Art Project Intern, Gracia Arts Project, Spain

Grant Recipient: Robert Eastman, Class of 2011
Major: Studio Art
Organization: Gracia Arts Project
Location: Barcelona, Spain

I have been working for a non-profit art gallery in Barcelona for the past two months. In the short time that I have been here I have been involved in many projects including organizing and curating a collective exhibition of twenty artists from all over Europe, researching potential sponsors and securing funding for the gallery, and collaborating with other interns to design a community arts center. Although I have worked in galleries in the past, it is the first time I have been responsible for and involved in the finances of a non-profit organization. While I can’t say that looking for funding and potential sponsors is fun, it has been an eye-opening experience; being involved in all aspects of running a gallery has made me appreciate the more creative work that the gallery interns and I have accomplished during the summer. Despite spending a lot of time doing busy work to maintain the gallery space, it’s been especially rewarding to see what can be accomplished with so little—despite not knowing whether the gallery will manage to pay the rent each month, there are always new exhibitions, concerts, poetry readings, and many other events, that bring together artists from all over the world.

Intern, FUNDER, the educational foundation at FEPP (Fondo Ecuatoriano Popolorum Progressio), Ecuador

Grant Recipient: Class of 2011

Major: Sociology and Latin American Studies

Organization: FUNDER, the educational foundation at FEPP (Fondo Ecuatoriano Popolorum Progressio)

Location: Quito, Ecuador

I am working at FUNDER, which is the educational branch of FEPP, an organization that is celebrating 40 years here in Ecuador and has grown to encompass divisions ranging from microcredit to construction to education and more. FUNDER offers ‘entrepreneurial formation’ courses, often to accompany microcredit, in many trades and also offers less vocational courses on things such as facilitating local development in one’s community.

My role as an intern is to be in charge of a course called, “Mi Chance,” which is open to young entrepreneurs who seek help developing a business plan and better understanding how to run a business. My ‘summer internship’ experience is a little different because I worked at FUNDER 10 hours a week during my semester abroad here in Quito. While it was wonderful to already be integrated into the small community at our office, I was limited in my ability to travel during the semester and now find myself tied to the responsibilities that I took on under those circumstances.

I am currently planning the national contest “Mi Chance,” which will take place in October for people between the ages of 16 to 29 to compete based on their business plans in order to receive funding for their micro-enterprise. This has been a really interesting experience in planning a large event, but I am hoping that I will still have the opportunity to get out of the office more— interviewing Mi Chance participants and visiting businesses based on Mi Chance business plans, as I had originally planned with my boss. Overall, I’ve learned a lot from working at FUNDER because I’ve been given a ton of responsibility, which keeps things exciting, and the work that we do here is something that definitely interests me as a potential future career.