Jay Hall Carpenter, Sculptor

I was granted the opportunity to work with Jay Hall Carpenter for my internship and I found out about him in my figure sculpture class, after talking to Robert Copskey and Joe Greene, one of our sculpture models. They both mentioned Jay's name to me a few times and told me to consider reaching out to him since I was very interested in figurative sculpture. I found his contact information through his website and sent him an email with my resume and images from my portfolio to express my interest in doing an internship at his studio. 

A few days later, he responded asking me to come into the studio for an interview. Jay agreed to take me on as an intern. I found out that he was working on a very large monument. He was making a sculpture of three life-size women. He was sculpting the women responsible for the cure for Whooping Cough for the University of Michigan State.

When I began working for Jay Hall Carpenter, the Whooping Cough project was just beginning. I was able to be a part of the entire process from making the armature, carving the understructure out of foam, adding the clay, refining the clay work, and even making the molds of the sculpture. I was incredibly excited when I was able to work on some of the more important features of the figures including the arms and legs. By being a part of not only the creation of the sculpture, but the mold making. I realized how important mold making can be.

I found that through this internship I was able to acquire knowledge in how a professional artist’s studio works. Through experiencing the entire process of making a significant monument, I found myself believing more and more that it is possible to have a successful career as a sculptor. This internship has opened my eyes to a few more sculptural career paths and I’ve greatly appreciated my time with Jay Hall Carpenter.

Wide Angle Youth Media

This semester, I had the pleasure an honor of working at Wide Angle Youth Media as a Video Apprentice. Wide Angle Youth Media is a non-profit organization that teaches Baltimore youth media production and graphic design. I had the pleasure of working under David Sloan, Production Manager, where I got hands on experience in their production studio sublet that specializes in documentary. 

My primary responsibilities were to operate the camera while interviewing subjects, filming B-Roll, and editing footage. As I started, we acquired an account from the Maryland Arts Council to document artists all over the state. I have sent the last month and a half traveling to different counties to film for 12 hour days at time and edit the footage during the week. 

My time at Wide Angle has taught extensively about documentary work. I now know how to get the best angle, the best shots, and right lighting in interviews. I know to how to guide interview subjects in their answers to get the best quotes. I have become a much more efficient editor with the critique of my supervisors. 

Upon completion of my internship, I discovered I would like to work full time as an editor and hone my skills. 

FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture

I learned about FORCE through the chair of the Photo Department, Nate Larson. He introduced me to Hannah Brancato, the co-founder of FORCE and the Monument Quilt. We met at FORCE’s space and talked about what the internship looked like and what some options were for projects I could work on. I secured the internship by sending Hannah an internship proposal outlining my goals, objectives, and availability for the Spring semester.

FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture is a nationally-known creative activist group collaborating with survivors to upset the culture of rape and promote a culture of consent. They have produced large-scale public art projects including the Monument Quilt which has been exhibited nationwide. The Monument Quilt is shown in public spaces to create a safe space for survivors to share their stories and heal through community. FORCE is publicly supporting survivors of rape and abuse. The Monument Quilt will be displayed this summer in the National Mall in Washington, DC.

Hannah Brancato, my supervisor, is among FORCE’s leadership team and one of the company’s co-founders. She and others among the leadership team are working to get the quilt ready for display but are also working locally and nationally to create spaces of conversation, host trainings, and speak at art and media conferences to spread knowledge of sexual violence in America.

As an intern for FORCE, I have been working on preparing and making a series of videos about the Monument Quilt. The three-part series talks about the history of the monument quilt and how it has played a role in local and national communities, what FORCE is doing now to prepare for its culminating display at the national mall, and the future to come for the quilt after the display. These projects have enhanced my video editing skills immensely. Throughout this process I’ve gotten to meet and work with all types of people involved in the quilt, whether its volunteers, photographers, interns, or the leadership team. I’ve learned so much about non-profit workflow and what it really means to be involved in the community as an organization that strives to be inclusive to everyone. I’ve been able to witness the intersectionality between art and activism and how I see it playing a role in my future endeavors as an artist, or as Mora calls it, an “artivist.” I’m so proud to have been a part of these events leading up to this display and to have had the privilege to work with these strong individuals.

Mark Seliger Photography

My name is Janella Branch and I am a senior photography major. When looking for internships I knew I wanted to be part of a major company or work for a big photographer as I am interested in the commercial and editorial side of photography. During the summer of 2018 when I was looking for internships on Indeed, I came across one for Mark Seliger. Seliger Studios was looking for a studio intern for the summer. I was extremely excited because Mark Seliger is a huge name in photography and I couldn’t believe he was looking for interns. Mark Seliger has been a photographer for over thirty years, he used to be the chief photographer of Rolling Stone, has shot hundreds of editorials and campaigns for famous brands and celebrities. Some people he’s photographed include Obama, Kim and Kanye West, Steve Martin, Drew Barrymore, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Jimmy Carter, Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, and many others. Most of his iconic images have been catalogued by the Library of Congress.

I applied through Indeed with my resume and cover letter. I got an email back from the studio manager asking me if I wanted to do a phone interview later in the week. We spoke on the phone about what I would be doing and some of my photography interests. It was a great phone call and she said she would get back to be with whether I got the position. It turned out that the position went to someone else for the summer. But in August she emailed me out of the blue and asked if I could intern for the fall semester, and I said of course.

The studio is in Greenwich Village, New York. My supervisor was Rachel, the Post- Production Manager and Archivist, who also managed the studio. She organized Mark’s prints, negatives, electronic image files, exhibition prints, and gallery contacts. On a regular day I pressed Mark’s darkroom prints, added images into a program that organized past shoots, scanned contact sheets and negatives, dusted images, wrapped frames for an exhibition, packaged and shipped prints to buyers and galleries. I also helped out on shoots that took place in the studio and on location in the city, including one for Italian Vogue and when Oprah came for a shoot. It was really amazing seeing what it was like on a big magazine shoot with fashion models and celebrities. I loved being on set but also doing some behind the scenes work on the paper work involved to get things going and organize all people and companies a part of it.

My biggest take away from this experience was learning about organization and communication. Now I know how to properly store and manage my physical files as well as digital scans of my photography. This really helped to clarify my career goals because I know now that I want to be signed to a photography agency. Mark had his own agent and other in-house employees to manage his work but I think being signed would be the best option for me. I am really glad I did this because it solidified a lot of ideas I had about what I want to do in my photographer but also told me some things I didn’t want to do. Doing an internship was a really great experience for me to learn more about myself and the photo industry.

JHU Applied Physics Lab

My name is Natalie Hawkins, I am a senior at Maryland Institute of Art studying Graphic Design. This semester I had the privilege to intern at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab. The Applied Physics Lab is a lab of over 6,000 people. According to their website they “Solve complex research, engineering, and analytical problems that present critical challenges to our nation.”

When I applied to the Physics Lab I was not familiar with the company. I found the listing on the MICA network. Out of all of the internships I applied for, I was most qualified for this one. This internship, like any graphic design internship, required a healthy knowledge of the Adobe Suite. They were also looking for someone who was familiar with Blender which is a 3D modeling and animation program. I had taught myself how to use blender last year. I sent them a Resume, small cover letter, and a link to my online portfolio. After I applied I received an email response from them fairly quickly. I set up a phone interview with Andrew Rhine who would later become my supervisor. The phone interview went well. I learned more about the Lab and what kind of work they do. Andrew was kind to ask if I was alright working with the military and army, probably because had a lot of social change and activism work in my portfolio. I hesitated for a bit but once he mentioned what the pay was I ended up taking the job! Pay was very important to me regarding work and internships. I come from a middle income family and support myself by paying rent and my own expenses so I was really looking for an internship that would pay me. I was offered the job immediately after one phone interview.

The applied physics lab has over 6,000 full time employees spread over a campus with over 30 buildings. Everyone is strategically divided into sectors (there are maybe 7 or 8?), and then within each sector there are different groups. The groups can range from having 5 to 200 people per group. I work with a graphics team that makes graphics for ONE sector. Our team is comprised of 9 people including me. Everyone has their specialty, some are more skilled with powerpoint templates, some are more skilled with 3D modeling and animation, and some are experts with illustration & posters. Andrew Rhine is our section supervisor. There are some days where I don’t even see him at all because he is in so many meetings! He tries to balance his work between supervising and managing the team while still doing high level graphics work. I know he takes pride in his group and all of the work that the team produces.

I work in a very classified environment. I can’t really discuss all of the work I do. The applied physics lab is a high security place, and a lot of the work that is done for clients is confidential. I don't think that the work that I do is extremely sensitive but as a general rule of the physics lab we cannot discuss or talk about the work that we do outside of the Lab. I have to swipe my badge into a turnstile every morning and sometimes I have my bag searched.

I am most proud of my most recent evaluation. My supervisor took the time to go over the MICA evaluation he had to do with me. He had nothing negative to say! They all love me, my creativity, and my drive. I really appreciate that I am appreciated there. I have even been offered a full time position when I graduate!

The new skills that I’ve acquired are heavily related to customer service and generally how to act and work with others in a professional field. Working with 9 coworkers that all have been in the business is great. They are eager to answer all of my questions and educate me on how to interact with clients and other coworkers. I feel so much more confident now working with others in any professional setting. I’ve been told that a strength of mine is communication, I am good at communicating my availability. I’ve also learned a lot about time management and how to balance, school, work, and my other job! (+ free lance work) This has clarified my career goals in that I’ve realized that I would like to be challenged. I like the work that I do and I like working with graphic designers but I think that the work that I do is a bit dull and repetitive. I would be happiest with a job that will challenge me everyday and give me more of a variety of work. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to work at the Applied Physics Lab, and appreciate all that I’ve learned there.

Neighborhood Fiber Co.

My name is Elena Echenique and I am a senior Fiber major. During the Fall of 2018, I was a Dye Assistant Intern for Neighborhood Fiber Co., a company based in Baltimore, Maryland. Before the beginning of the semester, I was on the hunt for an internship to gain experience and skills in the field of fiber arts. I was exploring the Career Development website in search for opportunities when I came across the internship opening at NFC. For some time now I have had a goal to someday own my own yarn business in which I harvest, spin, and dye my own yarn, so when I came across this opportunity, I figured it would teach me some very useful skills that would help me reach my goal.

The company itself is a locally based business that purchases the winded and un-dyed yarn from a nearby manufacturer and then produces its own colors through a variety of dye recipes. The yarn is then hand-dyed and sold in a single location. For this internship, I was part of the hand-dying process as an assistant to my supervisor, Jenelle, who is the Dye Technician at the company. Together, our daily tasks were to read through the "Dye List" which contained a list of the types of yarn, what colors they needed to be dye to, and the amount of each that needed to be completed each day. We would then rinse out the pots containing yarn from the previous day and hang them on the drying racks. Next, we would season the stove by oiling it and turning the burners to a low flame. After we did that, we would soak the yarn we needed to dye as we prepped the pots and mixed the dye we needed.

This was basically what we would do every day, but occasionally there would be some special projects and events I was able to be a part of such as Saturday classes in which customers would come in for private dye lessons. I was also able to be a part of the development of new colors that are now being sold. One of the most exciting events, however, was the Fiber Space event in which we had 50 customers arrive by bus from Virginia and Jenelle and I had 5 hours to custom dye yarn for each one of them. It was extremely hectic but it was so much fun to be able to work with the customers and mix the colors on the spot without any recipes.

I think my biggest take away from this experience is learning about and understanding the production process of hand-dying yarn. Due to this internship, I am now able to have a better grasp of the time and labor required to produce dyed yarn. I feel like I can now take the information and skills that I have learned and apply them to further myself in my career goals.

JHU Art as Applied to Science, Facial Prosthetics Clinic

My name is Anna Schwengel and I am a Junior General Fine Arts Major. Fall of 2018, I began my internship with the Art as Applied to Science Department as assistant for Anaplastologist and Director of the Facial Prosthetics clinic, Juan Garcia.

As of right now, I am very interested in pursuing Medical Illustration as a career path and am looking into the available graduate programs around North America. One of the most prestigious programs is Johns Hopkins Art as Applied to Medicine graduate program right here in Baltimore. I was presented this opportunity by my mom who is an anesthesiologist at Johns Hopkins. Juan Garcia is an Anaplastologist, Associate professor in the Art as Applied to Medicine, Director of the Facial Prosthetics Clinic and manager of the 3D printing lab in the Carnegie Center.

Mr. Garcia works primarily with patients that are in need of a facial prosthetic, he uses a combination of 3D scanning of the patients face, 3D digital Modeling in programs like ZBrush and then 3D printing over in the Carnegie Center. As his assistant I first worked on cataloging the instruments into an excel spreadsheet that he used in the sculpting of the wax prosthetics and the 3D printed copies. The cataloging was in an effort to keep track of all the instruments he used and had to send in for sterilization. The next Big assignment tasked to me was scanning in old casts and molds of noses and ears with a program called Artec studios. After scanning the pieces in, I would transfer them over to the 3D sculpting program called Zbrush. In that program I learned how to tidy up the cast scans and then fit them to a certain orientation. This was Project was completed in order for Mr. Garcia to easily access his past casts and fit them to a current patient in need of said facial feature. I would like to say that one of the things I'm most proud of was being able to learn and adapt to using a system as complicated as ZBrush.

A big takeaway from this internship is a fuller and more in depth look at how art can advance medicine and the possible avenues that i can explore coming out of MICA. This experience definitely helped to clarify what is needed in order to pursue a career like this.