INTERNSHIP STORIES

Katie Pumphrey Studio Assistant Internship Katie Pumphrey is an American interdisciplinary artist and ultramarathon open water swimmer. Pulling from her experiences in the water, her paintings, sculptures, and installations use abstraction and imagery to investigate our anxieties, fears, and how our imagination plays tricks on us. Incorporating a bit of humor, Pumphrey explores these tensions and the connectedness between human instincts and play. She has a Bachelor of Fine Art in Painting from the Maryland Institute College of Art. I have known Katie since my sophomore year when my professor invited us to his studio for a studio visit; we ended up also visiting the neighboring studios, including Katie’s. We stayed in touch over the years until I was working as an intern at the creative alliance where she helps coordinate events. When I was looking to work a studio assistant role, I reached out to her wondering if she knew anyone interested, and there was, it was her! Katie was my dire...

Live Painting Internship with Anton Merbaum My previous roommate had always mentioned being neighbors with an artist upstairs. Throughout the spring semester we would run into each other and have quick conversations about being at mica, since he was also an alumni. Until this summer while moving out we happened to cross paths again this time offered an internship and interviewed the following month about the position. Anton Merbaum is a fine art artist, who specializes in live wedding painting, bridal portraiture, c ustom commissions, and murals. Anton Merbaum was also my direct supervisor, he was in charge of mentoring me about the fine art industry, especially live wedding painting as well as foundational works in creating a painting. I’m most proud of my ability to network as well as being able to work at a venue drawing eyes for people. This opportunity gave me a chance to see how it is working at a live event. Also learning fundamentals of starting a business and growing into the...

  Curatorial Practice at Pazo This fall, I had the incredible opportunity to intern at Pazo Fine Art, a leading contemporary art gallery in the Washington metropolitan area. I discovered this opportunity through my program director, who encouraged me to reach out to the gallery’s owner and director. From the very beginning, the owner was warm, welcoming, and supportive, setting the tone for an enriching and inspiring experience. Pazo Fine Art , founded in 2020, has quickly established itself as a dynamic presence in the art world. With locations in Kensington, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.'s historic U Street corridor, the  gallery is dedicated to showcasing innovative exhibitions across  various media while amplifying the voices of underrepresented  artists. Under the owners thoughtful leadership, the gallery  explores influential movements like Neo-Geo, Color Field, and  Light and Space, blending historical reevaluation with contemporary abstraction. I w...

Blue Light Junction is a natural dye garden and artist collective situated in Station North, Baltimore. They are committed to preserving natural dye techniques and crafts through workshops, residencies, and support of local artists. I discovered Blue Light Junction through the legacy of the Baltimore Natural Dye Initiative and various community events hosted at the space. This opportunity was secured in part due to my previous experiences in similar work environments and my eagerness to learn and benefit Blue Light Junction as a company.  During my time at Blue Light Junction, my responsibilities encompassed supporting community outreach, managing the concept store, and supporting the administrative proceedings of the center. I organized the studio’s library, drafted emails and newsletters, and helped maintain a smooth workflow. Additionally, I helped organize and market the residency exhibition showing in the fall.  I am most proud of my proposal to transform the concept stor...

My work is done in the studio with Fahimeh Vahdat, who  is an artist, activist, feminist, professor, and mother. For my internship I handled a plethora of different tasks. I worked with archival, managing, website redesigning, and editorial matters.   To stay on track, we use a task manager and Google Drive for smooth  collaboration.  One of our early projects involved creating a plan to reorganize her workspace,  allowing us to catalog her extensive art collection. Additionally, we worked on developing a  tailored internship program specifically for her studio that would also benefit me.  The internship covers everything needed to help the artist reestablish herself in the  industry. Together, we outlined her needs to identify areas for improvement and determine the  additional support required.  I cataloged artwork that had not been documented or photographed,  as well as new and incomplete pieces. I examined each piece individual...

I found out about the Conservation Internship for Broadening Access (CIBA), through the Smithsonian’s internship opportunities website. I was looking for conservation experience as I plan on pursuing it in graduate school, so I looked up several museums online until I found this one. The Smithsonian is one of the largest national research and museum networks, they provide research and educational opportunities, as well as maintain a vast public museum network. I was specifically placed at the National Museum of American History (NMAH), which specializes in objects and stories pertaining to American History. Specifically in the Paper Conservation Lab, we worked to maintain, repair, and store paper objects of American History.  My responsibilities centered around learning and practicing conservation and preventative conservation skills, including page repair, rehousing objects, testing inks, and cleaning objects. The specific projects I worked on were: repairing the Mack McCormick pa...

 I first found out about this opportunity through the Gallery’s instagram page. I was already following them because I had some artwork in one of their previous shows, and so I emailed them and said I was interested in the intern position that they had open. They asked for a resume and an interview, and I ended up getting the position. The owner of the gallery was my direct supervisor, who organized all of its events and coordinates with artists in order to hold shows at the gallery. I also did some work with another supervisor, who handled a lot of the gallery’s more technical work involving spreadsheets and advertising. On slower days, I worked the front desk at the gallery, and helped talk to other artists and potential customers, and helped to sell artwork. I also helped some with setting up their website and stock-keeping. Additionally, I was able to help out with some of the remodeling and setting up for their latest exhibitions, namely, I helped to organize the resident arti...