Fine Arts Career Services

My supervisor is back and it has been a great help. Things are finally starting to fall into place. All the poster prepping and looking through files have meaning now. This week has been pretty slow since now that my list is finished the work I do is coming and going item by item. I no longer have the option to look for something else on the list.

I talked to Mark about his internship, but we could not get our schedules right. I really wanted to go to the closing of the show this weekend for his Cantanker exhibit since I could not go to the opening, but I now have to go to Dallas for a family affair. So in the upcoming days, I will get to look through old issues of the magazine and he will explain to me the inner workings of it all. Perhaps I will learn the answer to my biggest question: How can I get my work into the magazine?

Well, all in all, work is steady. I am still working on the same projects I mentioned in previous blogs, and when the fog clears all the way I can probably speak about each individual project in more depth.

I just started last week at the Long Center for Performing Arts, and so far I like it.  The environment is very relaxed, all the people I work with are friendly and very passionate about the arts–just like me!  There are quite a few interns, I don’t know if I’ve even met them all yet, but I met a girl, Jenna, who is also a Marketing/Development intern.  She’s a student at ACC working toward a Marketing degree, there’s also a girl in the Programming department who works for a fashion design company on the side.  It’s interesting to see the mix of interests that come together in this organization.

I attended a play last weekend to which I received free tickets: A Bronx Tale with Chazz Palmenteri.  I thoroughly enjoyed the performance and look forward to further opportunities to see shows.

My current tasks include clipping newspapers that date back to 2006, and any article or caption that includes “The Long Center” must be catalogued.  Basically, I’ve been archiving for the past week, but I finished that project in the few days I worked and I think my supervisor was impressed with how fast I completed the task.

I should be receiving a new assignment today…

It’s been another week here without my supervisor, so I have remained reliant on my list. But I have been chugging away at it and it has been going pretty well.

Last week I really enjoyed looking though Goldwater papers. I got to see the insides of the failed Goldwater campaign of 1964: outlines, pamphlets, speeches from many politicians, original letters criticizing the campaign. Basically I got to see it from many points of view, some was funny and some was kind of sad. I really learned a lot about the time period and the campaign.

I saved many of the menial tasks for this week. Since I am a bit sick, this is actually quite fortunate.
I’ve been prepping posters to be hung up. This involves cutting velcro and sticking it to the backs of posters, printing and mounting captions, and mounting a couple of posters. I’m glad it’s not too intensive.

I like working alone more than I thought I would. I get an entire workspace to myself. I can pick and choose what I want to work on, at what time, and I can put the radio on my choice of station! well I think that is all for now.

Primarily the past few weeks have been spent preparing for and partaking in Cantanker’s release of Issue 6: Transitions, our “half-issue” released annually in the late summer publishing solely images of pieces that fit within the issue’s theme. Normally issues present readers with a variety of articles, pieces, and special projects, however, these specific issues strictly feature images of artwork.

Last week I, along with Cantanker staff, installed the majority of the exhibition paired with the release of the issue at Big Medium Gallery. Pieces ranged from video installations to sculpture, photography, and a few other mediums that you will have to check out the issue to see. A few days later (this past Saturday) I partook in the all-hands-on-deck rush to ensure success at the release party for the issue. With these the magazine hosts a shindig of sorts where interested Austin folk can stop by, pick up the latest issue, donate to the cause and view the exhibit organized to coincide with the release.

From this point on, my focus until the next issue gets rolling is to distribute as intensely as possible. I was lucky enough to view the Impressionist show at the Kimbell Museum of Art in Ft. Worth this past Sunday and stopped by the Modern Museum of Art to drop off a stack of magazines as a start to this goal. This week and next I will be visiting every possible location to spread the word and drop copies off. Keep an eye out around campus; this issue is most definitely a must-see!

I’ve been working at my internship at the Center for American History for a couple of weeks now and I am still having to adjust to the mass of information and people I’ve been introduced to.

My boss is out of the office for a couple of weeks and I thought that I would be totally lost without her since my job is mostly solitary and I’ve only just begun, but things are going well. I’ve been chugging away at the long list of things to do, mostly preparing images to exhibit. If I get bored or can’t figure out how to do something there is always something else on the list to do. For me that is very reassuring.

The most fun I’ve had so far is getting to look through original Barry Goldwater documents and pick the ones I think are visually appealing enough for the Presidential exhibit, which is going up later in the Fall. It’s very exciting to touch the primary documents and to see the backstage of his campaign. I already feel like I’ve learned a lot.