Blog Question #1- What did you learn from your first week at your internship? Did anything surprise you or make you excited? Were there any challenges? Did you make any connections with co-workers? Did you engage in any code switching?
During my first week of the internship I learned a lot of the basics to working in a gallery. This included adding contacts to a mailing list, printing out labels and sending out postcards for an upcoming art show. Most importantly, However, I learned about the artists and the pieces they produce for the gallery to promote.
I was pleasantly surprised to see how welcoming the gallery and the people there were. I learned they all get along well as the vibes of the work room are more relaxed. For example, they have a cupboard with snacks people bring in that are welcome to all there.
I didn’t experience any major challenges. I definitely learned new skills, but none were too far from the work I’ve done before.
I got to know my coworkers as I met them. The people I’ve met so far both asked me about my plans for after High school. I told them about my taking a gap year and learned in return that they thought that was the best thing I could do, one even took three years off before returning to college.
When I entered the gallery I made sure to be more professional than usual. I wanted to make a good first impression and learn about the gallery and how it works.
Blog 2: Networking
Begin by interviewing 2-3 of your coworkers with the following 3 questions (about 10 minutes of their time). Time allowing: feel free to ask them more questions to get to know them better. Following the interviews answer the questions below for Blog 2.
Interview questions:
Did you study art after high school? Art or traditional college? Internship or apprenticeship?
How did you get your first job in the creative industries?
If you were in an intern in this field, where would you focus your learning during your internship? What is the most important learning one can do when beginning a career in this profession?
(Time allowing) Is there anything interesting about you that is non-work related that you would like to tell me about? Hobbies or interests?
Blog Question # 2: What co-workers did you interview? Did your co-workers study art after high school either through higher education or internships/apprenticeships? What recommendations did they have for what you should try to learn as an intern in this field? Did they have any advice on how to begin your creative career? Did you learn anything interesting about your co-workers that was non-work related?
Rachels answers to the previous questions were very interesting.
She did not study art after high school at all. Although she did have an internship at Rule after gaining an interest in art and a recommendation of a friend who also works at the gallery.
Her first job in the industry was at Rule. She used to be in the corporate world until she got tired of working in cubicles everyday. She decided to move to Denver where she took some time off working and grew an appreciation for art. It is during this time that Valerie, the owner and director of Rule, recommended she help at Rule doing tech-work. If she were an intern now she would focus her attention into trying to understand the overall art world. The world is so complex and you need to be able to understand all parts of it and how they interact. Learning what is important to you as an artist or art appreciator is also important because it is crucial to stick with that, whatever it may be.
When I asked her what her interests were outside of art she said she was a big sci-fi fan. She reads and watches lots of sci-fi related books and movies/ shows. She also enjoys going out and dancing as well as travel.
I only really work with Rachel so that is the only person I could interview, however the interview made me understand what I should reach for during my internship. I need to understand the art world and find whats important to me most of all.
Blog Question #3 How do your actions affect your workplace? Are you able to be mindful and bring a good attitude when you come to your internship? Do you contribute positively?
My actions towards how I act towards coworkers and customers is essential in building and maintaining a positive work environment. I do try my best to be mindful so that I can work efficiently. I contribute positively by bringing an open and positive attitude to the gallery.
Do you feel like you have a good work ethic so far? How do your co-workers actions affect your internship? Are you beginning to develop any work place friendships?
I think my work ethic is really good. My sponsor has informed me that I am “better than some of her college interns” and that I “get stuff done so fast,” she sometimes finds it difficult to find more tasks for me. I do not have much interactions with coworkers since its normally two of us in the gallery, however, my coworkers have a kind attitude and help me when needed as well as ask me questions which helps us bond and creates a friendly work environment. I am not very close with anyone yet, but I am getting more comfortable and loosening up around my coworkers.
Blog Question #4: Freestyle blog week. Write your own blog prompt about your internship, then answer it in 200-250 words
How has the internship made you think about art and the art world differently?
Before starting at Rule Gallery, I honestly did not know much about galleries or how they worked. I’ve learned galleries support certain artists and have connections with these artists. They attend other artists shows, they send in artwork so that the gallery can promote and sell it, etc. Ive learned that art is not cheap. But cheap in the art world is different than cheap to me. Our current show, Wilma Fiori’s Works on Paper had all pieces selling for $1500. When people who were interested in the art came in, they were shocked at that low of a price for such an experienced artist. Ive never understood how people could manage to pay thousands for a piece of paper to hang on their wall. I realize now that art has a much deeper meaning. People don’t pay for paper, they pay for a feeling or experience, a connection. So far I have discovered a lot about art culture and I have been able to more fully understand both artists, onlookers, and collectors of the art that Rule shows and sells.
Blog Question #5 How do you feel like your internship is going so far? What are the highlights? What are the challenges? Do you feel like you are making connections with your co-workers? Are you using your internship inspired project as a creative connection between you and your supervisor? What can you do to improve your experience?
So far I think my internship is going well overall. The highlights and the interactions I have with coworkers as well as learning more about art and the different artists. The challenges are mostly within myself. I have found I am somewhat shy in the gallery and am not sure whether or not this is good. I get more work done as a pro but as a con I hardly converse with coworkers on topics outside of work. That may be helpful for a workspace, but is also a challenge in that I do not know my coworkers as well as I might like. I feel I am slowly making connections for the reasons I mentioned. My internship inspired project is allowing me to discuss artists more with coworkers and it especially will and is going to help me understand the artists the gallery represents more. To improve my experience I can try and not be as shy and build better connections with both my coworkers, artists, their art, and myself as I am relating to art.
Blog Question #6 End of the quarter check- in. OK to do 150 words this week. Please do an inventory of your hours completed up until now and make sure your electronic time card is updated coming into the end of the quarter. How are you doing so far on completing your hours? Do you have the amount of hours complete that you should have at this point in the internship? If you are behind on your hours, what is your plan to make up the hours you are missing? How are you doing with the challenge of maintaining your intern work schedule? Are you using your google calendar to keep track of your intern schedule and homework assignments? Is there any other challenge you feel the Internship Program Director should be aware of at the end of the first half of your internship?
So far I am doing pretty good on my hours. I believe I just have 3 more hours that I need to makeup since I had class one of the Wednesdays and haven’t yet had completion hours done. I am going to need to ask if there is a good day I can come in soon and make up my hours. Since my schedule is set it is not that difficult to maintain. It is sometimes a hassle to get from school to the internship since I go straight to the gallery, but its not too bad. It also can be difficult when I have work after the internship and have to go straight from school to the internship to work with no breaks. But again, not it is not too bad and manageable. I honestly keep forgetting about my google calendar and I need to be more on top of that part. I do however have my schedule and assignments written in my school planner, which I check more often. So far I don’t have any concerns that need to be addressed. Overall the first half of my internship has been successful!
Blog Question #7: What is your favorite part of working on personal art projects? What challenges do you face on personal art projects? What have you learned about working in a creative business? What is your favorite part of working in a creative business? What is the difference between working on personal art and working in a creative business? *(Please read below now in preparation for Blog 8)
It is fun to work on my project in particular because it forces me to observe the world as art. This however, is also hard. What I am doing is trying to find things in the real world around me that remind me of artists the gallery supports and their art. I always have to remind myself of the project and look for similarities between the actual art and my reality, its not all that bad, though. I think this is true for the creative business. You always have to look for opportunities and try and make situations, materials, etc. work for you and your art needs. I enjoy interning in the creative business because it forces you to view the world from a different perspective that you would not normally take up. The difference between personal art and art for the creative business is just that. Personal art is just for you and can be whatever you want and although you may be an artist in the creative business you have to create things for others to a certain extent. You need to know what will sell and what will not while still holding true to your own personal style and visions.
No Blog Next Week- you will need to use the week to work on your Internship Inspired Project in preparation for blog 8. You cannot write blog 8 if you have not talked to your supervisor about your internship project. Make talking to your supervisor about the project #1 priority if that hasn’t happened.
Blog Question #8 :
How is your internship project going? Describe the progress of your project. How did the conversation about your project go with your sponsor? (If you haven’t discussed the project with your sponsor yet, how do you plan to do so?) Did they have good insights into how to improve or expand the project? How does your project bridge what you do at your internship and what you like to create for yourself? Has your relationship with your sponsor evolved as you have engaged in a creative dialogue about your project? Art there any challenges you are experiencing planning or doing your project?
My internship project is going okay so far. I still need to do more but it is hard to find things that are, in my opinion, good enough for the project. It was hard for me to bring up the project at first. This is mostly because I didn’t know how to start the conversations and was not sure how it was going to go. When I did this, however, the actual conversation was not that bad. The project ended up being a slightly different version of what I was expecting. Instead of making one piece inspired by the artists, I am capturing multiple pictures that are inspired by the art. They did not have any specific insights into the project I remember. They did show me examples of a similar project one of their artists (I can not remember his name right now) does on his free time. This project bridges how I view my own art and others who are professionals. It allows me to experiment with my own art and perspective in ways I normally would not but ways that have proven to be successful in the real world. Since we could not talk much about the project for that long our relationship hasn’t really changed. I do not doubt the possibility of that in the near future, though. As I mentioned in my last blog, the only issue with the project is being able to find objects and situations that are my style and art mimic someone else. Other than that it is just time that is restricting me. I am making a lot of progress and with no specified number of photos I need I can imagine that I will be finished and satisfied in time.
Blog Question #9 What have you seen or experienced in your internship that has inspired you the most on your own artistic journey? Has this experience changed your artistic ambitions? How? Have you used this experience to diversify your skill set? What skills have you added?
Throughout my internship, I have seen and met artists who create art that evokes strong emotion. This personal emotion, whatever it may be from, extends past an artist and reaches their viewers on a whole new level. The passion behind their art and the personal meaning each piece has to an individual has inspired me the most. It is one thing to create a well done rendition of something and another thing to create something that is beautiful but also has a deeper intention behind each stoke, line, picture, etc. These experiences have made me strive to create works in which the subject matter is important to me personally. I think these artists are so well perceived and successful because they have such a unique and individual approach to everything they do. It is this sense of security in their own work that makes me want to improve the emotional quality (and therefore overall quality) of my own art. I have started to make more art that is specific to me and makes sense to me without anyone else knowing or needing to know exactly what it is. I am capturing my emotions and feelings in a more abstract way, which is something I struggled with before since I did not ever see any good examples of it actually working for others. I am not sure how much sense that makes but it is a very important skill to have learned for my work especially. I think art is so much more beautiful and has a greater impact when it evokes a deep and personal emotion that is different depending on the viewer.
Blog Question #10 : Has this experience been a rewarding one for you? Why or Why not (keep it positive, if you had negative experiences, focus on what you learned- make yourself look good!)? How has the reality of your internship matched or contrasted with your expectations? What is the most important learning you did during your internship?
This experience has been very rewarding for me. I have learned so much about the art world as well as art in general that has changed the way I do my art and look at others. I didn’t really know what I was expecting going in to the internship so the experience surprised me in the best way possible. The most Important thing I did at the internship was probably meet and talk to people. This allowed me to understand different perspectives and viewpoints as well as similarities between the artists, gallerists, collectors, and people overall involved int he art world. I am glad I decided to do this internship and was accepted as it has made a positive impaction my life.