Statistics, English literature, ethics, chemistry, psychology, art history, dance, foreign language, chemistry, graphic design… the combination of coursework for students in their final year of high school runs the gamut. For some of last summer’s Bloomberg Arts Interns, it’s all that and an internship on top. A dozen students elected to continue their 2022 summer internships into the school year, getting a full year’s worth of experience working closely with an arts and cultural organization.

These school-year interns got more time to cultivate relationships, experience a greater variety of jobs, had more opportunities to grow and contribute to their worksite communities, and worked with supervisors to design capstone projects that would be both meaningful to their growth as well as to their organizations. Their projects took many forms ranging from filming and editing videos to jewelry fabrication and design. Some interns planned events while others planned classroom lessons.

Here is a peek into what interns did at their worksites:

• At the Baltimore Museum of Art, intern Adelyn Pierce made a website for the BMA’s Staff Art Show, A Work of Art. She also organized the submissions and helped install the exhibition. 
• Ariel Gilliam worked at the Baltimore Jewelry Center while creating her own handmade jewelry line.
• Francine Tagaytay and Molly Brown worked at Blue Light Junction. There, Francine made a free-form crochet piece from yarn that she dyed with natural pigments: indigo and logwood.
• At Baltimore Rock Opera Society, Jem Mukherjee and Sean Cooper II created Baltimore Rock Opera Society’s Video Vault: an online archive/subscription service of show recordings going back a decade. 
• Jewel Oliver worked at Art with a Heart where she created products for the organization’s online HeARTwares Shop. She also created lesson plans to go along with each of the products.
• Jordan Thomas worked at Baltimore Clayworks.
• At Living Classroom’s Ascend Through Music program, Kaylee Eaton-Torres created the Sharpest Artists Program. She coordinated and planned meetings, created agendas, facilitated events, designed fliers, promoted the program, and partnered musicians with artists who designed and created album covers for their music. She also developed a “youth vendor” system–a platform for youth to market their own products or services. Imeah Curbean interviewed artists related to the Ascend through Music program and highlighted their work in a series of videos while also working to enhance the programming that was already happening. 
• Ke’Ara Page worked as a teaching assistant at Single Carrot Theatre‘s after-school programs for third through fifth graders. 
• At Central Baltimore Partnership, Summer Hubbard created a zine that served as a guide for the murals of Station North and a coloring book! She also created promotional art for YouthWorks.

Highlights and artifacts from the interns’ capstone projects were presented at Arts for Learning’s home on North Avenue in an interactive display called Resilience. As family, friends, worksite supervisors, and even future Bloomberg Arts interns visited each exhibit, school-year interns were there to explain the work that went into their projects and share the excitement of making lasting and significant contributions within their organizations.

Ty’ Candice Smith, a 2020 graduate of the Bloomberg Arts Internship, turned the school-year interns’ collective artist statement into poetry.

Wise words can come from anywhere
But from BAI interns during the 2022-2023 school year
Come on now I know you’re honored to hear
We expected many different things
That involved time management, college application help,
anxiousness, no fun, and procrastination
but I won’t say names
There was lots to love though
Like the freedom and creativity we were allowed to have
Making new interactions which will bring long-term connections
Embracing authenticity and being welcomed with gentleness
Clear communication and high vibrations
Good vibes and stepping into great music
I’m not sure if BAI could ever be useless
Truth is we got more connected to our city, self, and each other
From networking to doing the bird flu
Community work which was very influential
Visiting the art organizations in the city
Gaining more friends and family
While being in our own world #WELITTY
People should focus more on the positivity in our city
So when people look at us they won’t feel so much distaste or pity
We explore opportunities like the BAI program so we won’t fall
short of who we are destined to be
Now just like that you’ve had a sneak peek on what it was like to
be a part of an amazing team!

The projects these school-year interns dreamed and planned with their worksite supervisors were brought to life through diligence, patience, and fearless imagination. What an honor it is to experience the fruits of these partnerships and how exciting it will be to see how the seeds these school-year interns have planted will grow.

View photos from Resilience on Flickr. Learn more about the Bloomberg Arts Internship at artsforlearningmd.org/bloomberg-arts-internship.