Welcome to the first in a series of posts where second-year Arts Administration graduate students at the University of Oregon reflect on their experiences interning at various arts organizations across the United States and the value these opportunities presented to them as emerging leaders. Our series kicks off with second-year student and ELAN AAASAC Representative Roya Amirsoleymani, who spent her summer interning with the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), where she played an integral roll in the production of their annual Time Based Arts Festival.
This summer, I completed an internship with the Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) in connection with its annual Time-Based Art Festival, which is held every September. As an organization, PICA’s programming is focused on the very type of artistic and cultural activity that most interests me—risky, cutting-edge, interdisciplinary contemporary work by both emerging and established local, national, and international artists that seeks to generate dialogue among artists and the public about difficult questions and issues on the edges of social, cultural, political, and aesthetic discourse.
zoe/juniper. A Crack in Everything Installed performance still. 2011 Time-Based Art Festival. Photo: Gia Goodrich. Courtesy of Portland Institute for Contemporary Art
Based on my research of and direct experience with the organization, it seemed that PICA had developed a strong track record of innovative programming via the TBA Festival as an annual presenting platform. I was also drawn to PICA because of Portland, a peripheral city whose size and artistic community appeal to me in that as a burgeoning site for contemporary art, it welcomes new creative visionaries and professionals and is still developing an infrastructure and identity while simultaneously possessing a rich cultural landscape flourishing with activity. Finally, I was enthusiastic about the timing of TBA—given my start date for fall term, I would be able to work through the entire festival, seeing and experiencing the fruits of my labor.
I’ve written several evaluations and reflections of my summer internship recently, but this is the first time I’ve thought about my experience specifically in relation to how it contributed to preparing me as an emerging arts leader in a changing cultural and organizational landscape.
In light of my professional grant writing experience, at the start of my internship, I was asked to assist with research, writing, and media accumulation for an NEA grant in support of next year’s TBA Festival. But as the festival drew near, I began working primarily on artist relations, especially for visiting artists and artists in residence coming from New York and overseas. Initially, I was fairly unfamiliar with the highly detailed logistical and procedural aspects of artist relations in the context of festival management, but it was an incredible learning experience for me, even at the most stressful and frustrating moments of the festival.
I was extremely integral to PICA’s artist services division and, with few exceptions, was charged with identical responsibilities to that of the Artist Services Coordinator on staff. It was rewarding to have been able to see a component of the festival through from start to finish and to have had a hand in every aspect of its trajectory, which in this case included travel arrangements and housing/transportation accommodations for artists in residence; design of a detailed WordPress site that served as a digital guide to Portland and the festival for visiting artists (my idea); performing artists’ hospitality; artist services budgeting and accounting; procurement of in-kind donations for artist hospitality and related donor database management; artist agreements, tech riders and contracts; and international artist visas. I value the experience I acquired in preparing for out-of-town and international artists’ visits and on-site projects and then being able to fully and directly carry out all of those preparations (many of which are reflective of new and innovative plans and strategies I developed personally) before, during, and after the festival.
PICA staff takes a break on the roof of Washington High School. Roya in forefront. 2011 Time-Based Art Festival. Photo: Kristan Kennedy. Courtesy Portland Institute for Contemporary Art.
Prior to my internship with PICA, I had never before handled the practical aspects of artists’ travel, housing, or hospitality, especially in connection with festivals and performing arts (my primary professional experience is in visual art). Not only did I become much better acquainted with the technical aspects of performing artists’ work (rehearsals, tech schedules, relationships with outside venues and tech directors, green room needs), I had the rare opportunity to dialogue at length with (and sometimes even more substantially befriend) artists from all over the world, some of whom I had never heard, and others I had long admired. This was a special opportunity for which I’m very grateful, as I was able to discuss directly with artists their work, career trajectories, artistic philosophies, and the managerial aspects of their creative practice.
Given my rich and rewarding internship experience with PICA, I believe its impact on my growth as an emerging arts leader is most evidenced by the personal and professional confidence I developed in my passions and abilities, particularly in connection with my knowledge of and investment in contemporary art, and in my networking skills.
I walked away more certain than ever before of my love for contemporary art on the edge, art that dares to take risks, defy norms, and harness the unprecedented imaginative. I am drawn to deeply complex, layered, and textured interdisciplinary work that strikes a chord aesthetically, politically, socially, and philosophically, and which resonates on many different levels for a diverse participant base, ultimately sparking productive, challenging dialogue and building community.
To know that, without a doubt, this is the kind of art I want to contribute to, support, and ultimately just make happen—whether on a curatorial, programmatic, or educational level–is incredibly empowering, giving me an improved ability and confidence to talk about myself, my professional goals, my perspectives on and responses to new art, and what I believe is important and meaningful in the arts and to the future of the cultural sector. I now feel much more optimistic about future job opportunities, as well as my ability to develop projects collaboratively or independently from the ground up on a freelance basis, based on the assurance, confidence, and reinforcement I experienced in the context of such a prestigious and cutting-edge arts program as PICA’s TBA Festival.
I also enhanced existing networking skills as I became more comfortable connecting with high-profile artists, curators, and programmers from around the world. Being tasked with one-on-one assistance to such individuals demanded that I demonstrate an ability to constantly professionally and intellectually engage, respond quickly and competently in any matter, and problem-solve on the spot, often while managing language barriers and cultural differences in the midst of time-sensitive issues, and while running on empty (I worked 16 hours a day, every day, in the last two to three weeks of my internship, leading up to and during the festival).
While I tend to thrive in a fast-paced environment surrounded by intense intellectual and cultural stimulation, I still had my fears, worries, and moments of self-doubt. Day by day, as I developed a stronger skill set and experience with artist relations specific to performing artists, I grew to think even more quickly on my feet, to be a more skillful initiator and problem solver in particularly difficult situations, and to represent the best interests of the organization at all times. After the intensity of interaction, conversation, and engagement at TBA, I now feel that I can easily walk up to anyone I want to meet, introduce myself, and make a lasting impression and professional connection. Based on how these relationships have already begun to unfold, these are the connections that can and will lead to future projects, travel opportunities, employment, collaboration, and even long-term friendship.
As an emerging leader, we often talk about the importance of digital tools and social media to arts marketing, audience development, online curating and presenting, archiving, and a number of other areas of arts and cultural management. I am a strong advocate for harnessing the potential of digital media and technology for the purposes of creative innovation and public participation, and such discourse has been an ongoing topic of thought, learning, and conversation for me over the last year. Interning for a place-based festival that is all about celebrating and being in the present while forming a spontaneous, temporary community that, in the end, bids a bittersweet farewell to one another after much success, shakes this all up. It forces me to recognize that indelible connections truly do take place face to face, when we do more than just read and write, when we watch in awe, talk, touch, feel, and move together in space—this is when our bodies and minds are inscribed with something magical and unforgettable.
What might this last lesson learned have to do with emerging leadership? I think it gives me a more balanced perspective on and voice to an exciting ongoing debate about digital versus place-based community building and organizational enhancement, and it tells me that the best leaders in the field of progressive creative practice find a way to make themselves known, and get to know others, on some sort of intimate level that transcends business norms for the sake of transformation.