- southhavenarts
- 2 hours ago
- 3 min read
My name is Katelyn Jewett, and I am the Exhibition Intern at the South Haven Center for the Arts. I have had the chance to experience unique opportunities to help my future career as a graphic designer. I am going into my junior year at Michigan State University to achieve a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Not only am I gaining this knowledge of the arts, but I am also getting my required internship credits for MSU as well.
I have always been involved in art ever since I was a kid. My first ever art piece to be exhibited was at the South Haven Center for the Arts! It was a zebra design piece I had made in school and along with many other students. Ever since then, I have been sketching and making art through many different mediums. I started acrylic painting in middle school and have continued to teach myself how to paint ever since. I now consider myself a freelance painter. As I continued through school, I knew I wanted to do something in the art field, so when I saw that the Van Buren Tech Center offered Graphic Design, I knew that was the right choice for me.
One of the first things I learned through this internship was the process that goes behind exhibit installations and de-installations. I was able to meet amazing artists and volunteers through this process and got to see how each artwork aligns with the exhibit and how the audience will perceive the pieces as you walk through the gallery.
My favorite part of this experience so far was being able to work at the Art Fair. I got to experience the check-in process with the artists and helped set up the tents. I worked at the information booth during the fair itself. My parents met me at the info booth, and I got to show them around for a bit! My mom and I bought a picture from a photographer while we were walking around as well. His work was stunning and eye catching. The second day of the art fair I walked around and talked to the artists one on one. I got to listen to their processes and their backstories of how they got to where they are now. Some artists were even nice enough to tell me their tips and tricks to how I can improve on painting and ceramics. I am grateful to have had the chance to network with them through this internship. There was one jewelry artist that was there with the same first name as me! I bought one of her bracelets and now I wear it almost every time I internship at the art center!
Kerry and all the staff and volunteers have been incredibly nice to me, and I appreciate all that they do for the community. When interviewing for this position they asked me what my interests were, and they have done a great job at keeping my interests aligned with what I do in the internship. I also work as a gallery attendant in the art center, so I help with small tasks and get to help set up events upstairs. There was one event I got to join during one of my shifts. I was able to meet with the Swell Exhibition artists again as they talked about their work in more detail and had a productive group discussion on art and how we feel as artists especially when it comes to the topic of protecting our waters. Overall, I am learning many new things about art and the community as I intern for the South Haven Center for the Arts.
Written by Katelyn Jewett.
Every year the SHCA has an intern program and applications are accepted in April.
