By Neyat Yohannes, Community Outreach Summer Intern
It has been nearly a month since I started as the Community Outreach Getty Foundation Summer Intern for P.S. ARTS. I must say, I’ve been having an absolute blast! Everyone at P.S. ARTS is unbelievably friendly and accommodating. I never imagined I’d be working in my very own office, at my very own desk, with my very own computer—In short, I’m living the intern life!
I’ve mostly been focusing on social media and its use as a tool for community outreach. My first week here, I created a P.S. ARTS Pinterest account. There are over 150 pins across the five different boards (that’s Pinterest lingo for: blog sub-section). Now all there’s left to do is reel in the followers. We do need people to see our lovely Pinterest boards, after all!
Alongside building the Pinterest account, I’ve been creating To Go Projects. These are take-home art activities that kids can do with their family members using household items. I actually had a great time searching for artists. I came across old favorites and even discovered a few new ones to add to my mental collection. I think the most difficult part of this process was deciding which fun facts and bio information to include. I kept finding the most fascinating material on these artists but I had to remember that I was creating a mini project for kids, not a full-fledged book. Though, it was really fun adapting from the artists’ famous work and creating something that the kids could make to feel more connected to the particular artist.
In retrospect, when I try to recall the things I learned in elementary school, it is the art lessons that come to mind. In fact, I still vividly remember a week in the fourth grade when my class learned about Andy Warhol and Norman Rockwell. We later proceeded to go see their actual artwork at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA). That was over a decade ago but—to this day—that lesson has remained engrained in my memory. I hope these To Go Projects will at least slightly resonate with some of the students who take them home.
Additionally, this week, I began editing the footage from the TakePART Festival that took place on June 2nd. Admittedly, I was a tad overwhelmed with the idea of editing (seeing as I hadn’t done any major editing since my sophomore year of high school in advanced drama and film production). However, I found that iMovie was very user friendly and I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I am now putting the finishing touches on that video and while quite frankly, it isn’t the best promotional video I’ve seen in the world, it isn’t too shabby for a first try (at least I hope so).
Here is a picture of me at an art booth at the TakePART Festival!
So, overall, I’m happy to say that it’s been nothing but blue skies and smooth sailings since I started interning here. I’m starting to feel better acquainted with what P.S. ARTS is all about and I totally love it here! I’m so delighted to come in to work each day and I’m incredibly grateful to have been given this amazing opportunity!
A quick background on Neyat Yohannes:
My name is Neyat Yohannes and I’ll be starting my second year at Emerson College this fall in Boston, Massachusetts. For now I’m soaking up the California sun here at the P.S. ARTS office in Venice. I’m working towards a B.F.A. in Writing, Literature, and Publishing paired with a minor in Visual Studies and The Arts. Creative writing is something I’m very passionate about but I also care a great deal about arts education. Interning at P.S. ARTS has reminded me of the importance of arts education and how I might someday want involvement in this particular field.
I coincidentally went to school in the Lawndale Elementary School District—one of the many that P.S. ARTS works with—and after nearly a decade, it’s nice to get back to my elementary roots and see how the arts are just positively booming! It has really warmed my heart to see the larger emphasis placed on the arts now and how this class of students is dabbling in drama, dance, music, painting, etc. and possibly discovering hidden talents in the process. I’m so glad P.S. ARTS gave me the opportunity to witness the power of arts education first hand this summer!
