Skip to main content

My Experience as an Intern at 701 CCA

I graduated with a BFA in printmaking from USC in 2013.  I've been out of college for a few years and I wasn't happy with my current job prospects.  After looking into master's programs in arts administration, I contacted Hannah, the director at 701 CCA, about volunteering in order to get some experience for my resume and a better idea of what I want to do.  When I met Hannah, she told me about the internship and encouraged me to apply.

The internship at 701 has been a great experience.  I've been able to get firsthand experience in what goes on behind the scenes at a nonprofit arts organization.  The most interesting part was working with Janet Orselli to install her re:Visions exhibition.  It was exciting to see the gallery come together and to help with the opening reception at the end.  I've gotten to work on marketing, social media outreach, grant writing, gallery installation, and an event.  Not only has this significantly helped my resume, but I've decided to apply to a masters in arts administration program.  

I definitely encourage future interns to take advantage of the projects available to work on.  I purposefully chose to work on a grant writing project in order to learn a skill I felt will be valuable to me in the future.  It takes so much to run an organization like 701 CCA, so I'm positive that there is something of interest no matter what your goals are.  The internship was a wonderful learning experience.  For example, I had never written a grant before and Hannah was extremely helpful, which made it possible to learn a lot in two months.  I'm incredibly grateful for this opportunity, especially since it's a little unusual to do an internship five years after graduation. 

-Rachel Donnelly

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