Leveling Up Museum Learning: Nick Martinez ’11 Helps Curate Long Island’s Newest Video Game Exhibit

As a premed freshman with a penchant for video games, Nick Martinez ’11 never imagined he’d help curate his first exhibition on gaming at the Long Island Museum — just steps away from his alma mater. “I’ve spent my career, including my first internship, behind the scenes in museums,” said Martinez. “Getting to help design this exhibit was a surreal experience that brought me full circle from my time playing video games in my dorm room.”

Using that internship as a stepping stone, Martinez built a successful career at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in educational programming, community engagement and curriculum development. He currently serves as vice president of education and engagement at the Museum of the City of New York and teaches in the museum administration graduate program at St. John’s University. When a former colleague reached out about co‑curating a gaming exhibition, Martinez jumped at the opportunity. 

Martinez sat down with SB Matters to talk about how Stony Brook University shaped his career in museum education and what it was like to curate his first exhibit.

Why did you choose to study anthropology at Stony Brook? What was your time like on campus?

I grew up in Bed‑Stuy, Brooklyn, and Stony Brook was always on my radar — a great school close to home but far enough that I could have the full dorm experience. I came in as a pre‑med student, but during my first two years, I realized I was more drawn to understanding people — behavior, culture, why we do what we do — while still loving the hard sciences. Once I took Intro to Anthropology and Intro to Archaeology, it clicked immediately. Anthropology felt like the perfect blend of everything I cared about, and I switched majors sophomore year.

Dorm life was a huge part of my experience. I started out tripled [with two roommates] in Kelly Community, which was a shock for an only child, but it pushed me to learn how to live with other people and build independence. Over time, I moved around campus and eventually landed in an apartment in Schomburg Apartments with my then‑girlfriend and now‑wife, Hera Javaid ’11. By junior year, I became more involved on campus, joining the CHILL Peer Health Education program and serving as an undergraduate representative on the Academic Judiciary Committee. I loved attending campus events like the Roth Regatta, concerts, shows at Staller Center for the Arts, film screenings and games. 

Did you have any mentors at Stony Brook? How did Stony Brook shape your career path?

I was lucky to have several mentors in the anthropology department, including John Shea, David Gilmore and especially Madeline Cherney. Because the department was small and tight‑knit, I took multiple classes with the same professors and built real relationships. Professor Cherney was instrumental in helping me land my internship at AMNH between my junior and senior years. Having worked there herself, she introduced me to a curator studying games and cultural transmission and supported my application with a recommendation. That internship solidified my interest in museum work and opened doors to my first professional network.

Stony Brook also helped me grow personally and academically. I came in pretty shy, but through my classes and my peer health education work, I became more confident speaking with people and tackling tough subjects. The anthropology program provided me with a strong foundation — enough that when I started volunteering in a teaching lab at AMNH after graduation, the staff immediately recognized that I knew my stuff. Within a few months, I progressed from volunteer to part‑time facilitator to coordinator of the lab, teaching classes on genetics, human evolution and neuroscience. That trajectory was only possible because Stony Brook gave me both the content knowledge and the confidence to step into those roles.

Can you discuss your career path and what your current role entails?

I have built my entire career in museums. I worked at AMNH for more than a decade, taking on more responsibility over time, eventually overseeing middle and high school programs, internship experiences and partnerships with schools and community organizations. I also spent a short period at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan working with their high school interns. During the pandemic, I began broadening my work — joining the board of the Museum Association of New York and starting a consulting company. In 2024, I stepped into my current role as vice president of education and engagement at the Museum of the City of New York, where I oversee all education programs, teacher professional learning, public programs and the museum’s broader efforts to connect with and serve audiences across the city.

What are you most proud of in your career so far?

I’m most proud of the impact I’ve had on the next generation of museum professionals. Starting out at one of the largest museums in the world immediately following undergrad wasn’t typical, but it gave me the chance to eventually manage the college internship program at AMNH. Many of those interns are now in graduate school or working in museums across the country, and knowing I helped shape their paths is incredibly meaningful. That’s the power of museums: They connect people and open up new ways of understanding ourselves and our communities. Every time I see a former intern land a job in the field, it feels like a shared win.

How did the gaming exhibition come together?

A former colleague, Barry Joseph, had been contracted by the Harlem Gallery of Science, co‑founded by longtime Stony Brook faculty member Dr. Stan Altman, to help develop a gaming exhibition. Because of my museum background and lifelong connection to gaming, he immediately said, “I need Nick on this.” From there, it became a deeply collaborative process: meeting with young people, talking with local developers and community organizations and shaping a clear narrative out of a huge topic. The focus ultimately became how video games connect you to your identity, to a community of players, to skills you develop without realizing it, and even to potential career paths. I also handled much of the tech side, which pushed me to develop new skills. After the exhibition opened in Harlem in 2023, we created a traveling version and redesigned elements for Long Island to make sure it resonated with that community. In a funny way, it felt like everything in my career had led to this moment.

What’s next for you? Do you see yourself putting together any more exhibits in the future?

I’m still figuring out exactly what comes next, but I know I want to continue working on projects that deepen how museums connect with their communities. That’s really the core of what I do: creating experiences that make people feel represented and engaged, and finding ways to bring content off the walls and into people’s lives. I’ve also been thinking about future exhibitions, especially projects that center on community voices and lived experience. Climate change, in particular, has been on my mind: how landscapes are shifting, shorelines are eroding and how people notice (or don’t notice) those changes in their daily lives. I’m interested in documenting that, capturing how communities understand the transformations happening around them. So yes, there will likely be another exhibition — I’m just waiting to see which idea rises to the top.

What piece of advice do you have for students?

It’s OK to bet on yourself. There’s no single, linear path you have to follow, and sometimes it curves, sometimes it stops and starts, and that’s all part of it. Pay attention to the parts of your work that bring you joy or spark your curiosity, and look for ways to do more of those things. It won’t always be easy or immediate, but putting in the work on your timeline matters more than trying to match anyone else’s. Everyone’s path looks different, and the one that’s right for you is the one that moves at the pace you need.

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Video Games: The Great Connectorexplores how games connect youth to self, community and careers. Martinez was the co-creator alongside Barry Joseph and Ashlyn Sparrow. It features 10 interactive gaming stations and is joined by companion exhibitions on the history of Apple computers and game development on Long Island.

The exhibition runs through May 24, 2026, at the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook. If you’re looking to check out the exhibit, click here for museum hours and directions.

-Christine McGrath