INTERNSHIP STORIES

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...

Limonata Creative During my Studio Lighting class out professor took us to a Prop Up Shop, called Limonata Creative. A Prop Up Shop is a prop house full of props and a studio that people can use for various projects. The owner started out in corporate work. After working in that world for a while, she decided to make a creative change and became a prop stylist and created her own prop house. After the tour, I told the owner how inspired I was from her story and asked if she needed an intern. She said yes and told me to email her, after that everything else fell into place.My responsibilities included helping the owner with styling the props during photoshoots. Also, during these photoshoots, I learned different skills from the photographers that I meet and even made some connections. I also worked with the in-studio photographer who photographed the inventory and uploaded it to the company website. When I worked with him I got a closer look at the ins and outs of photography and gained...

 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...

I learned about this internship through the Practice & Pie event. I was spotted by someone who told me that an employer liked my handknit sweater, who then directed me to them. She connected me with this artist after the event and I later introduced myself via email. My supervisor is a working artist who addresses and creates conversation around racism in America–with a focus on Baltimore, through craft. Many of her works are woven photography, repurposed ‘trash’ items such as plastic bags, caution tape, and more recently fruit bags. She uses various weaving techniques, hand-sewing, and other innovative joinery to create large sculptural works. My responsibilities were mainly to assist with making tests, or sketches, as she calls them. “Sketches” were like prototypes of larger works or playing around with materials. The sketches I created served as smaller models for larger projects, scalable measurements, potential joinery methods, and/or to learn about the characteristics of the ...

Last semester, I was in Tony Shore's narrative painting class. I enjoyed his class and liked him as a person and artist. In January, he offered some gig work to help him move his then-current studio into his new one. I accepted and helped him for a few days while being paid for the time and effort. After working with him, he offered me a role as his studio assistant, which is how I got the internship. Tony is a faculty member here at MICA as well as a practicing studio painter. While interning as his assistant, I worked in his studio. I made sure his studio environment ran smoothly. I continued to help him move his past studio into his current. I was organizing, inventorying, cleaning, and arranging his art supplies and objects in his studio. After the move was complete, I continued to assist with the organization and arrangement of the studio. Through this, I learned what it means to have a functional and organized studio while also being an artist who tends to take up a lot of sp...

Polygraph Creative is an award winning design studio based in Washington,D.C. that specializes in branding, product, editorial and environmental design. They have a reputation for finding truth and authenticity in their work by fusing creativity, passion and craft into their creative decisions. Due to the lengthy and competitive nature of finding a summer internship position, I sought advice from my department chair. She recommended several local design studios and agencies, one of which was Polygraph Creative. Their website did not list any open positions, so I did not expect to receive a response to my cold email. However, one of the principal designers  happened to stumble upon my recent packaging project on MICA's Instagram account and recognized my name upon reviewing my email. He replied a day later, and I went in for my interview soon after with my physical portfolio in hand. The next afternoon, I received the official offer and was welcomed to become part o...

Make Studio is a nonprofit organization that serves as a supportive platform for artists with disabilities. Each of the artists essentially work for Make Studio and create work to be displayed either at the studio or at off site exhibitions. The studio also helps manage the sales of work. They provide critique when necessary and offer art therapy to those that need/want it. I had some background knowledge about Make Studio from my research in preparation for the internship fair at  MICA, and spoke with their representative at the fair. After speaking with them, I sent a follow up email afterwards and through that correspondence was able to secure an interview.  My responsibilities included a bit of studio upkeep, but my supervisors and I made sure my experience was more enriching than just that. I often assisted with pulling work for shows and was able to voice my opinion in the process. I installed and selected work for the Everything Else (A Market Space) exhibit fea...

While exploring opportunities through the MICAnetwork, I came across a call for internship applications at the Maryland Art Place. The internship description included experience in a non - profit gallery setting which guides the intern the various activities the gallery conducts which immediately thrilled me. Using this description I drafted a cover letter and edited my resume accordingly and emailed them the same. After a few weeks, I was asked to partake in an interview over the phone where I was asked questions about my previous experience and what I value about working collaboratively and also individually. At the end of the call, I was offered a position as an intern for the summer and then coordinated further over email to secure a weekly schedule. I learned early on in the internship that Maryland Art Place was first formed by the Maryland State Arts Council who granted funds to form an organization that promoted contemporary art. They prioritize living, emerging and mid-...

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 ZBrus...

My name is Renee Podber and I am going to be a Junior General Fine Arts major this year. This summer I completed a 12-week internship for Simon Says. I found the internship through indeed.com and saw they were looking for interns who are interested in expanding their marketing and communication skills in a creative way. Simon Says is a speech pathologist office that specializes in treating Orofacial Myofunctional Disorders (OMD); but they have also expanded into creating national seminars that give other speech pathologists tools to treat OMDs. I worked under the head of marketing, Julie Doyle. Many of the tasks I was involved in was using my creative skills and graphic design experience to create advertisements as well as fliers to catch the attention of clients and other speech pathologists to join the seminars that were all over the country. I also helped create a new website for the company that is user friendly as well as clean and crisp. I am incredibly pr...