INTERNSHIP STORIES

My name is Katie Mazikins and Feats, Inc. was the first company I approached at the career fair last March – the firstcompany I’d ever approached about any design internship, in fact. I was intrigued byFeats because they were so different from most of the design companies that were there. Feats is an event-planning agency; companies, universities and very, very rich people hire them to make their events and parties especially “special”. The design team at Feats is responsible for everything that goes in to an event – environmental design, interior design, lighting, graphics, video, publications – the list goes on and on. I thought that an internship with Feats would be far more challenging and rewarding than a typical design firm – and I was exactly right.   I interned with Feats this summer from July to the end of August, 9-5 Monday through Thursday (although I did come in on a few Fridays to meet some deadlines). I worked with Creative Director, Danielle Nekimken and Desi...

My name is Lily Clark and this summer I heard about an internship at Kelly Wearstler through the chair of the Graphic Design department, Brockett Horne. I am currently a junior Graphic Design major and transfer student. This summer I worked as a social media intern for Kelly Wearster, an interior designer based in West Hollywood, CA. With Brockett’s recommendation, I was quickly hired to work five days a week on the company’s online presence. With her clout as an interior designer, Kelly has expanded to design and sell fine jewelry, ready-to-wear clothing, and vintage pieces online and at her boutique store on Melrose Ave. My duties as an intern included updating the company’s tumblr, pinterest, twitter, instagram, and polyvore. Each week, Kelly would announce her “vibe” for all social media posts: themes ranging anywhere from Italian Futurism to repetition to the color yellow. It was my job, then, to collect imagery anywhere online that fit within that week’s theme and present it to...

My name is Sarah Jacoby and I am majoring in Illustration and Printmaking. Random House Children’s Books is the world’s largest English language children’s trade book publisher. Schwartz & Wade is a smaller children’s book imprint at Random House. I was not familiar with Schwartz & Wade until Rachael Cole, Art Director, came to speak to the Illustration Practice Program in the fall of 2012. As an illustrator who is interested in creating picture books, I was just becoming familiar with imprints that I respected at that time. Schwartz & Wade was very high on my list. I made an effort to introduce myself to Rachael the day she spoke at MICA and applied for an internship that winter. After an in person interview at their home office in New York, I was hired. During the summer I worked closely with Stephanie Pitts, the editorial assistant at Schwartz & Wade. My general duties were the following: • Read and report on submissions • Read unsolicited manuscripts • Scan a...

My name is Sara Sowell and I am a senior Video and Film Arts Major. I spent summer 2013 interning for Sargent House in Los Angeles, California. Knowing I had to complete an internship to graduate as a Video major, I spent my entire spring semester researching to find the best opportunity to grow as an editor. I applied at multiple post-houses in Los Angeles; most of them were those who handled music videos. I applied for more than 10 positions before I decided to email Sean Stout. Sean Stout is the founder of TerrorEyes TV, an online platform to watch really sick music videos and extremely talented bands play live sessions. Sean, amongst a few others, shoots and edits these videos. Most of his live sessions and music videos are of bands under the independent record label, Sargent House. I thought to myself, how amazing would it be if I could work under him? So I shot him an email telling him how much I admired his work and asked if he wanted an assistant in Los Angeles, for free. He...

My name is Sin Yi (Cherry) Lau and I run the MICA Ingredient Club, and I found this internship opportunity through a fellow MICA club leader, Daphne Taranto, who runs the WTB (Why The Beef?) Club here. WTB is a club that syncs RISD and MICA through a collaboratively published zine. I catered the launch party for their fourth issue. Daphne and I got to know each other better and she mentioned that her brother, Nick Taranto, cofounded Plated and they are currently looking for interns for the Summer in NYC. Seeing this as the perfect opportunity, I asked her and she gladly contacted the company to see if there was any slots open for me. Three weeks later I was on the phone with Nimmi, the chief marketing director, who would become my supervisor for this summer. Plated delivers all the ingredients, in exact measurement, to create a chef-crafted and tested meal that you get to choose online. The menu is updated every week and delivers once a week. So for example, there could be a cook...

My name is Will Schorre and I am Junior Interdisciplinary Sculpture Major with a Sound concentration. Over the summer of 2013, I was an intern for Houston based Film and Video Artist and independent curator, Peter Lucas. I assisted Peter with many Curatorial projects as well as his own art projects. I was introduced to Peter a few years ago when he was working at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. I helped him with some sound work for an installation at the Lawndale Arts Center last summer so I contacted him about having me as an intern this summer and he agreed.             Working for Peter, I helped with his curatorial projects, I researched films for Jazz on Film, a month long series of screenings at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. I helped Peter search for films to screen at ByDesign, a series in conjunction with the Northwest Film Forum which inspects the intersection of design and video. I helped Peter organize co...

My name is Nicolas Kubail Kalousdian and I am a Graphic Design major. During the entirety of spring semester I was researching potential studios and organizations I could complete an internship at. I wanted to keep this internship focused in publication, since my last was focused in advertising: this narrowed my options down quite a bit. I have always been a fan of architecture, so I decided to combine my interests and sent out an email to the art director of Metropolis Magazine. Metropolis Magazine is a monthly publication focused on the “convergence of architecture, design and culture”. As soon as I arrived I was integrated into the design process of the next month’s issue. I had two supervisors, DJ the art director, and Ho-Mui the assistant art director, that came to trust me within a few days, and treated me like any of the other employees not long after that. I was put in charge of designing the spreads for one of the features, Meet The Mayors – Six nimble decision makers, as we...

My name is Samantha Grassi, I’m a Junior Painting Major. However, after taking Intro to Curatorial Practice, I realized that a career within a museum environment would be a fulfilling and, in my eyes, very practical use of my painting degree. This summer, I was the Exhibits Intern at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM). Originally, I was interested in an internship at the Hirshhorn, so I began that application process. To apply for any fellowships or internships with any Smithsonian institution, you must apply through SOLAA (the Smithsonian Online Academic Appointment System). This is where I found out about the SAAM internship, as they have a page dedicated to Smithsonian internship opportunities. The SAAM Summer Internship Program is designed for students interested in working in a museum who have not yet built up a resume in the field. I decided to apply at the last minute, despite that I had never been to the museum before. And I am so glad that I did! Even though I found ...

My name is Robert Soto and I am an Illustration major. At the start of the spring semester of 2013 I was hunting for an internship with a scientific institution. I was determined to get experience working withscientists of any kind to produce illustrations that would tell me if I had what ittakes to make Paleo reconstructions for a living. After a few weeks of emailingvarious parks and institutions with no luck I spoke to a professor of mine who hadtold us that he started out doing nature illustrations for a Marine research lab here in Maryland. I asked if could point me in the right direction for an internship or make an introduction and within a few days I had a meeting with Dr. Al Place at IMET and was given the opportunity to be the first scientific illustration intern they have had. I was hired before I even walked through the door, Al had a lot of respect for my professor work and knew the advantages to having a scientific illustrator on the team. The Institute of Marine and E...