Mad Queen Productions

My name is ReAnn Orr and I am a Senior Film & Video major. During the summer of 2018, I did an internship with Mad Queen Productions. Mad Queen Productions is a production studio based in Baltimore, owned and created by Madeline Becker. I found out about this internship through MICA Career Development internship site. What appealed to me was that the internship position was listed as Video Archivist.

Appropriating archival footage is a tool I have used frequently in my work and know how to execute well. After setting up an interview with Madeline, I got the the job. Madeline hired me as Video Archivist for a documentary she was making about painting professor at MICA, Raoul Middleman. My job consisted of finding archival imagery and video of topics Raoul spoke about in his recorded interview with Madeline. Some examples of these videos and images included family photos of Raoul, photos of historic Baltimore in the 20th century, and media of New York in the 1950-60s. Media was labeled and stored in a folder for Madeline to use in her documentary. I am most proud of my contribution to this documentary and being able to provide my boss with media she was surprised by and eager to use in her film. I played a significant part in researching the history of the environments Raoul interacted with. 


My biggest takeaway from this job was learning what it is like to be in an office setting with other coworkers. This office experience is something I’ve avoided because I enjoy being physically active. While this internship was mentally challenging and enjoyable, it solidified my discomfort with working at a cubicle. I learned that I prefer to be working on my feet, perhaps on a set. From this job, I have learned how to better communicate ideas with coworkers and to be open to their ideas. Working this job clarified my desire to work at a more active job. I would like to work on a film set and be in charge of overall organization.

Matt Bollinger, Artist

My name is Tanvi Sharma and I am a rising Junior Painting and Humanistic Studies Major. During the summer of 2018, I was an intern with the artist Matt Bollinger, based in Holmes, New York. I had been interested in Matt’s process of combining digital and analog media and creating compelling narratives since a couple of years. During the spring semester I had been working on creating similar work of my own and decided to shoot Matt an email. He turned out to be a friend of my professor, Sangram Majumdar and he went on to recommend me to Matt. Matt agreed to have me work with him for the summer, which turned out to be the most enriching experience.

The experience included long conversations with Matt about his practice, the art world and what he wants to do in the future. I think the most valuable thing I have gained from this experience is getting to intimately know a working artist I strongly look up to. During the day I would set up the studio and discuss what Matt has planned for the day. We would conduct experiments with different equipment and processes, in an attempt to explore alternative methods of animating while still retaining the painted nature of the work. This opened me to up to formulating various approaches with my own work. I learnt a lot of technical tool handling and process information and got familiar with the shifting nature of work. The internship was a good way for me to talk about my thoughts with a professional and get feedback, I kept a diary and recorded them. Matt recommended that I think of interesting visuals instead of concepts when starting work and gave me an assignment with some constraints that I could apply what I’ve learnt to. I painted, stretched canvasses and built structures. We discussed our literary interests extensively and every week Matt and Anne gave me a book to read.

I realized that while I want to make work that’s fairly self driven, I don’t want to do things that are just painting anymore. This internship was a good way and time for me to figure out my interests and what I want do in my field. I’m leaning more towards media that more democratic such as graphic design and perhaps illustration that involve elements of motion graphics and animated visuals while grounding myself in the basics of what makes a good painting work. I want to exercise my writing and do something with an academic research element involved.

I’m happy I spent this summer figuring out what I want out of the next two years of my academic career, it helped me clearly define my goals and gave me more matter to think about.

The Working Assembly

My name is Danny Varillas and I am a senior Graphic Design major. This summer had the privilege of being a design intern at The Working Assembly in New York, NY. I first heard about The Working Assembly during my junior year in flexible design studio. This course was structured around workshops with various professional designers and studios around the country, and The Working Assembly was one of those studios. A MICA alumni who is currently working at The Working Assembly encouraged me to apply for the summer internship position. I had been interested in their work and decided to give it a shot. I sent a brief email with my resume and portfolio link. They quickly contacted to schedule an interview. Within a week I had received a email of acceptance.

The Working Assembly is multidisciplinary design studio that primarily focuses on branding. The studio is primarily women employed and led. This is one of the things that sets it apart from other studios. My supervisor was Jolene Delise, she is the founder and partner of the studio, along with Lawrence O'toole. The projects they work on are primarily for small start up businesses.

In my time interning at the studio, I was responsible for working on brand projects alongside other designers. Each branding project began with a project brief that introduced us to the client and the task. Two or three designers would work on one project at a time. Each designer would design several iterations of logos and identity. After several meetings, the client would give us their feedback, and eventually choose a logo direction. My biggest takeaway from this experience was being able to collaborate with designers that have experience in the field. I was able to learn so much by their dedication, organization and communication with each other.

This experience definitely challenged me, and I'm so grateful that I trusted and given a opportunity to be involved in large projects. I’m most proud of seeing my design being used in the real world. Several of my design iterations were chosen by clients for final application. I'm glad I was able to have this experience prior to graduation because it gives me a good idea of what working for a branding studio may be like. Even though I really enjoyed this internship experience, I’m still not sure if I want to continue branding design as a career practice in graphic design.

Tribeca Film Institute

It all started when I was watching several films on a raining day. These films ranged from documentary to scripted narratives. As I would scroll down at the end of the film to see the credits, I would notice one similar logo. The logo was “Tribeca Film Institute”, or “Tribeca Film Festival”. My interest grew as I started to research them. I was fascinated by their goals and philosophy of finding independent filmmakers and producing their work so that larger audiences can see the films. 

A couple of months went by and I was still searching for an internship. Until one day I was talking to my brothers friend who is a filmmaker himself, and I told him my interest in TFI. He smiled and said that he worked with the head director of TFI on a film. Her name is Amy Hobby. He gave me her contact information and I drafted a email to her. She was happy to see my interest so she connected me to Olivia Creamer who is in charge of the internship program. Olivia and I had several phone calls which consisted in questions of my interest, experiences, and why I want to be an intern at TFI. After several weeks went by and me submitting my resume and portfolio to TFI, I got a email from Olivia saying that I got the internship poison. I was off to New York City. Tribeca Film Institute is a branch of Tribeca Film festival. They are the production and producing side of the company. Their goal is to find and to fund films across the world. The films range from documentary to scripted narratives. But TFI’s most important idea is to select films of independent filmmakers who don’t have the means to support their films, and allowing more women to have a platform to create their work in the film industry.

My basic roles at TFI was to respond to emails regarding submissions. I would also drop off any packages or footage to several places around the city. These were the regular task. But the fun and productive ones consisted of me looking at films and scripts TFI was producing and giving my own critical perspective on the work. This felt great! Knowing that I could actually have a voice in some of these films production. I also attended a feature film production. I pretty much watched and observed the set, but also did small odd jobs like moving things or picking up equipment at a rental store.

But as the summer went on the work slowed down. I was pretty much just doing emails and nothing more then that. Then I discovered TFI’s equipment room. There were lights and lots of gear. I had the idea that I would practice my cinematography everyday. And as I did, I went to the equipment room everyday. Which then resulted in a idea I had to create a film about a isolated intern who escapes with virtual reality and a camera to construct his own world. I will be producing this film for my senior thesis.

What I learned from my experience at TFI is that you have to make your own path in anything you do. For me it didn't mean just because I got an internship at TFI I was all set and I was going to learn a lot. No that wasn't the case. Instead I made my own time to be productive by using TFI resources and lighting equipment. I also talked to all the employees and got their contact information for any further opportunities. So the best thing I learned from my internship was you have to fight for whats yours. No matter what possession you are in, you must prove to yourself and everyone els that you are a hard worker and a professional artist.

Snowball Pictures - Beijing, China

My name is Lufei Xiao and I’m a Senior Film & Video major. I found this internship from my friend who own a small production company in my hometown, he worked with Snowball Pictures for a short film project before, so he introduced me to them.

Snowball Pictures is a video production company that produce video works including student shorts, commercials and some website films, they are expert in cinematography particularly. My direct supervisor is Qingqing Liu who is the founder of Snowball Pictures, but when I got here he has to go to Shanghai for another project so I was assisting another director.

I was involved in several project, two commercials and one student short. I worked as director assistant I do whatever the director told me to do, included writing script, project docking, gaffer on set, etc.

I'm most proud of my ability to teamwork with others. I learned the most when things don’t go well. I think they are all important experience, like you have to play to the score with your clients because they change a lot. And communicate well in every section because one small misunderstanding may leads to bigger mistake later.

I’ve acquired some new skills like docking with different department and tell them what we need for this project, I learned how to shoot for post, how to light a scene, how to solve things when things went off the plan, and teamwork. It helped me realized I might not want to work in a commercial production company in the future.

Ziger/Snead

I was recommended for the position at Ziger/Snead by my TA from a class I took on the fall semester of my sophomore year. He was graduating and was asked to find someone to take his place so he recommended me for it. I secured it by working on creating a portfolio and a resume that showed my potential and by interviewing with the partners and the studio manager at Ziger/Snead.

Ziger/ Snead is an architecture firm that is based in Baltimore. They are very much committed to working specifically in the area of Baltimore and it’s surroundings . They work in a variety of residential, institutional and historic projects. The team is composed of 18 people. They create design that is tailored to the client and it is never a repetitive or robotic design process. Every project is different.

In my internship my direct supervisor is Nicole Lamont and she is the studio manager. She manages everything in the office and maintains everything flowing smoothly. I had some set responsibilities like answering the phone, welcoming clients, sending out invoices and checks. And managing other aspects such as the webpage, social media, office records, uploading projects to Architizer. Some other tasks that I got to do was work in some renderings and I got to learn some photoshop skills. I got to work on some specs and attend a couple of meeting and observe the construction process of some projects. Finally in the time that I had free I got to take the the initiative and create a plan to renovate the materials library in the office and present it to the partners.

I am very proud of the proposal I put together for the renovation of the materials library. I worked on finding the materials, designing different things for the renovation such as tags and shelf dividers and creating a budget. I was able to set up a meeting with the partners at the firm and they were really happy with the proposal I put together. The are in the process of revising and approving it.

I have learned and grown a lot this summer. I have become more confident in myself, I feel like I am better at communicating now and I am not intimidated in the way I used to be by people. I have learned to multitask and to be on top of things. Most of all I have learned that taking an initiative pays off.

I have learned how to present myself in a professional setting, have developed a professional vocabulary. I have also learned a lot about how the an architectural office functions.

This has helped me clarify my goals because I realized that there isn’t one path that is right there are many different paths. Also the architectural field is broad and it is possible to find the type of work that I am interested in creating.

NURTUREart

Over the summer I worked as a Public Programs Intern for NURTUREart in Brooklyn, NY. I met the executive director and gallery manager during the Fine Art Review at MICA. Christopher Ho, who was one of my instructors, and is currently the president of the board for NURTUREart later mentioned that they were looking for a summer intern. At his suggestion, I wrote an email to Will Penrose, the executive director with my resume, a cover letter, and professional references. After a phone interview, I was offered the position.

NURTUREart is a nonprofit gallery and arts organization that has been operating in for 20 years. They focus on exhibiting work by emerging artists and curators, and lean towards showing more experimental and challenging works, since they do not rely on sales. They also have several youth education programs in Brooklyn schools that provide opportunities for all grades K-12. I worked directly with Ivan Gilbert, who is the Director of Programs and Gallery Manager.

Much of my day-to-day work involved managing and planning social media posts to promote events and researching organizations in the area to identify potential new partnerships. Over the summer, NURTUREart hosts a series of residencies, so I also helped support the residents through their stay and during public programming. During the second half of my internship, I was helping to review proposals for the upcoming exhibition season; I was proud to have contributed to the process, and felt like my input was desired and respected.

My biggest takeaway was a greater understanding of what goes in to managing an art space, I learned valuable new networking skills and approaches that built upon those I had learned over the course of my first year in the Curatorial Practice program. I also learned that I don’t have much interest in working on the development side of things; I’d much rather focus on executing effective projects and programs, rather than trying to secure funding and recruit donors. This internship solidified my interest in working in the nonprofit world, and gave me an idea of the types of jobs I want to look for as I near graduation next spring.

Light Work

I found out about this internship opportunity in a few different ways. I heard about the opportunity originally while using the lab at Light Work the summer before, but I heard about it again while talking to Nate Larson about internships during the spring semester. After I was reminded about the internship I filled out the online application, and wrote an essay along with attaching my resume. Light Work is a non profit that was created by to be artist run, in 1973. Light work has residencies, publications, exhibitions, a community access lab, and many other projects to help artists working in photography and digital imaging. Light Work is located in Syracuse,NY, on the Syracuse University campus. Light Work also works with the local Everson Museum to complete the Urban Video Project, where artists films are projected onto the side of the museum. 

My direct supervisor was John Manion, his role within the organization is master printer. John works with all of the artists in residence and helps them master their digital files as well as print for many artists. John also prepares all of the images to be sent to the press for the publication Contact Sheet that is created by Light Work. My responsibilities usually involved printing, scanning, editing images, and helping out around the lab wherever needed. I was involved in projects for the resident artists, as well as helping with work for the artists that work with the lab. I also worked on the For Freedoms project in form of publication and exhibition. I am most proud of being able to show all of the new stuff that I learned and that I am able to say that I am in contact with some artists that I looked at online and learned about in my classes. It was a very surreal experience to be surrounded by the artists that I was. I am also proud that I have learned a whole new part of myself and loving the photo lab environment as much as I do. 

My biggest take away was learning to put myself out there and to be more confident in my skills both behind the camera but also with the technical side and what happens after you take the image. New skills that I have learned from this internship include networking, taking about my work in a cohesive manner, I have learned more than I ever imagined about printing and about color correction and what can be done in photoshop. I have also learned a lot editing photos in general, My technical skills are beyond the improvement I could’ve hoped for, I was constantly learning while at Light Work. This internship helped to clarify my career goals by opening up a whole new door that I hadn’t been looking into before. I have learned that I love the technical behind the scenes work of art and photography. I have also networked with some big name artists and people in the art and photography world. I am very thankful overall for this internship and what it has helped me learn and the experiences that it has brought into my life.

Maryland Science Center

The Maryland Science Center is an interactive museum aimed towards kids and teaching scientific concepts. They were looking for people to help conceptualize and fabricate new exhibits, working with the in-house fabrication studio. I had a lot of experience with what

they wanted, particularly robotics, coding, installations, and 3D modeling, and I love science and science education. I applied via the internship faire.

My direct supervisor was Jessica Ann, who was the head of Exhibit Fabrication. They ran the whole department, as well as outreach to other departments and managerial stuff. 

When I arrived, a new exhibit had just been completed. So, I ended up doing a lot of fixing and developing on prototypes. My main task was completing these “light wands,” a casing for handheld LEDs that could light up an exhibit. Since kids would be tugging and pulling on the cables, durability was essential. I went through 4 iterations over the course of the summer, researching LEDs and cables, learning Solidworks and CNC software to build them, and in the end repurposing existing exhibit parts and learning from others to build what I think is the best part I could have made. 

I completed it! I definitely spent time on these. Just building one took hours, and designing and developing seemed to take forever. In the end, when I installed the final versions, it was like seeing my babies go to college, ready to take on the kids’ hands of life. I was really able to see a quality project through, and I’m really proud of that, and grateful to my supervisor for allowing me the time and space to have that. 

I learned a lot during the summer. First, if something goes wrong, it’s expected, and just to keep rolling. I did a lot of that. But second, the most valuable skill was building-sense: good things take time, especially if one is building something physically (I’m used to working digitally). Honestly, I’m a little used to rushing, so that was a good one to learn. Also, career-wise, if I get a job in 3D modeling, as i’ll be able to conceptualize the translation between digital 3D space and an actual 3D part way, way better.

I also learned a lot in the way of skills: I feel proficient in Solidworks and other software useful for the CNC router carving process. I also learned how to work with wood. That was the one thing I was pretty shaky on going in, and even if it wasn’t what I aimed to do with my expertise, I learned a lot. Building tightly, finishing and polishing, and using high quality parts are all things I was exposed to: all manner of bolts, collars, glue, polish, and other tools are now in my repertoire.

Greenwich House Pottery

I found out about Greenwich House Pottery by asking my department chair, David East, if there were any internships that could improve my wheel throwing skills. David replied that there were not internships specifically for that, that he knew of, but he did send me some studios in New York, and Maryland that he knew were good for interns. I secured it by following the application instructions, which required me to send in my resume, cover letter, portfolio, and 2 references. I listed David, and Sarah Barnes, MICA Ceramics Studio Manager, both of whom have worked closely with me. I only put my best work in my portfolio. I also used my graphic design skills to make sure my application materials were well designed. Then, I went on GHP’s instagram and website to find out more about them to make my work and application more relevant.

GHP is a community organization that offers classes to people interested in ceramics. Danny Crump is the studio manager, so he also interviewed me. As a studio manager, he has to make sure the studio runs smoothly, and that requires him to: fix equipment, train interns and techs, manage and order supplies, and oversee the studio. As an intern, I bounced from every area. Some days I would be in the kiln room loading or unloading work. Other days I would mix glazes, or maybe mix and pug 300+ pounds of clay. There would also be administrative tasks like making signage for the studio, or making class chips, which helps with organizing student work. One project I really enjoyed was helping to make 3 clay pedestals for Rirkrit Tiravanija’s piece for the Ceramics Now exhibition at GHP. I had not touched clay for awhile since my summer study abroad program ended, and it was great to stretch some muscles. I am most proud of applying for this internship. Before this year, I had felt under-qualified for so many opportunities and jobs, which meant I did not apply for anything. Now I feel like I’ve overcome that feeling. 

Because of this internship I am more confident in my skills as ceramicist, and feel less anxious about my future. I have learned that no one really knows what they are doing, but those who work hard and continue making work will eventually have an opportunity come to them. I am so happy that I have learned how to talk to people, on a more professional level, since this internship. Before this summer, I always felt very nervous asking people questions, now I feel less nervous. This internship has showed me that I am able and willing to work in a community studio environment. This means that I am more prepared to be a studio tech after I graduate, which is one, of many, jobs that are available to ceramic majors.