Apprenticeships are the introduction to a serious relationship with the art world. Master artists take aspiring students under their guidance and into their workshops expecting nothing less than a dedicated intern.
Mentors are the foundation to this new era, powered by creative people. Finding a mentor is as essential now as it was during the Renaissance.
Southwestern College gets it – sort of. Its internship class, Art 290, is a “cooperative work experience in applied arts” and “provides students with professional applied arts experience by working in a visual arts related occupation,” according to the catalog.
Yet this opportunity is not offered openly. It is restricted to declared art majors, despite the fact that more than a dozen seats are available.
Micajah Truitt, chair of the Visual Arts Department, said the program is about creating avenues for students to make connections in the creative art world.
“The main goal of that class is to get students into internships,” he said. “By being in those internships it exposes them to people that can have those mentoring roles.”
Only a small amount of students take advantage of this beneficial opportunity.
“It needs five students to be able to function,” he said. “It’s a little different than other classes.”
Still, the opportunities that students are provided through this excellent class should be advertised more openly. SWC hosts thousands of artists and creative people, and the resources are widely overlooked.
Art Collective an SWC club, is seeking to “provide a well-structured program that further develops and trains the essential skills for art students to become active elements of society as professional artists.”
Adviser Nicholas “Nikko” Mueller, assistant professor of art, said he has high hopes for the club.
“Personally, I didn’t have an internship at any point in my career,” he said. “I wish I had. I think it’s a great way to see the nuts and bolts of an operation in terms of what is going on in an artist’s studio.”
As art students prepare for a four-year university or a private art school, any open door is a golden opportunity.
Paola Catano, fine arts major, is president of Art Collective. She said Professor of Art Marisol Rendon and Mueller have guided her.
“They help me with a lot of things,” she said. “They inspire me to keep doing what I love, no matter what it is.”
Catano said she considers Rendon and Mueller her mentors.
“(Mueller) is so dedicated to everyone,” said Catano. “He actually treats you like a person, not as a student.”
Finding a friendly face in a throng of faculty can be a comfort for art students looking to find a place in the art world. Networking is essential.
Although the way art is created has changed with the advancement of technology, the way students learn through their professors and mentors has remained the same.
SWC’s internship class is good. It is time to scale up.