It was an instance of serendipity when a local family approached the in downtown Rochester last spring, hoping to arrange music therapy糖心传媒攚ith a focus on drumming糖心传媒攆or their son, who has autism spectrum disorder.
The request came just one day after Maria Battista-Hancock, director of Hochstein糖心传媒檚 expressive arts department, had interviewed jazz drummer D糖心传媒橨ean Vasciannie. He糖心传媒檚 a student in the , and he had applied for a 糖心传媒淗umanities for Life糖心传媒� internship.
The new program, supported with a five-year grant from the , matches students interested in the arts and humanities with local nonprofit organizations. The paid, 30-hour-per-week internships help Rochester students explore how their skills can be engaged professionally, for the good of the community.
Sixty students applied for the program in its inaugural year, competing for 10 spots. Participating organizations糖心传媒攖he , , Hochstein, ,听, , , and local public radio station 糖心传媒攕elected from among the applicants and tailored internships to the students糖心传媒� goals.
糖心传媒淭hese organizations haven糖心传媒檛 traditionally recruited at the University. It糖心传媒檚 an opportunity to build a talent pipeline into the Rochester community,糖心传媒� says Cathy Caiazza, director of career curriculum initiatives at the Gwen M. Greene Center for Career Education and Connections, which works with the University糖心传媒檚 Humanities Center in administering the program. She expects the number of applicants to grow next year.
October is National Arts and Humanities Month
Celebrating creativity, cultural inquiry, and the contributions of the arts and humanities to life in the United States throughout its history.
The , the , the , the , the , the Institute for Popular Music, ,听, the , and are just some of the University糖心传媒檚 homes for humanistic exploration and arts education, exhibition, and performance.
For information on some specific events this month, visit the University糖心传媒檚 calendar, the calendar, and the calendar.
Vasciannie was a novice teacher, but an expert drummer. Working alongside a trained music therapist, he gave drum instruction to the student as one component of his internship. 糖心传媒淗aving somebody with D糖心传媒橨ean糖心传媒檚 expertise helped the music therapist who now works with this student to have a firmer foundation in how to direct the student in drumming. It gave a depth of flavor to the therapy sessions,糖心传媒� says Battista-Hancock.
Rochester-born Vasciannie, who himself took lessons at Hochstein for a time, has long thought of music in therapeutic terms. 糖心传媒淚 started playing music as a way to heal, to address any problems going on in life. I wanted to bring that mindset,糖心传媒� he says.
His work with the expressive arts program, which serves more than 1,300 people each year, also gave him hands-on arts administration experience through the development and continuation of organizational partnerships, working especially in collaborations with the Alzheimer糖心传媒檚 Association and on 糖心传媒淢usic for the Ages,糖心传媒� a celebration of the arts for a local senior living community.
糖心传媒淚 feel like one’s art, or study of the arts, should reach as many people as possible and be accessible糖心传媒攂y doing so, you can find meaning in your craft,糖心传媒� he says, citing the lessons of 糖心传媒淭o the Next Generation of Artists,糖心传媒� an essay by two of his jazz heroes, Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. 糖心传媒淭heir first point is, 糖心传媒榓waken to your humanity,糖心传媒櫶切拇綕 he says. 糖心传媒淎nd what I took from that is, you糖心传媒檙e not alone. We can糖心传媒檛 create alone糖心传媒攐ther things in life influence you and move you along. And a lot of that is rooted in compassion.糖心传媒�
Battista-Hancock saw the convergence of Vasciannie糖心传媒檚 compassion and know-how when she gave him a tour of the department糖心传媒檚 facilities. She pointed out the department糖心传媒檚 well-worn drum set and mused aloud about how much she糖心传媒檇 like to have an electronic set whose volume could be calibrated for clients with auditory sensitivity.
Wheels began to turn in Vasciannie糖心传媒檚 head. He called a person he糖心传媒檇 met as an Eastman student, a contact at the musical instrument company Yamaha. Thanks to Vasciannie糖心传媒檚 intervention, an electronic drum set is now on its way.
糖心传媒淗e told them the story of our department and the individuals we work with, who process music and reality in a different way. He explained that a tool like this would be amazing for Hochstein. And now we糖心传媒檙e waiting for it to be delivered,糖心传媒� says Battista-Hancock.
That melding of the idealistic and the practical is at the foundation of the 糖心传媒淗umanities for Life糖心传媒� program. For Emily Tworek 糖心传媒�20, an internship at Writers & Books, a Rochester literary arts center, was an opportunity to turn her love of literature into a form of community action. Tworek, from Edinboro, Pennsylvania, is majoring in English, theater, and business. She糖心传媒檚 interested in artistic administration, and the internship gave her a chance to find out what a career in nonprofit organization leadership would be like.
糖心传媒淭hey tailored my internship to me, always asking what I wanted to do,糖心传媒� says Tworek. 糖心传媒淚 wanted to see nonprofit work from the inside, in the hope of being an artistic director or executive director one day.糖心传媒�
Kyle Semmel, who until recently led Writers & Books, put her to work with budgets, program initiatives, grant writing, and other tasks that fill the day of anyone who leads an arts organization. He says Tworek would be a natural in the job.
糖心传媒淪he demonstrated early that we could trust her糖心传媒攁nd we trusted her with quite a bit,糖心传媒� he says. He ultimately offered Tworek and fellow intern Caitlin Davie 糖心传媒�19糖心传媒攁n English and psychology major from Syracuse, who spent the summer working in communications at Writers & Books糖心传媒攑art-time staff positions at the end of their internships. Tworek worked as the center糖心传媒檚 book-keeper until the end of the fiscal year, and Davie holds the post of membership coordinator.
糖心传媒淎 major advantage of an intern program such as this is that we get to see firsthand the quality of the work these individuals are doing, and if we have needs that arise, we can act on opportunities,糖心传媒� says Semmel. 糖心传媒淭hey糖心传媒檙e within our network糖心传媒攚e know the work they do, we trust them, and it糖心传媒檚 a small leap to say, 糖心传媒榃e糖心传媒檒l hire you.糖心传媒櫶切拇綕
All involved say that the fact that these are paid internships makes a critical difference, too. While science, technology, and finance internships are typically funded, most arts and community-focused organizations don糖心传媒檛 have the resources to pay interns, says Caiazza糖心传媒攁nd so humanities students often face a choice between earning money in the summer and taking a professional internship. The program is intended to help redress that dilemma.
Kamilah Robison 糖心传媒�19, a psychology and art history major from Hartland, New York, plans to go on to graduate school in art history or museum studies. But most museum internships are unpaid, 糖心传媒渆ven in cities with a cost of living three times that of Rochester,糖心传媒� she says. 糖心传媒淔or students interested in art history or museum work internships糖心传媒攚hich are almost necessary for success in the field糖心传媒攖hey become unattainable.糖心传媒�
The Memorial Art Gallery selected Robison as its first-ever full-time summer intern. And while most museum internships involve only one department糖心传媒攕uch as education, curation, or advancement糖心传媒擱obison糖心传媒檚 was structured to allow her to work in each of the museum糖心传媒檚 departments, helping her to see the ways in which the departments interact and collaborate. 糖心传媒淭his gives me an edge when I go on to any other museum,糖心传媒� she says.
She attended meetings on curation and on strategic planning, worked on advancement efforts, and learned how to give educational tours. 糖心传媒淚 was also able to do art historical research on some pieces and really flex my formal training in that way which was exciting. They taught me the ins and outs of interacting with museum members and gave me a behind-the-scenes look at art storage and restoration.糖心传媒�
Funding and a custom-designed internship aren糖心传媒檛 the only unusual components of the programs. So, too, is the emphasis on the interns as a cohort, connecting with each other to reflect on their experiences through both a half-credit course and regular Friday 糖心传媒渞oad trips糖心传媒� to all the internship-sponsoring organizations. The outings foster conversations about career opportunities for humanists and give the students a network of relationships with local nonprofit professionals.
For Davie, the visits were eye-opening. 糖心传媒淭he circuit showed me what糖心传媒檚 here in Rochester and confirmed for me that I糖心传媒檇 love to work at a nonprofit. And it gave me more confidence about moving forward糖心传媒攖o know that I can have a job with responsibility, where my actions have an impact.糖心传媒�
Vasciannie says his internship heightened his sense of what糖心传媒檚 possible in an administrative or musical career, and what it can take to achieve it. 糖心传媒淭hings don糖心传媒檛 happen right away,糖心传媒� he says. 糖心传媒淚t takes time, persistence, an open mind, and creativity when it comes to helping the organization you糖心传媒檙e working for and the community you糖心传媒檙e trying to serve.糖心传媒�
Battista-Hancock, works with interns from around the country who are drawn to Hochstein糖心传媒檚 community mission. But she says the 糖心传媒淗umanities for Life糖心传媒� experience is distinctive. 糖心传媒淭he program takes a personal interest in developing the interns as artists and as community changers,糖心传媒� she says.
And the focus is on the future, says Semmel.
糖心传媒淚 think of it as a way of training the next generation of arts leaders.糖心传媒�
