An Italian Alumna with an Office at the Louvre
How many art lovers would like to be able to stand in front of the Mona Lisa without wading through the tourists that come to crowd the Louvre each day? If the mood strikes her, Manuela Noel-Meunier can do so every Tuesday, the day the Musée is closed to the public. The 25-year-old Bocconi graduate, in fact, works in the Parisian art sancta sanctorum: she graduated a little less than a year ago from the CLEACC program, Bocconi's degree of economics and management in art, culture and communication, and was hired in the museum's management control office in July of 2008.
"Working for the Louvre is a dream come true," says Manuela, whose parents are French but who grew up in Italy. "The most interesting thing is the feeling that anything is possible here, thanks to both people's skills and the museum's financial means." In 2007, the Louvre, which has 2,200 employees, received €120 million in subsidies from the French Ministry of Cultural Assets, not including private funding. These are large numbers for a large facility, making it clear that the task of management control is of utmost importance. Manuela in particular works in following performance indicators concerning two of the four main objectives in the strategic plan that the museum has laid out with the Ministry: the public and financial and human resources. It is a job that stimulates her and a position in which she has already seen results. Along with other controllers, she has been involved in bringing management and indicators to a level that the Ministry will use for other large French museums.
"I've always wanted to work in an institution like this and I chose the CLEACC program because it seemed like the right balance between my passion for art and a management education. After graduation I planned to stay in university to continue to work in the humanities. Then I found a French website specializing in finding your first job in humanities and I saw the Louvre ads. I sent my CV for several positions and they finally called me in May. After two months I had my first contract." It was a great achievement, considering the Louvre "only hires personnel from the best French Grandes Ecoles or from the Museum's own school." Evidently, "I stood out because of my experience centering on museum activities and my strong motivation."
Today Manuela is envied by French and Italian friends alike: "The French in particular, who are very proud of their national institutions, look at me with admiration. Saying that I work at the Louvre is always a show-stopper." Admiration is earned on the field, however, and the museum has many projects on deck, "like the upcoming opening in Lens in 2011 and the creation of a facility in Abu Dhabi."