Skip to main content

My Winter Internship Experience

In all honesty I had no recollection of there ever being a 701CCA before I began interning here. In fact, I barely knew anything about the arts community in Columbia during my three years at USC -- surprising for a Media Arts major. Though had I not taken advantage of an extra credit opportunity for one of my classes last semester, I don't think I would have stumbled across this space, or the inspiring community that makes 701 so great. 

My first visit to 701 happened by chance -- I had been offered an extra credit assignment for my New Media Art class after reviewing installation art the week prior. My professor notified the class about an upcoming exhibition for the current artist in residence at that time (Brittany Watkins, an incredibly talented artist) being held that week and encouraged whoever was interested to attend. I decided that I had nothing better to do, and so my friend and I took up Professor Chi's offer on the chance to come and see the artist talk about her exhibition. It. Was. Amazing. I remember looking at Luis and saying, "We need to volunteer here," and we were on the schedule not even a week after. For the next week or so, Luis and I helped with uninstalling the gallery space; not really paying attention to how much time had passed -- we were both too busy gushing over Brittany's glasses while using a hairdryer to peel vinyl off the floor. Volunteering also gave me the opportunity to meet the director, Hannah Shepard, whom I consider myself so grateful to have worked with.          

I admit that I had no idea what to expect when Hannah accepted me as one of her interns, I just knew that I was excited; the hype was there -- or maybe I was still living through Andy Sachs after watching The Devil Wears Prada the night before. The more I learned from her about 701, the more I realized what being a part of the gallery involved. We were given various projects to work on throughout our time here that challenged us while participating equally in working for events (my favorite part), managing social media content, helping install for upcoming exhibitions, and working alongside various artists.   

Working here alongside Hannah and the other interns not only made me feel like I was contributing to something larger than myself, but that I gained a sense of family among my place here as a 701 intern and volunteer. It was such a valuable opportunity and I enjoyed every moment of it. Knowing what I know now, I have gained a stronger appreciation for contemporary art, and have come to admire the amount of dedication and  passionate a community of people are willing to demonstrate to make this experience a memorable one.   



-William Craig III



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spring 2019 Internship

I was really happy to have the opportunity to work here as I had heard things about it from friends who volunteered for a long time. Being in the space and getting to work with the install and uninstall process was something that I was looking forward to the most and proved to be as rewarding of an experience as I hoped it would be. Getting to come in and help put up art by real recognized artists and meeting people in the arts community was something I wasn’t expecting to happen as much as it did. Actually being able to talk to these people doing this work professionally is something that helped me to appreciate just how much goes into these organizations and the process overall. Working here was also a good thing for my resume. Personally, it gave me time to create professional designs and to hone my skills with website design. Being able to be the one to redesign the 701 press packet, relatively soon to the time I started, was assuring that I would truly gain experience. I als...
Post a Comment
Read more

Working in the Arts Without Being an Artist

I pursued a degree in the humanities and was convinced for most of my twenties that I was going to work as a tenured professor after getting my PhD. What I had not anticipated was that I was going to shift careers after finishing my studies. All in all, the graduate school hustle was brutally painful to me, leaving me not only burned out, but also emotionally scarred from abusive mentoring, student harassment, and cultural adaptation. On top of all that, I realized that a crucial reason why grad school had almost never been energizing to me is that it was disconnected from my interests in art and design. (Later on, I would also learn that it was disconnected from my values and that job placement for PhDs has been at an all-time low in the face of a collapsing academic job market .) The next problem I encountered was that I lacked technical artistic skills, which made it hard for me to contemplate career shifting without pursuing further education and acquiring eve...
Post a Comment
Read more

Summer Internship at 701 CCA

Summer Internship at 701 CCA My summer spent interning with 701 Center for Contemporary Art has been a valuable learning experience. It was very rewarding to work with a nonprofit organization that emphasizes the importance of contemporary art and its role in the community. The ability to complete unique and wide-ranging projects within the organization is what I enjoyed most about the internship. It was exciting to be completing useful and necessary projects, rather than just busy-work. Throughout the internship, I have gained experience in many different fields relating to marketing, research, and gallery management.  Installing Mana Hewitt: Persistence My marketing projects included press releases, social media marketing, graphic design, and website development. One of my favorite marketing projects was designing a new business card for 701 CCA and fliers for our youth summer camps, as it gave me the opportunity to utilize my photoshop skills for professional use....
Post a Comment
Read more