Caroline Noonan at MCLA Office of Student Development

Engagement in the Arts Internship

Interview Overview:The Community Engagement in the Arts Internship seeks to bring more inclusive, equitable arts events and experiences to the greater MCLA community. Through this internship, students research the field of arts and arts management in order to create and coordinate programs and projects that aid the arts experiences of students on-campus.

Reflection:

During this internship, I have been researching what makes a good arts event on-campus. I made it my personal mission through my research and event planning to reach out to both arts and non-arts majors, as I feel that the arts are something that can benefit everyone, but are sometimes perceived to be inaccessible to people who don’t study “the arts” specifically. Over the course of my internship, I have been learning how much time and effort goes into event planning, particularly when it comes to reaching out to audiences and finding events that are both meaningful, relevant, and accessible. I have been putting together three events so far: a Black-Out Poetry Booth, a collaboration with visual artist Trenton Doyle Hancock, and a student-lead gallery walk. What I’ve found most challenging (and most exciting) is the amount of freedom I have over my events. While I have often worked on school projects, I have always been given a rubric or a group of people to work with. But in this internship, the ideas and planning are my own, and I must figure out whether what I am saying means things to others. Although I have people to collaborate with, it is up to me to take full responsibility for what does and does not happen while working on my events, and it feels very liberating. I am very excited to think that I will be able to create meaningful arts experiences for my fellow MCLA students, as others have done for me in the past. The fact that I get to learn event planning and research a cause that I care so much about (and work with some pretty cool artists, too!) is icing on the cake for me. I hope others are positively impacted by the work I’ve done!

“The fact that I get to learn event planning and research a cause that I care so much about (and work with some pretty cool artists, too!) is icing on the cake for me.”