Los Angeles County Funds 130 Summer Internships at 90 Arts Organizations

Los Angeles County, through its Arts Commission, has given grants totaling $530,000 to 90 performing, literary, media and municipal arts organizations throughout the County to support paid internships for college undergraduates in summer 2007, Supervisor Don Knabe announced today.

Descriptions of and contacts for the 130 internship positions are posted on the Arts Commission’s web site. Go to www.lacountyarts.org, click on Internships, then 2007 Internship Database. Click here for the direct link.

The positions are searchable by region, arts discipline, professional field and keyword. General information on the internship program is also available on the web site.

Organizations in the Fourth Supervisorial District offering arts internships include the following: the City of Manhattan Beach, the City of Torrance, International City Theatre, Long Beach Symphony Association and Public Corporation for the Arts/Arts Council for Long Beach.

Interested undergraduates should apply directly to the organization offering the internship, not the Arts Commission. College undergraduates either resident in or attending school in Los Angeles County are eligible for the internships. Interns are paid $350 per week for ten weeks and take part in educational and arts networking activities.

Through the program, interns gain a deeper understanding of the work involved in nonprofit arts administration and the role of the arts in a community, and develop business skills that can be put to use in their future careers. Internship host organizations help mold and shape potential new workers in the arts field who may go on to arts leadership positions on staffs, boards or as volunteers.

Examples of County internship experiences include the following:

– A production and education intern to work at the Long Beach Symphony Orchestra to assist with the preparation and planning for the 2007-2008 season including concert production, artist relations and education programs.

– An associate producer intern to work at the City of Torrance to join the producer and work on all aspects of production including publicity/marketing, administrative, community relations, sets, props, and related responsibilities. The intern’s primary focus will be on the summer musical (West Side Story).

– An arts learning department Intern to work at the Public Corporation for the Arts (Arts Council for Long Beach) to develop a completed student workbook and teacher’s manual for the department’s public art education program. Additionally, the intern will be exposed to other essential responsibilities of the Arts Learning department by serving as an associate to the department’s director.