin Cities, Mia was the institution that supported my educational and career journey. I wanted my students to feel connected to Mia as well and so I often brought them here for guided tours. When I saw the job posting about supporting all of the work that goes into providing a great school tour, I knew my background and skill set could be of value. It still feels magical to walk into the museum every day and to be surrounded by artwork.

Selen: Since I moved here, Mia has been my favorite place to visit. I have spent all of my life visiting museums throughout the world, thinking and writing about them. And I always dreamed of working in an art gallery or museum. My current role is a perfect fit for me, because of the intersection of my educational background and my experience in volunteer management. The job description seemed written precisely for me!

Describe your responsibilities at Mia. How do they differ? How do you collaborate?

Greta: Selen and I share an office. We collaborate on everything we do. We are working  to create systems and resources that, while they may differ in some capacity, are mostly universal to all guides. I focus on school tour groups, including collaborating with the Student and Teacher Learning Team on Art Adventure and the programming team on Family Days.

Selen: I agree with Greta about our close collaboration. I focus on public tours, book tours, and all adult/multigenerational tours, including one of a kind tours. I create content and resources for guides to help them integrate exhibitions and rotations. I also encourage thematic approaches to create tours and welcome the opportunity to assist guides in developing tours. I observe public tours to gather ideas about training and audience engagement. Greta and I are a bridge between the guide community and the wider museum.

Describe your experience at Mia so far.

Greta: Coming from a school experience where I was a team of one, I have loved the spirit of collaboration at Mia. Not only with Selen, Christine, and Marina, but also the programming team, curatorial team, design and editorial team, and even the information systems and web teams. There’s a desire to work together that I have never had in previous work environments.

Selen: It has been very positive. I am so happy to be part of a team and a culture that values knowledge, experience, kindness, and diversity. I also really value the fine balance of tradition and innovation that is embedded in the infrastructure at Mia. This applies to so many areas from long-term employees to new hires, collection areas, guide community, programs and exhibitions. I think this balance is the foundation to Mia’s success and is the very reason visitors are drawn to the museum. There is something for everyone here at Mia.

What are you excited about that is on the horizon?

Greta: I’m really excited about the guide training schedule. I know there has been a lull in training programs during this period of staffing changes, so I’m looking forward to be able to offer lots of different opportunities for guides to grow in their roles. In addition, we have just piloted “in-studio workshops,” which offer guides the opportunity to create art and build relationships. It gives me a chance to put on my art teacher hat  for a bit. As Selen noted, it’s been great to learn from curators about the work that goes into the exhibitions, to do walkthroughs, and really think about how visitors will engage with the work. I look forward to in-gallery workshops where we will be able to try out engagement strategies as we learn from one another.

Selen: Upcoming exhibits excite me the most because they are great resources for our public tours. They provide great opportunities to develop innovative tours that create conceptual bridges between existentially disconnected artworks. I also look forward to observing tours, as it is a great way of building rapport with the guide community and of learning about the institutional knowledge in practice.

Tell us about your lives away from Mia.

Greta: I live with my husband Wyatt and our gigantic Bernese  Mountain Dog Gus in Shoreview. We enjoy the lakes in our neighborhood year-round. I am a runner. I also enjoy cooking, reading, gardening, and painting. I recently taught myself how to knit! I am passionate about anything related to arts education and to children.

Selen: I live in the Twin Cities with my husband and two daughters, ages 13 and 9. Our cat is 18 years old and is a former Istanbul stray cat. Our family loves to travel. I have traveled to more than 50 cities in more than 15 countries. Our family likes to cook together, trying out new dishes. Eating and cooking together is a part of Turkish culture that we are trying to continue. I am a long time yin yoga and meditation practitioner. And I love alpine skiing. I teach modern and contemporary arts classes through Minneapolis Public Schools Community Education. This is my way of giving back to the community.