The Arts Council for Long Beach is looking for 20 creative, art-loving Cal State Long Beach students to become part of their paid internship program Creative Long Beach and help them expose the community to more art.
Starting April 4, CSULB students will be able to apply for an internship opportunity that will make them a member of The Arts Council of Long Beach, an organization which aims to make Long Beach both an artistic and cultural hotspot by better showcasing the art of Long Beach-based artists to the community through events and initiatives.
“During their internship, students are connected to working professionals in the Long Beach community,” Creative Long Beach coordinator Mandy Johnson said. “Students will be introduced to professionals in the areas of their career goals. Students also gain a better understanding of arts administration or fields of study that they hope to start a career in, for example curatorial work.”
While interning, students get to work with Long Beach-based organizations that help support and promote artists and their work in the community. Students will get to go “behind-the-scenes” and find out what it takes to produce an exhibition, according to Johnson.
Aside from becoming a member of the arts council, interns will get to attend exclusive social gatherings. Interns will also have the opportunity to meet other Creative Long Beach members and further their professional development in the fields of art and nonprofit arts administration.
“One thing that is unique about Creative Long Beach, in contrast to other internship programs, is that Creative Long Beach specifically partners with only Long Beach-based art organizations,” marketing and communications director for ACLB, April Economides, said. “Thereby keeping Long Beach students in the city to build relationships, some of which might turn into future jobs. So many art graduates end up leaving Long Beach, and this program helps remedy that.”
For every artist that departs from Long Beach to showcase their successful work to a broader audience, the ACLB hopes to expose an up-and-coming creator to the Long Beach community, and help display the novice artist’s creativity to the masses.
“Too often, talented CSULB graduates leave the city for jobs elsewhere,” former Arts Council executive director Victoria Bryan said. “We’re trying to help remedy that by expanding job opportunities for future graduates.”
According to the ACLB’s online mission statement, not only does the council want to make Long Beach a premiere art scene destination for residents, businesses, and visitors; by 2020, their goal is to make Long Beach a number-one art destination on the West Coast.
“I think it’s fantastic and really exciting. I think being a paid intern is not only beneficial but also inspiring,” third year studio art major Devon DeCapua said. “Artists don’t get paid enough for their work and the fact that the Long Beach Arts Council is planning to pay interns makes a statement that artists deserve to be paid for performing their craft.”
Students will be able to apply for an internship position beginning April 4. The council will also be at the Internship Conference held on campus April 22.