I went through the internship company Art Bound Initiative and spent eight weeks of my summer in New York City. I am going to school in Cincinnati, Ohio at the Art Academy of Cincinnati. It was through my school that I heard of Art Bound Initiative (ABI). After contacting ABI they were very helpful and willing to answer any and all questions I had in concern with my application and then later on after I was accepted into the program with my placement. I felt ABI was knowledgeable and efficient in what they were doing. I was stunned at the speed with which I was informed of my acceptance and then the speed and ease I was assigned my placement for my summer internship. I am a fine artist and for this internship I wanted to be placed with other studio artists. ABI took my desire into consideration and found me a placement where I was working with two studio artists as their studio assistant.
My arrival in New York was painless and I moved into where I would be staying for the next eight weeks. ABI found the apartment I stayed at, it was in a very good location right next to the Central Ave Metro stop in Brooklyn. Through out my stay I felt very safe in my neighborhood and had no problems getting anywhere from where I was. The day I moved into my apartment, I took an opportunity to introduce myself in person (because we had only communicated long distance) to one of the artists I was going to work with at a small art showing. I worked with this artist on Mondays and Tuesdays during my eight week stay. He and I got along very well which made the work atmosphere in the studio very bright. I always looked forward to working with him in his studio. My primary tasks in his studio were to prepare and paint canvases, as well as to mix colors. While doing this the artist and I would converse about many things, but primarily about art in general. We had a very easy working relationship that carried through the entire time I was there.
The second artist I was placed with is located in Tribecca, which is in the financial district of Manhattan. I felt that my internship with this artist did not start off as smoothly as it had with the first artist. The second artist's pace is much different than my own and the first artist I was with. He would jump from one activity to the next in rapid succession, and in time I was able to keep up, but at first this threw me off. The work I did for him was much different than the work I was doing for the first artist. For the second artist I did a lot of project filing and managing, along with stretching and preparing some canvases, but he also had me going and scouting out galleries for him. My internship with him was illuminating into the business of art. I have gain invaluable information from doing this that I will carry through my remaining time in school and into my career.
Because I worked for the two artists only two days out of the week each, I had Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays to myself. ABI set up several events in which I met with others going through the ABI program in New York as well as with individuals affiliated with the ABI network. One of these events was Tribecca Art Night. ABI was in contact with one of the organizers for Tribecca Art Night who extended the opportunity for ABI participants to volunteer to help out that night, which I did, and I had a lot of fun. I was assigned to help out with a musical event, the performer was incredibly talented. After the performance I helped out at the after party and met some very exciting and interesting people. To reiterate Tribecca Art Night was a lot of fun, and I met up with one of the other participants in the ABI program there. Through the ABI network I also came into contact with another participant who's internship began at the same time as mine. She and I became good friends during my time in New York, and we started a weekly tradition where we'd venture into the lower east side together, at least once a week, and eat at Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot.
ABI stayed in contact with me throughout the entire experience doing their best to make sure it was a good one. If I had need to I felt that I could readily contact ABI with an issue or concern and that they would get back to me in a timely manner.
The only times I had issues during my internship was when I went into Newark, New Jersey for a music event, but that had nothing to do with ABI or my internship. I will admit that it would have been nice if this had been a paid internship, but I had a great time and highly recommend Art Bound Initiative to any young professionals in the art field looking to cultivate connections and gain experience in the art world.
