Melissa Gold Fournier
I remember the hours that I spent on my own after class, quietly exploring and sketching in London’s museums and galleries; discovering favorite haunts in the city, such as Neal’s Yard, that I still return to visit whenever I travel to London; evenings with my roommates in our flat preparing dinner together or poring over the latest issue of Time Out London to plot the next weekend’s activities; half-pints of cider or Guinness at the pub at the end of our road; thumbing through my well-worn copy of London A-to-Z (that’s zed, not zee!) to figure out how to get to the next destination – this in the days before smartphones and Google maps; class excursions near and far, from Sir John Soane’s Museum in London to the sights of Bath with Professors Brian Allen and Steven Parissien as our intrepid and unforgettable guides; taking in a new play at a different theatre each week in Sheila Fox’s class on Modern British Drama, from August Wilson’s Two Trains Running at the Tricycle Theater to Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days. My Yale-in-London experience - both in and out of class – remains one of the most defining periods of my Yale education.
I’m Manager of Imaging Services and Intellectual Property at the Yale Center for British Art, where I oversee digital imaging of the Center’s collections, manage intellectual property and rights-related collection information, and administer the online release of the Center’s open access images of works of art in the public domain. The YCBA has been my home as a student and a professional - I arrived as a freshman work-study student, remained through graduation, and, after a brief foray into law, returned to the Center full-time in late 1998. Beginning as Assistant Registrar, I coordinated the film-based photography of the Center’s art, handled publication requests, worked with the art collection database and helped with organization and installation of exhibitions. I’m fortunate to have been able to combine ability in technology, love of art, and interest in law (as well as most things British!) into what I do today.