INTERNSHIP STORIES

My name is Nick Pfaff and I am a senior General Fine Arts Major with a Minor in Art History. Over the summer of 2012 I worked as a Gallery Intern at Artspace, a non- profit organization in New Haven, CT that presents local and national visual art. I have worked and participated in several programs at Artspace since I was in high school. When I took a leave of absence last year I contacted Helen Kauder, the director of the gallery to see if there was any work available for me. I began volunteering a few days a week. I had a variety of obligations and duties. During this time I got to know the inner workings of the organization very well. I stopped volunteering in spring because I was working several other jobs but by the start of summer I was asked to return as a paid intern!  My new position was to manage Artspace’s Flatfile.   The work is sold in auctions and displayed in shows that are put together by guest curators. I worked closely with curators including one of my...

My name is Liberty Riggs and I'm a Senior Art History Major. Over the summer of 2012 I worked as the 'Intern Extraordinaire' for the Charm City Craft Mafia. The Craft Mafia is an organization comprised of thirteen local artists who, in addition to maintain their own studio practices, work collectively to coordinate two juried art fairs each year; Holiday Heap in December and Pile of Craft in June. This internship position was brought to my attention through an email from my department chair in April of 2012. I submitted my résumé, cover letter, and work samples directly to Carly Goss, the Mafia's internship coordinator, via email. Carly contacted me two days later to schedule an interview for the first week of May. Two days after our informal interview over coffee, Carly contacted me again to offer me the position. As an intern with the Charm City Craft Mafia, I was responsible for managing several kinds of tasks. My primary function was to be available as a...

At Mission Media, I worked as an in house video editor. Todd Harvey was my direct supervisor, while Mark Kubat, who is the Art Director, helped me with the general mood of the videos that I was editing. Everyone in the office was all very helpful during the process of editing all the way until the final videos were completed. The videos that I edited were three STX Golf commercials that are now up on the company’s Facebook page.  The first video I edited was a little challenging because I had to match the style of the STX Golf videos that were done before. After the first one, I eventually got the sense of how the video should look as a finished product.   After editing the STX Golf videos I moved on to writing a script for the company’s demo reel. I finished writing and blocking out the shots for the demo reel, but by the time to shoot the reel, I was put on another very important project. I then starting working with Nick Midwig who was an independent filmmaker...

My name is Melissa Hecker and I am a sophomore Illustration major with a concentration in Book Arts. I found out about this organization through MICA’s Career Fair. I did some research about Art With a Heart before the Career Fair and I was really interested in their mission. When I went to the Career Fair, I met Jamie and Audrey who are two staff members at AWAH. Jamie is the Program Manager and Audrey is the assistant to the Executive Director. I talked to them about my experience in working with children through being a member of Community Arts Partnership at MICA, and I gave them my resume with all of my art and community related experience. They reviewed my résumé and called me for a second interview. Hillary, the assistant program manager, interviewed me and told me that I am more than qualified, so I got the internship on the spot. Hillary’s job is to create all the lesson plans for the classes, organize the class schedules, and supervise the interns. As an intern, I helped H...

My name is Sarah Hepworth and I am an upcoming Junior Illustration major. This summer, I was an intern at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital’s Art Ability Office. The hospital provides both physical and cognitive rehabilitation services to its patients for a range of disabilities. Art Ability is a program Bryn Mawr Hospital runs, which focuses on celebrating artists with disabilities by supplying them with galleries to promote, share, and sell their artwork and crafts. The Annual Art Ability Exhibition is an internationally renowned event that the hospital has been hosting for years. Artists must apply and a couple hundred are hand-selected to be a part of the show, out of which a few are presented with awards. Working in the Art Ability office, my supervisor was Leighton “Mac” McKeithen, the Marketing Director at Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital. I also worked closely with the Art Ability curator, Susanna Saunders. My main responsibilities dealt with the preparation of the Annual ...

My name is Sara Dittrich and I am going into junior year as an Interdisciplinary Sculpture major with a culture & politics minor. Over the summer of 2012 I interned in NYC as Romy Scheroder’s artist assistant. Romy is a sculptor whose main medium usually involves manipulating vintage wood chairs. Romy also balances her practice with a full time job as a shoe designer. I lived and worked with Romy for five weeks in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I was introduced to Romy when I stumbled upon her work on a blog called E Minor and I bookmarked the link to her website. Last summer (2011) I sent out emails to artists I had found online asking if any would be interested having an assistant for the summer of 2012. I told them I was a student at MICA and gave them the link to my website. I was surprised how many responses I received back. Romy however seemed the most interested, and I was excited she was located in NYC. I kept in contact with her and met her in NYC over winter break. From there...

My name is Sarah Bushin and I am a Sophomore Animation major. I am also enrolled in the 5 year Masters of Art in Teaching program at MICA. Over the summer of 2012, I interned for Matt Bier, the display coordinator for the Westchester, NY Anthropologie store. I found out about this internship through a friend who had done a similar internship at the Anthropologie in New Jersey. After I heard about the job, I picked up the phone and cold-called the Westchester store. After many attempts, I was able to get through to Matt, who chatted with me on the phone and then set up an interview with me. I nailed the interview and was offered the internship position on the spot! At Anthropologie I worked with the visual team on various projects, the most significant of which was their summer window display. I got to help with all aspects of this display, which involved not only the planning, but also making the actual art that would be apart of the final display! I also helped out with the va...