An Iowa College in the Liberal Arts Tradition
Internship Stories
Internships allow students to enhance skills and apply classroom knowledge to a professional environment. They provide a supervised short-term experience in a career field of interest. Internships focus on the learning that takes place as a result of the work you are doing.
There are many internship opportunities for Luther art students. Learn more about different internships from Visual and Performing Arts faculty or visiting the Find Internships page. Other internship stories from students in theatre and dance can be found on the Visual and Performing Arts website.
Vanessa Mendez
When: Summer 2017
Where: The San Diego Children's Discovery Museum, Escondido, CA
Major: Art with a Communications minor
This summer, Vanessa worked in Escondido, California, at The San Diego Children’s Discovery Museum. Vanessa primarily assisted with marketing and event planning. She was in charge of creating calendars, website headers, and social media posts. Her two biggest projects were helping with the Annual Spring Gala and facilitating a partnership with the Westfield Malls. Vanessa enjoyed the independence and creativity the position gave her. She also learned about what it takes to be a graphic designer. This added experience had the biggest impact on Vanessa, and she is now considering going into art marketing and graphic design. Using her artistic ability in this setting was exciting for Vanessa, and she is eager to explore her new field.
Miranda Joslin
When: Spring 2016
Where: The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum
Major: Art with minors in Spanish and Museum Studies
The Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum is dedicated to the preservation of the immigrant story through their objects, traditions, and artwork. For her internship, Miranda worked with the museum’s Chief Curator to update the Fine Art Collection’s records and gain notoriety for the collection on a national level. Specifically, she worked with the Smithsonian Database of American Painting and Sculpture to get 452 new pieces from 96 different artists registered for public use and study. Not only was it exciting to get to work so closely with the collection pieces (both through their records and physically handling the works), but Miranda enjoyed helping the collection grow and bringing attention to the hidden treasures of this “small-town” museum.
Steffenee Voigt
When: Summer, 2016
Where: The Porter House Museum
Major: Art with minors in Education and Museum Studies
The Porter House Museum preserves and interprets its structures, grounds, and collections to inspire diverse audiences to share in the educational and recreational benefits of learning about Adelbert Field Porter and Grace Young Porter in the context of Winneshiek County history and Mr. Porter’s love of the natural environment. During Steffenee’s internship she worked as a docent giving tours of the museum. In addition, she created various museum education resources for the Porter House such as a worksheet for children and a visual aid demonstrating the butterfly mounting process that Bert Porter would have used. This was an exciting experience that helped Steffenee to develop skills in creating fun and engaging educational resources.