Fine Arts Career Services

This past week I had a very unique experience as a result of my internship at DiverseArts. I attended the Liberal Arts Career and Internship Fair this past Wednesday as a recruiter for this unique non-profit organization. Harold and myself interviewed anywhere from a hundred to one hundred and fifty bright young individuals to fill internship positions for the next Spring and Summer semesters. As a soon to be graduate of the University of Texas it is interesting to be on the other side of the career table. Interviews are constructed to find the best fit for each position. Questions aim to determine logistic information such as the area of study in which students are most proficient, academic standings and how individuals might best serve the organization. After a successful campaign at the career fair, the business of sorting through all the resumes and emails received is delegated to me. I have initiated a system of filing to organize the responses from potential candidates. Skill that set an individual apart from the crowd includes professional conduct, organization, responsibility and the ability to promote your abilities. When a sea of resumes confronts employers, determination may be as important as experience. An essential key to landing advantageous vocational positions is following up. Seven applications have been submitted out of a hundred interviewees. Candidates stand out not only because of their accomplishments but because they have contacted us by email and have expressed continued interest. I believe this experience better prepares my own endeavors to fill job positions and proactively react during interviews and occupational assessments exercises. “Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing (Abraham Lincoln).”

In addition to planning for the future, DiverseArts is also addressing events and  programming to come in the remainder of the 2009 Fall season. I am currently initiating the final preparations for E.A.S.T. (East Austin Studio Tour), to take place the weekends of November 14^th – 15^th and 21^st - 22^nd. DiverseArts Culture Works will be hosting an artist market at Kenny Dorham’s Backyard and a new gallery show at New East Arts Gallery. There is a lot of development to be carried out in administrative areas. The non-profit is gearing up for the launch of a new and improved annual membership fundraiser and a reelection of the members of the board. I plan to attend a meeting this Thursday so I will be familiar with their conduct and the overall mission that drives this organization’s efforts.

This week at CAG I am filming an EPK. An EPK stands for electronic press kit, which is basically a resume for artists, or a preview for a movie. They are normally used when an upcoming artist it promoting their album when it is about to be released. What it entales is a biography, tour dates, photos, press releases, even a look into the songs that are going to be on the upcoming album. This week I am getting alot of stuff together to film this. I have an advertising major from the University of Texas helping me with this project. Ramy wanted me to work with the resources around me and network and so I found him to help me. We are filming on wednesday which should be so fun. This is really opening my eyes to understand that its not just about the music it takes alot of other elements to make this whole thing happen. I am defnitely learning the right skills to learn how this industry works.

I learned the image of photos or text can look different when I created my art portfolio, so I asked S to print out my business card for me before we bring it to the printer.  S gave me a hard copy of my business card next day.  Then I asked myself that does it look presentable, and do I like it?  The answer was “No! “  I told myself that I know you can make it to look better.  My assignment for this week was editing my business card.  I played with making a logo bigger, however I did not think Japanese text looked good in it because a big logo and Japanese font were fighting.  So I asked myself if I should take out Japanese text and make a logo bigger.  Well, I still wanted some Japanese text in my business card as my experiment.  I want to see how American may act on it when they saw some Japanese text in my business card.  I decided to take out my name in Japanese text, but I left the company name in Japanese.  It looked better, I thought.  Again, I asked S to print out my business card last night.

This week, the HRC staff saw the start of a much awaited event: The Big Move. My department has been planning this move for months now. Previous interns have worked on this before me, and I am, along with other interns, are continuing the effort to coordinate this move. With all the hype that preceded it, I was expecting utter confusion and mayhem. But it has been a surprisingly smooth and stress-free process (at least for me). I know that this is due to the careful planning that my supervisor and other have put into this project.

Monday, my supervisor and I oversaw the movers, and then we moved some art ourselves. I reshelved some things and found places for “homeless” works of art. I was on my feet the whole time, something I really enjoy as a nice change from all the sitting I do in class. Wednesday was a bit more relaxed, as I prepared labels for the artwork in one particular room. The labels act as an example of how well the HRC staff is handling this move. Everything is color coded and marked to show where the artwork came from and where it is going. Every detail has been considered. I am very impressed!

On Friday, I went with my supervisor to the FAC to help with the moving process again. We were going through a box of unidentified objects. I was curious and opened up one of the small cases, and I found a mezuza in it. A mezuza is a Jewish object meant to be placed on the door that also holds a scroll of holy texts. Finding it was completely unexpected as we were in a room filled with cowboy and horse motif inspired objects! I was able to identify the name and purpose of the object for the staff.

I worked on my business card this week.  Stephanie said that my business card can be creative.  It does not have to be formal, so I decided to use Japanese characters in my business card.  There were some limitations again, such as we only had one ink, and a few choices of printing papers.  Whenever I see limitations, I tell myself to challenge myself.  I should learn how to be creative in any kind of situation.

I have always wanted to take a class in typography.  I find it deep, complicated and interesting.  It has a lot of effect on human’s psychology.  Some fonts are easily read, but some are not.  Letters can give people sound not just reading letters.  Using Japanese and English letters together in my business card made me to think about visual and sound effects a lot.  First, I typed every information in English, then I decided which information to type in Japanese.  I decided to choose the name of the company and my name.  I made one Japanese word to be bold and arch because it looked like it had a roof, column and floor.  I picked that word to use it as a symbolic figure of a building.  Then I wondered how many people can see it as a symbolic figure of a building.  I really hope to take a typography class soon.

After a weekend of heavy studying and writing, Monday came as a relief. This week I was jumping between different tasks at my internship, a nice reprieve from last week’s constant work on the database.  At my internship on Monday, I completed the mindless task of creating labels! After working hard on the database the week before, it was almost fun to just sit back and make labels. But this only lasted an hour until we went over to the FAC to tag items before the Big Move starts next week. This upcoming week, materials from the FAC are moving to the HRC. And to get ready for this, we had to tag every item so that during this hectic move, we will be able to keep track of every piece. I am really impressed with how my supervisor and his co-workers are handling this move! This is a project that is so stressful, and they are handling it with such composure. Their organizational skills, I’m sure, are the key to this whole process. I am very excited for next week when this whole thing will be set into motion.

Wednesday’s work was very much like last week’s, as I was working on the database again.

Friday, I helped Mr. M. set up for a private tour. So we pulled items in the Prints and Drawings Room. We pulled mostly portraits: Frida Kahlo, E.E. Cummings, Anne Sexton, Diego Rivera, and others. And then I went on a mini-field trip around the building to different floors, in order to keep track of paintings and sculptures that these departments have from the Art Collection. I always find it exciting to stretch my legs, get up from the desk, and get to walk around! Working on the computer has its merits, but I like to get my hands dirty, so to speak.

There was some more added spice to this week. On Wednesday, Mr. M. sent me an email that a bat was found roaming around the HRC! But not only was it just in the building, but it was on the 7th floor, where I work! I was a bit apprehensive about bats flying in and out of the HRC, but I soon forgot about it once I started working.

One thing I have learned in this internship so far is the value of connections. I’ve always known that networking is a crucial skill, but the value of relationships with other individuals has never been more apparent.

Part of my job at the Long Center is to respond to people and organizations asking for donations for charity events. It shocked me at first just how many free tickets the Long Center gives away; on average I process three or four requests a day. I thought that The Long Center was wasting a lot of money by throwing it at these organizations, and it didn’t make much sense since The Long Center is also a non-profit relying on donations to continue running. But in seeing how the requests work and how we can use them later, I know that these free admissions into shows are much more than just a generous gift given in the name of art. We use these donations as one of our most effective advertising methods. When The Long Center publicly gives a valuable gift for the sake of a charity, it reflects extremely well on the organization and usually helps raise ticket sales. Also, the recipients of the gift are very accepting of promotional efforts and materials. Oftentimes they even run ads for donors in newsletters and advertise for The Long Center outside of the actual charity event. So the gain from these donations is clear – but what about the losses? Very few of our shows sell out completely every night they run. In fact, I have yet to see one perform such a feat. The free tickets are usually filled during emptier nights, so there is actually no loss for The Long Center at all. Of course, if the person had intended to buy a ticket to the show it would be a considered a loss for that particular performance. But usually those that have won are very receptive to promotions of other shows at The Long Center as well. Most importantly, though, I’d like to go back to the point I addressed initially: those people are then an asset in the future because The Long Center has established a positive working relationship with them. They are receptive to future promotional efforts and even look for ways to help sell tickets.

Therefore, ticket donation is an extremely effective way of raising ticket sales. It helps build The Long Center’s reputation, as well as advertises for that and other shows in the future at very little cost to the organization.

First off, I’d like to send a shout out to Mr. Walker and the infamous empty Texas guitar cases…

Things are definitely picking back up around the office, and thusly everyone seems a bit busier than the week previous. I’ve been working with Mr. P. more diligently on the ongoing spreadsheet project, as well as a binder filled with similar information, just formatted in a more detailed, easier to read manner. After this step, Mr. P. says we’ll be able to start using the information in a more proactive manner, seeking out people of interest to start building a business relationship with them. Seeing how much has been put into the project, this is very exciting stuff.

I’ve been working reception this past week more than usual, which has been nice. Interacting with people, either over the phone or in person as they arrive, always aids in the development of one’s communication skills which are vital in a professional work environment. So for this, I am grateful. Not only that, but it is interesting to continue to put the puzzle pieces together of who does what in the office, and when a call comes in that does not have a specific person in mind to talk to, I can forward it to the most appropriate person. The more I learn on this front will only provide further customer/client service for our business. And at days end, I don’t think people take that for granted, because little things like that go a long way.

The trip to the warehouse with Ms. R. is still on the horizon. Due to  unforeseen events, i.e. last minute concerts that needed her undivided attention, we did not make the trip last week. However, it seems as though the trip is imminent as well as vital. And the good news with that is, since I’m supposed to ‘dress down’ for the warehouse trip, and not sure what day I’ll actually going, I’ve been able to wear slightly more comfortable clothing to work the past few days.

Finally, a small project I completed yesterday for Ms. P. consisted of building chairs! 4 office chairs, in boxes that needed assembly, arrived last week and yesterday Ms. P. asked if I would assemble them for her. This took nearly two hours to complete, but only because I was working the phones at reception simultaneously. More to come!

-DGray

This week at The Blanton work continued to hum along at a nicely comfortable pace. We didn’t have any large evening events so I only worked during the day on assembling packets for potential clients and other assignments that Stephanie and Katy gave me. While completing these tasks, I began to think about the nature of the events that we have hosted and produced in the past two months. Compared to former special events experience that I have had, the events here are relatively stress-free proceedings. I am usually given specifically out lined duties like greeting guests, meeting musicians at the loading dock, or ensuring that no one brings food and drinks into the galleries. The main reason for this calmness I think, is that I am working with the venue as opposed to working for the individual or group who rents the Museum to host parties.  Therefore my job is limited to working with the space and not controlling the ins and outs of the event.

When we do hold events specifically for The Blanton and represent both the client and the venue, a cool collectiveness still reigns.  One reason for this control is that the main focus of The Blanton, and this its events is always art. The inherently static nature of the art at the Museum means that we are not continually running around making sure the Petrobelli Altarpiece is in the right place at the right time. Another factor in the calmness of our parties is our guests. Aside from BScene, which is usually very lively, our guests are generally older, relaxed, and here to experience our wonderful collection.

Side note:  This week I cleared a very serious paper jam and made double-sided, stapled copies!!

Recognition of your accomplishments by peers and friends is occasion to celebrate. This past Thursday, October 15^th 2009, Mr. H. McMillan, received the Bridging Divides Award from the University of Texas Project on Conflict Resolution. This places him in the company of Mr. Willy Nelson, for whom the award was founded in 2007, the late Clifford Antone, Cyril Neville and others. This award highlight individuals in the community who have bridged divides between groups and cultures. The organization champions his work as a founder of the Austin Blues Family Tree Project in which he has preserved the stories of dozens of African American musicians. Singing his praise they celebrate the ways in which, “His work allows modern ears to hear first-person accounts of how the blues, and the heyday of Black East Austin’s entertainment district, contribute to modern experience.” I was in attendance on that night to support Mr. McMillan’s efforts over the years. He truly is a “tireless artist,” having devoted his life to the pursuit of knowledge and the preservation and promotion of the culture of art and music. He is a shinning example that persistence and hard work is its own reward.

We are looking to the future, reenergized by appreciation. As the only intern currently acting on behalf on DiverseArts Culture Works I recognize the great need to recruit new faces and talents. Plans are made to participate in three consecutive internship and career fairs at University of Texas and St. Edwards. I plan to accompany Mr. McMillan as my schedule allows broadening our reach at these events. The past two months have taught me the importance of time management, self-expression, organization, setting healthy boundaries and dexterity.