Arthur Ross Gallery
Sarah Usandivaras Klaehn
"I began with social media, creating a posting timeline and content for Instagram...I have also researched artworks and donors, as well as helping to organize upcoming events and proofreading a Pew Grant application. Most recently, I aided in bringing the new exhibition Songs for Ritual and Remembrance to fruition… Over the summer, I was able to build skills such as general social media improvement, marketing strategies, people skills, and research. Learning about the art world, as someone who wasn't very familiar with it before, has been incredibly informative not only about artwork but how to establish relationships with individual institutions and plan large-scale events."
ArtWell
Ani Nguyen Le
"At ArtWell, I learned what a real-life work environment looks like and how I can help out and become part of a professional team. Besides developing my knowledge in marketing and design skills, I also became a better team player and learned how to be more patient toward others and myself in situations when something I created wasn't successful on the first try."
Clara Papenfuse
"I came into this experience wanting to get some experience with grant writing (asking foundations, corporations, and the government for money). But, during my time with ArtWell, I found that I've really enjoyed the research and messaging work! I've learned a lot about the current landscape of violence prevention work in Philly, and I helped ArtWell identify its place within that so that they can tell their story in a compelling way. I did write a grant on my own in the end, and it was great to be able to build that off of the research and messaging work I had done earlier in the summer. (My supervisor provided a nice structure to that progression.) I feel well prepared to do more development and grant-based nonprofit work in the future, and I've learned that the ability to tell an organization's story in a new way is the most enjoyable aspect of that work for me."
BalletX
Ayesha Patel
"This summer foremost allowed me to explore the field of finance and economics in a real-world sense. This was the first time that I’ve had the opportunity to apply my in-class knowledge of non-profit budgeting, financial analysis, and optimization to a field of my interest. On a larger scale, I appreciate how structured and organized my internship was – it felt like a real, full-time job!" Read more about Ayesha's experience at BalletX in Penn Today.
Historic Germantown
Catherine Sorrentino
"I’ve been working on two research projects about an independently published pamphlet that celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation with a selection of amateur photography from predominantly black neighborhoods around Philadelphia. I’ve gotten to utilize my research skills well in this part of my internship, developing a comparative paper on W. E. B. DuBois’s ethnographic work in Philadelphia with this piece of amateur sociological research. I’ve also been working on data collection and data entry for my site's new website, which will go live in a few months… I’ve definitely learned much more about how nonprofit organizations function on a daily basis, from attending grant meetings and budget meetings, to organizing marketing campaigns and coming to compromises in the workplace. For me, the most rewarding learning experience I’ve had so far has been working with artists and creatives on upcoming exhibits."
Institute of Contemporary Art
Bethlehem Kiros
"I was able to meet one on one with various members of ICA’s team to learn about their academic and professional backgrounds and what drew them into their roles at the ICA. As a relatively small team, the ICA welcomed my fellow intern and I with open arms with the assurance that we could reach out to them for questions, brainstorming, advice or a simple chat. Beyond the daily office environment, collaborating with curators, artists, and interns from the Whitney Museum during a group visit fostered an inspiring exchange of ideas and perspectives. Witnessing the interplay between artists, curators, and their works firsthand during install provided me with a profound understanding of the symbiotic relationship between art and curation. Additionally, my interactions within the local art scene during a studio visit further ignited my desire to immerse myself in the vibrant cultural landscape of Philadelphia."
Mehak Dhaliwal
"I have had the privilege of collaborating with ICA's Public Engagement and Marketing teams to organize engaging events for the Philadelphia community, compile a comprehensive database of ICA's Milestones for its 60th birthday celebration, develop informative docent guides for upcoming exhibitions, create a valuable feedback form for last year's Student Board, and establish connections with vendors who can showcase products featuring the artworks of our fall exhibition's artists."
Kelly Writers House
Jake Falconer
"This summer I made so many great connections and friendships with my coworkers at the Writers House, the high school workshop students, and especially with my supervisor Jamie-Lee. The Writers’ House coworkers functioned as a family, we had staff meetings at a kitchen table over lunch and were able to talk about both work and our interests outside of work. My coworkers taught me a lot about working as a team and pulling my weight in a group. The high school students came from all over the country and each carried with them a unique perspective that I was able to understand through their writing. I was introduced to more narratives in such a short time and it was so great to be able to guide them as well as learn from them. Jamie-Lee was truly the most supportive teacher and mentor I’ve ever had."
Kislak Center/University Archives
Sanya Malhotra
"My supervisors at Kislak taught me not only about the administrative duties related to my internship but I also inadvertently learned about certain collections from their conversations with visiting researchers…Additionally, I developed a relationship with them beyond the everyday activities of paging and reshelving books…Especially with my fellow SHIP intern and other peers, I got the chance to make friendships I would never have been able to make through classes or social clubs. We talked about our different experiences at Penn, books that we read over summer, and what we hoped to do later in life. Personally, I found it rewarding to make connections with people who had a shared interest in humanities since it is rare to meet people with a deep responsiveness toward those subjects in an academic atmosphere dominated by STEM and business… I developed my organization skills by compiling Excel spreadsheets of an alum donation of antique Penn memorabilia. I also helped out with arranging materials for events and classes sponsored by the center, which involved curating books on South American colonial expeditions and medieval bibles. Additionally, I dedicated individual time in examining a British woman’s travel diary recording her sojourn to the Holy Land written in 1934-35."
Amanda Yagerman
"My tasks included not just paging and reshelving, but also face-to-face interaction with guests, cataloging manuscripts and documents, organizing and preparing exhibits for library visitors, and assisting with setup and cleanup for a children’s art event hosted at the library. And as I worked, I learned about topics ranging from library organization, to on-the-spot problem-solving, to conservation and curation of archival materials, to the hiring process for new library employees, to the history of Penn itself. In fact, I was surprised by the extent to which the skills used to keep a library up and running– such as oral and written communication, and high levels of organization– could be applied to any number of professional environments."
National Constitution Center
Isabela Baghdady
"My internship not only taught me about how a nonprofit organization operates, but also exposed me to new ways of thinking about constitutional provisions, the challenges that teachers face when teaching constitutional issues, and how to tackle difficult political discussions."
Mahala Garcia-Bartch
"I have learned the three pillars of the Center’s philosophy of civic education: historical storytelling, constitutional thinking skills, and finally, civil dialogue. The Center’s programming and exhibits revolve around creating an interactive, in-person version of this ideological pyramid by engaging visitors, teachers, and students in storytelling, building their constitutional thinking skills with primary resources, and finally encouraging nonpartisan civil dialogue that ties thinking back to the Constitutional word. Working at the NCC so far has been incredibly engaging and thought-provoking, learning about the philosophical foundations of learning and of civic education."
Selma Ulm
"Beyond the fascinating, mind bending, content I encountered daily, working at the NCC was a pleasure professionally. The SHIP interns supervisor created amazing opportunities for us to meet specialists in the field and work on a variety of projects. While it was very well structured week by week as we worked toward one big goal of creating outlines and resources as a result of conferences we held about constitutional learning, we got to work with interns from across the nation, create resources to help incarcerated people, delve into civil war primary sources, do literary review of teaching strategies, go on tours and compare other institutions across Philly with the NCC, and meet and work with the CEO on a series of videos!"
One Art
Connie Pan
"Through One Art, I learned about organizations based in West Philly that are teaching students about music production, about entrepreneurship, about leadership and belonging. I made connections with everyone at work, from my supervisors Malaika and One (the couple who owns and runs One Art) to Mister Vincent, a craftsman and carpenter who keeps his horse in the One Art stable… One Art showed me what a space dedicated to building a positive community might look like, which is something I want to take forward into my design practice and my potential endeavors in sustainability."
Denis Gallagher
"Looking back, one important aspect of this experience was the close connection I built with my supervisors. We worked together to build a plan for the summer, constantly communicated and collaborated on creative ideation and task execution, and worked side-by-side on any odd bits of work before weekend events. It was very rewarding to build meaningful relationships with the staff, sharing personal stories and learning about their diverse life experiences."
Opera Philadelphia
Rebekah Donnell
"I worked on educational materials for Opera Philadelphia’s free in-school programming. I’ve been really happy working on this and I just finished my first project. I created a lesson plan and a suite of resources (worksheets, discussion guides, coloring pages, etc.). This is very similar to the work I did with Cosmic Writers, but with more freedom — which I’ve enjoyed. I’ve also been helping source outreach contacts for community initiative programming and I’ve appreciated the free reign I’ve been given to organize these spreadsheets. Beyond this, we’ve been getting out in the community to advertise our free teen programming."
April Zhang
"I enjoyed all the opportunities to engage with Opera Philadelphia outside of the office, and I saw the company's connection with the city in person. I visited the scene shop and took promotional photos and videos, visited the print shop to see how our materials are printed, accompanied our composer in residence to an interview at a radio station, and also helped set up and table for community events. Through these experiences, I've become more adaptable and open in a job and in my career path."
Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
Kara Butler (Learning and Community Engagement)
"I have also learned a lot about museum practices in general. We have practice programs every week, where we get to talk to members of each department, and separate programs where we go to other museums and observe what they do. It has been really fun to pick the brains of different museum staff (both in and outside of the Penn Museum) about what works, what brings people in, and what keeps them coming back. It has also been fun to learn about the different jobs in this Museum."
Qi Liu (Exhibitions)
"I have been helping with the upcoming projects in the Exhibits Department. I conducted initial research for the new writing-themed exhibition, combing through the literature on pristine writing systems and how they were decrypted. I also completed a proposal for a kids guide on the Egyptian artifacts displayed outside the Upper and Lower Egypt Galleries at the Penn Museum. I also recently started the visitor surveying process, which includes tracking visitors on the floor plans and conducting interviews. Aside from that, I participated in the daily running of the Museum, including attending the all-staff meetings, sitting in during the departmental meetings, and maintaining the social media of the “Ancient Food and Flavor” exhibit and mailboxes that receive visitor questions. There are also side-jobs that I did based on my personal interests, like giving Daily Dig talks to the visitors and filming video responses to the questions received in the Student Exhibition interactive."
PennSound
Leo Cohen
"I found myself digitizing and organizing older audio recordings…the process of restoring old recordings is much different than creating new ones. Not only did this teach me the technical skills required to use Adobe Audition, but it also taught me useful skills surrounding the quality of sound, a field I did not study as deeply in high school. In addition to this, my other role was to keep the PennSound website updated. In order to do this, I was trained in HTML, a coding language for webpages. This compliments the work I will be doing in the cognitive sciences and adds another simple coding language to my repertoire."
University of Pennsylvania Art Collection
Jordi Jackson
"My supervisor has been one of the best bosses I have ever had and someone I truly do see as a mentor…She would entertain any questions that I would have about art and collections or more specifically about Penn’s collection. She also got me involved in seeing and handling art right from the beginning of my internship. On my first day I helped her move Betty Gold prints that were being photographed for a project the Curator’s Office is working on that highlights women artists in the collection. This trust lasted all the way to my last day where I was cataloging on my own pastel Reva Urban prints that hadn’t been seen by anyone for decades since they were in storage."
University of Pennsylvania Press
Elijah Baet
"It was interesting to see each department interact with each other. I saw how manuscripts were formatted in acquisitions, and I worked with such formatted manuscripts in production when I did castoffs. In interdepartmental meetings, I listened to each department explain their point of view and come together to create a “full image” of the manuscript…I got to experience more of the publishing process beyond editing a manuscript, which is what my previous publishing internships were. I thought editing was the only thing I could do to join the industry, but I learned that I could do other things outside of that. Penn Press inspired me to look more into the process of publishing as a whole and see what parts of it I liked and excelled at."
Ning Ning (Jenny) Fu
"I rotated between the Acquisitions, Marketing, and Production Departments, where I worked on projects and received feedback that improved my work. I also attended meetings where I witnessed each department approach books from different professional angles. Participating in the daily activities and operations of the Press, I gained a deeper understanding of the publishing pipeline, its workflow, essential conceptions, and central questions."
Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History
Shirel Garzon
"..typically I have spent my days researching and compiling lists of sources, organizing, or setting up for and helping plan upcoming educational programs. Last week, a group of teachers came in as part of a larger professional development program, which was led and coordinated by Rebecca, and we got to listen in and participate. I have learned a lot about how museums work, especially through conversations about the museum’s mission and its future."
Jacob Keller
"I have been assisting the education and curation director in their organizational capabilities. This has consisted of digital and physical resource organization, assisting curation for a new exhibit on antisemitism, and facilitating communication between the museum and West Philadelphian schools. Organizing has included optimizing file pathways and infrastructure for the future education of the Docents, who are volunteer tour guides. Further, I have gone through the supply closet and organized the various informational and constructive assets used for educational programs. In conducting research on antisemitism, I have compiled a reasonably exhaustive list of antisemitic events that have occurred throughout America in 2023 from various sources. Then I scrutinized this list to look for potential contacts that I may contact in order to come into possession of artifacts representative of these antisemitic incidents. Finally, I was tasked with assisting in rekindling relations between the museum and public schools throughout Philadelphia, as these were mostly lost over the course of the pandemic. This required a large-scale web scraping effort looking for all contact information for the 300+ public and charter schools throughout Philadelphia."
WXPN
Kayla Cotter (Morning Show)
"The role entailed researching and writing news stories for the WXPN Morning Show which my supervisor, Bob Bumbera, would then read on air. This included pieces on Taylor Swift’s record-breaking The Eras Tour, Beyonce’s mind-boggling Renaissance Tour, and the cultural phenomenon “Barbenheimer," all of which I was very excited about this year. As something of a pop culture aficionado, it was fun to have an outlet to muse over some of the summer’s most buzzworthy stories. I also had the opportunity to explore Philadelphia-area events such as the ODUNDE Festival and the Philly Pride March and Festival, and write about artists popular with WXPN listeners such as Queens of the Stone Age, Slowdive, The Zombies, The Breeders, and more… Since COVID-19, I’ve primarily worked remote-based jobs; it was nice to physically go somewhere and talk to members of a team."
Zachary Levin (World Cafe Programming)
"I worked as a programming intern for NPR/WXPN’s World Cafe radio show. In this role, I created the daily deliverables that were sent to over 200 affiliate stations, prepared preparation files for artist interviews, assisted with artist hospitality during in-person recording sessions, and worked with ProTools to complete composer documents. Though many tasks involved skills I had previously possessed, I was challenged with learning new software programs, such as ProTools recording software, and skills, such as properly setting-up and tearing-down recording equipment. Additionally, I gained insight into the inner-workings of radio through conversations with others on the World Cafe team, sitting in on World Cafe meetings, and through discussions with programming manager Bruce Warren." Read more about Zach's experience at WXPN here.