Alum Artley Porterfield finds his niche at the Titanic museum
WCU alum Artley Porterfield finds his dream job at the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Photo courtesy of Titanic Museum Attraction.
By Brooklyn Brown
Artley Porterfield is a storyteller from Jonesborough, Tennessee. He obtained his bachelor鈥檚 degree in entrepreneurship from 甜瓜视频app and now works as a cast member at the Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
His passion is film, more specifically the storytelling aspects of film. At the Titanic Museum Attraction, Porterfield is fostering that passion.
鈥淚t鈥檚 ironic that I was born in Jonesborough, the storytelling capital of the world, and that鈥檚 what I wanna do with my life,鈥� Porterfield said.
Porterfield has his own story of resiliency and consistently pursuing one鈥檚 passion.
鈥淚 attended WCU for film school, got rejected and ended up in entrepreneurship,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he entrepreneurship program allowed me to cognate business and film.鈥�
Porterfield loves film and storytelling because of the reactions of the audience.
鈥淚 love watching people react. Like when they walk in the grand staircase and say, 鈥極h my gosh, it鈥檚 so beautiful.鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淓veryone in the audience gets a boarding pass, and what I love most about the Titanic Museum is those moments like 鈥極h, man. You were Frederick Fleet. You were the one who saw the iceberg and rang the bell three times,鈥� and seeing their reaction.
鈥淚 also love keeping memories alive. I鈥檓 one of those people who when they鈥檙e watching a documentary or a movie and the library starts burning, I鈥檓 just crying inside,鈥� Porterfield said.
Porterfield landed his job in his second-to-last semester of college. 鈥淚 heard one of my friends say he found a job at a job fair. I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 gonna graduate soon, I should probably find a job,鈥欌�� he said. 鈥淭he closest upcoming job fair was for the Southern Hospitality Internship Program. I looked into it, and every single job 鈥榖oring, boring, boring,鈥� but one stuck out: cast member for Titanic Museum Attraction.鈥�
Porterfield quickly had a meeting with the general manager, Cynthia Simpson, and got hired almost immediately.
鈥淚 talked to her on Zoom for about an hour and a half. We had a great talk and at the end of it she offered me the job,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 so happy all of that happened the way it did because that was October 2021, I had one last zoom meeting with the general manager in February and she died of cancer a few days after that second meeting.鈥�
Porterfield, like the rest of the crew at the Titanic Museum Attraction, felt the weight of her loss.
鈥淪he was loved by everyone at the Titanic Museum, to the point where this March we all have badges with a picture of her because her birthday is in March,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was one of the last people she hired and it has stuck with me after hearing all the stories about her and having my small interactions with her.鈥�
Soon after Porterfield was hired, he participated in 鈥淭itanic College,鈥� a training program where new hires learn the history of the ship.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e encouraged to pick up 1 to 5 passengers and become an expert on your passengers,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y first passenger was Alfred Nourney who was coming from Germany to America.鈥�
Porterfield鈥檚 German classes with Will Lehman, a professor in WCU鈥檚 World Languages department, came in handy.
鈥淓very once in a while a German group will come in and it brightens their day and it brightens my day when I can speak German with them,鈥� said Porterfield, who visited Germany last year. 鈥淚鈥檓 trying to learn all the speeches in German.鈥�
Along with Lehman, Porterfield credits professors Kenneth Sanney, Peter Ormerod and Vicki Szabo with preparing him for his career after college. Porterfield also took an improv class at WCU that he says helps tremendously in his role at the museum.
Porterfield鈥檚 advice for students on the job search is to find something they enjoy as much as he enjoys the Titanic Museum Attraction.
鈥淯nless this amazing opportunity in the film industry pops up, I don鈥檛 want to go anywhere. I love the Titanic Museum, my coworkers, my managers, but most of all the people who come through,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had this one group that I could already tell was super funny and jokey and I thought 鈥極kay, I鈥檓 gonna have fun with them鈥�. Everything I said they responded with laughs or cheers. I offered to stay a few hours later because I was enjoying myself so much. Those experiences make it all worth it.鈥�
