We thank you for your interest in an arts management graduate-level internship. Our students fulfill 200-hour internships each summer at arts and cultural organizations in the areas of development, programming, arts education, marketing and public relations, special events, museum curation and archiving, volunteer management, and others. AAD graduate students have completed internships at the Chicago Mayor’s Office, the DC Commission on the Arts, the Museum of Modern Art, the California Shakespeare Festival, the Washington State Arts Commission, Empty Space Theatre, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Opera, and ArtsBridge America, among others.

• Complete list of 2004-2008 internship experiences

Graduate students come to the AAD program with experience and backgrounds as practicing artists and arts administrators. During their first year they complete course work prior to beginning their internship in advanced arts administration, nonprofit leadership, arts education, community arts, design and web development, and cultural policy. Students enter the summer internship experience prepared with work learning goals, expectations in terms of skill development, and frameworks for how the internship may fit in with research goals and master’s projects.

• Click here for contract checklist
  

In 2005, AAD graduate students created an internship development guide, which you may find useful. Materials guide through the questions to ask as you develop your internship, how to make the internship successful for both you and the intern, sample evaluation materials, and things that you should consider in developing and evaluating the internship

• Creating an Internship Program that Works - for you and your intern

During Fall quarter, after completing their internship, students post their internship materials on their ePortfolio site, and prepare and present their internship with their peers to the faculty, colleagues, and community partners.

Contract Development

Students develop their internship contracts during winter quarter. They identify their work learning goals, and do intensive searches for arts organizations that they feel will help them to advance their professional and academic goals. At the start of winter quarter, students send out inquiries about interesting internship opportunities, and begin to submit applications to established internship programs.

• Download the contract template

Internship Development Process

Students generally begin looking for their internships as soon as they enter graduate school. So, if you want to be really competitive, you will post your internship opportunity in November. Students are encouraged to have their internships finalized during Winter quarter, or by the end of March. During Winter quarter, students enroll in the course that supports their internship search, identify their work learning goals and begin to apply to arts organizations that match their professional and academic goals.

• Download the supervisor's evaluation form (.PDF)
  
• Download the supervisor's evalution form (.DOC)
• November - begin posting internship opportunities
• March - finalize contracts and details
• June/July - begin internship
• August/September - end internship
• November - internship presentations

Type of Internships (page 4-8 in guide)

There are two types of internships, job shadowing and project-based. Decide what works for you and your organization and plan accordingly. Make sure you have read the intern’s resume and know what they have identified as their skills and goals. Work together in the development of the internship responsibilities and duties so they reflect work learning goals, the needs of your organization, and your management style.

What students look for in an internship (see pages 9-13 in the guide)

• Useful
  Over and over students have said that one of the things they look for in their summer experience is the opportunity to feel useful, to feel that the skills they bring are needed and valued, and to have the opportunity to extend these skills and make a contribution to your organization and the field.
• Busy
  Interns want to stay busy. Dust off your supervisor cap and plan with the intern interesting, challenging, and necessary tasks that contribute to the life of your organization.
• A Place
  Students come back from their internship saying that just having a dedicated desk in a crowded office space, and some evidence that someone has prepared for their arrival, makes a difference in their initial comfort level and first impression.
• Mentor
  Students often say that what made their internship successful was the relationship with their supervisor. Often students are looking for professional mentors in the field, and view their internship as an opportunity to extend their professional networks.
• Housing
  Put simply, students need a place to live for the summer. They are forced to maintain their apartments locally, so housing often becomes the deciding factor for many interns. Offering assistance with housing will help you to be desirable for the top internship candidates.
• Evaluation (pages 16-23 in guide)
  Students must submit a self-evaluation at the end of their internship, and supervisors are required to submit an intern evaluation at the completion of the internship. We strongly recommend an exit interview. This provides you and the intern an opportunity to reflect and on the goals you began with and to assess what helped and hindered you to meet these goals. This is an extremely important part of the internship process, and provides the intern with useful information for their professional growth, and assists you to continue to improve your internship program. It’s also a moment to pause and acknowledge how much work you have accomplished!