My Summer Internship With Arts Every Day

My name is Charyce Burrell and I am a Senior at Mergenthaler Vocational-Technical High School. This summer, through the Bloomberg Arts Internship Program, I was given the opportunity to intern for the arts non-profit Arts Every Day (AED). Working with Arts Every Day was an amazing experience and was very different from what I had initially expected. What I expected it to be was a busy office with a lot of workers. But in reality it was just 4 hard working women that came together to make sure everything goes right and that everything is in the right place. Arts Every Day works closely with Baltimore City Public Schools to ensure students have access to the arts. My own school is one that has benefited from AED’s efforts to bring arts integrated learning into the classroom.

Throughout the whole summer, Arts Every Day held meetings with their Art and Culture Partners throughout the city to keep strong connections with the arts community going and to gather information on new exhibits, education programs and opportunities for city schools. I was able to take several trips to different museums and organizations and got to meet a lot of people that contribute to Baltimore’s amazing arts scene. During those trips I got to explore, take pictures, and read about the history of an artwork or object. I found it interesting to hear what my supervisor and the partners talked about. I listened, asked questions and kept my notes up to date with important key facts that could be useful to teachers. We visited The Walters Art Museum, Center Stage, The Maryland Science Center, Maryland Historical Society, The Baltimore Museum of Industry, The Baltimore Museum of Art, and The Reginald F. Lewis Museum! 

What I learned about myself through my time with AED is that no matter what I’m doing, to make sure I have fun. Everyone we encountered seemed to genuinely enjoy and believe in what they do. Something I also learned about myself is that I’m a fast worker. Working with AED made me build business relationships (networking!) and showed me different things around Baltimore that I had known nothing about. For example, I didn’t know that this little area is called SNAE which stands for Station North Arts and Entertainment District! 

I also learned many skills at AED that will help me in my graphic design career. I learned how to design ADA compliant flyers for people that are colorblind or with visual impairments. I learned to think about my designs from all angles and to think about where and how they will be seen. Those are some key skills I would take with me into my graphic design practice and will share with my colleagues in the field. I learned about branding awareness, blog posting, attention-grabbing headlines, and a whole lot about social media marketing.

My main job while working at AED was to do graphic design and communications marketing for events and things that were going on at our organization. Everything from flyers, spreadsheets, maps, to editing was all done by me! I also was responsible for programming and making sure events, such as our Artscape Youth Arts Market, went as planned. I kept track of vendors and ensured everyone had a space. Also while doing that i had to make  sure our venders or guest are okay and always made sure to ask if they needed anything. I had a great experience writing notes and being able to get those notes together and make blog posts for AED to post during throughout school year. Stay tuned for those posts from me throughout year!

What I learned that communication is key and networking can get you a lot places. What I mean by that communication is key is that you always have to speak up so people know what it is your having trouble with- don’t just sit there. Also with communicating it helps you a lot when bonding because you never what could be the outcome of just having a conversation with someone. When I say networking I mean meeting people through other people or meeting different faces and being able to have a new bond with that person. Networking could expand your career or can let you meet new friends and possible forever friends if your energy matches. Communication and Networking goes hand-in-hand because without it, you never can’t easily get what you want.

My time with Arts Every Day expanded my communication skills, work skills, and graphic design skills and I’m very happy about that growth because it makes me feel like I achieved something and grew as a person over the summer.  I will miss my AED family, lunches at Nancy’s, and Kidd Smith drumming away in front of Motor House.  Thank you to Arts Every Day, Young Audiences, and Bloomberg Philanthropies for this amazing opportunity!