Phew, that was exciting yesterday! I did my update and, by the end of the day, the 5 tattooed men dolls that I’d announced were sold. By 9am this morning, they were all on their way to their new homes. Thank you everybody, for all the encouragement, advise and support. I had no idea what to expect and this was as good as could be!
I’ve been wondering for a while- Would it work for me to have an intern? I could use the help. I think I would enjoy working with another person. I imagine that having someone work with me for some hours every week would be a huge help to organize my production. Is this something that someone would want to commit to? How does someone like me find an intern? Does anyone have any experience with this- good or bad? From both sides- having or being an intern?
oh oh oh! pick me! hang on… the commute would be a killer :-(
best of luck.
First of all, congratulations on your big sales on Tuesday. How exciting!! What an affirmation of your wonderful talent. Regarding internships…I was an intern for a large theatre company when I first started out and for the most part it was a good experience. My biggest piece of advice for you is to be very clear in your mind what you expect your intern to do for you and communicate that clearly to the intern. It’s also important to know how much you are willing to teach this person in order to get them up to speed with your expectations. Do you expect them to already be really savvy with construction, etc., or are you willing to train someone who may not have all the skills but feels like the “right” person? Wishing I still lived in Arlington, because I’d apply in a heartbeat!
Beth has good advice re: interns. I’ve known fellow crafters/artists/business people that have had interns and it’s worked well on both sides. Most students end up doing internships at larger businesses/organizations, but being able to work one-on-one with an artist could be GREAT experience for the right intern. My friends have went both through schools and independently (like a post on Craigslist). The independent route brought ambitious students who helped the crafter connect to the school.
The biggest thing is that you have to be clear on roles, expectations, tasks, b/c you’ll need some sort of record and evaluation for a student to get credit. That may sound like a “duh.” But while you’re in a planning stage, I’d definitely recommend collecting ideas on what tasks you’d give an intern, hours and skills involved, what you can teach them.
In college I was in semester off campus that included an internship. It had to be two days a week. I ended up with two one-day internships. Night and day! One was a fantastic mentoring experience and I helped her print a big etching project. And she thought of specific local resources to teach me about. The other was a total waste of time – I would sit and watch the unorganized artist do laundry (!!!).
And congrats on the great sale of men! :^) They are fantastic. If I wasn’t currently on a strict post-tax-freakout budget, I’d be clamoring for one. :^)
Sounds like a great idea!
I know it might be purely semantics. But why “intern” not “apprentice”? Artists have taken on help throughtout history in the form of apprentices. And somehow I think you do more honor to your craft, your art and your talent by having an apprentice. As an artist myself, I’d love to spend creative time working with and learning from someone like you. But, somehow, at this stage of my life, I’d balk at being called an intern and revel in being the master artist’s apprentice.
I think Beth’s comment about clear expectations and thoughtful communication around them is key to whatever working relationship you negotiate.
Good luck!
Mimi,
Congratulations!
Is there an art college near you? If so, you could contact their fibers department about having a student work with you as an intern. When I was in art school there was a bulletin board full of interesting requests like that.
Good luck,
Nichol
Man … if I could, I would. I’d love to be your intern. :)
congrats on the sales!
in terms of the intern i would say that everyone who’s commented left really good advice. i’ve had a lot of internships and although i’ve never supervised an intern, i know many people who have and i think the biggest mistake that people who hire interns make is that they don’t realize how much work it is to have an assistant/intern. it’s important to take the time to really figure out what you need help with and what would be helpful for an intern to do for you. then it’s critical to (as someone above said) be really clear with your intern about what you want and how you want things done. if you do all that (which i’m sure you would) i think it could be a great experience for you and the intern, so i say, go for it!