As in many government offices, the DCA is often staffed by interns—young people in college who are exploring career options and supplementing their studies with hands-on experience. In the following article, four recent interns, each of whom came to the DCA through a different channel, describe the DCA projects from their points of view.

Jessica Bluebond-Langner

"So you’re an art student?"

"No."

"So you’re studying art history, then?"

"No."

"So, how did you wind up here?"

This was a frequent conversation with those I met while interning at Percent for Art. At first the answer was solely my interest in government. As a political science major, I had applied to the Government Scholars Program, a program run by the city of New York to provide internships in government agencies to college students. When I applied, I had envisioned myself working in some mayoral agency, spending long days in the "war room," putting spin on the latest scandal, and getting coffee for people who hadn’t left the building in years. I was matched with the Percent for Art Program at the DCA, an agency I was unfamiliar with until my interview. I was excited, but also overwhelmed by how much knowledge I lacked—too much West Wing, not enough Bob Ross.

My first week was a crash course in public art. On Monday, I accompanied Charlotte Cohen, Director of Percent for Art, to a problem-solving meeting with artist Tomie Arai, who was installing a mosaic at the new Administration for Children Services’ Children’s Center Building in downtown Manhattan. The chosen wall was a different size from what the design plans had indicated. I watched as Charlotte and Tomie considered solutions, such as trimming the mosaic or shifting its position on the wall.

On Tuesday, I sat in on an artist selection meeting for the new Jacobi Hospital addition in the Bronx. The panel viewed the slides of 50 artists, and then spent the day narrowing those 50 down to five, whom they invited for interviews. On Wednesday, I observed a series of artist interviews for projects in three Queens schools. Four artists presented their portfolios and gave an overview of their design ideas for the site.

Throughout the summer, I also attended meetings with city agencies such as the Department of Transportation and the Health and Hospitals Corporation. Percent for Art works with over 40 "sponsor" agencies—agencies that are based in the buildings in which the art will be integrated. I visited the studios of artists and fabricators such as Ursula Von Rydingsvard, a sculptor commissioned for a new Queens Family Court building, and Terra Firma, a fabricator hired by artist Colin Chase for the expansion of the Queens Hospital Center. I also assisted groups such as MTA Arts for Transit (which promotes the use of public transportation through art) as they used the DCA’s Artist Slide Registry to select artists for their projects.

Artists, I now realize, are essential to constructing successful cities by solving spatial problems and helping to enhance our environments, both functionally and aesthetically. Artists Kristin Jones and Andrew Ginzel transformed classic school glass blocks into an educational opportunity by placing artifacts, such as fragments of the Great Wall of China and snow from Mt. Fiji, in the glass blocks on the wall of Manhattan’s Stuyvesant High School. (They also left 88 blocks empty so that later graduating classes could design their own blocks.) In Staten Island, Siah Armajani created a bridge near the Ferry Terminal that pays homage to the history of the site and provides a space for meditation in a bustling city. The bridge includes excerpts from the poetry of Walt Whitman, a former resident of Staten Island.

My internship with Percent for Art allowed me to experience a wide variety of aspects relating to public art. This fall, I am assisting artist Janet Zweig, who recently finished a Percent project at Walton High School in the Bronx, in designing an experimental library, the Philadelphia Open Air Library and Farmers’ Market Plaza. Zweig is incorporating the community into the design process.

In late July, I worked at the National Public Art Conference in New York, which was organized in part by Percent for Art. Just two months prior I had been part of the "public" that was so often referred to during the conference. Now, as a result of my experience with Percent for Art, I had entered the realm of public art administration. So when people at the conference asked me, "How did you wind up here?" I could answer, "My interest in public art."

After being accepted into the New York City Government Scholars program, I chose the DCA for my internship because I wanted to work closely with Susan Chin, Assistant Commissioner of Capital Projects. Ms. Chin is bright, energetic, and personable, and made me feel that I would be welcomed as a member of her staff. Also, it made sense for me to work in this department, since I live in "the cultural capital of the world."

I worked in the Capital projects unit with Susan Chin on several projects: a program for MoMA’s expansion, and new projects including the National Museum of the American Indian, Roundabout Theatre’s Studio 54, and the Skyscraper Museum. MoMA will enlarge its facility to 630,000 square feet to strengthen its important mission. MoMA is building greater and more flexible spaces to display its collections, build closer relationships with students, and offer the public an enhanced educational experience. The National Museum of the American Indian, now in the former US Custom House near Wall Street, will construct a multi-use space under the building’s Rotunda. Roundabout Theatre plans to expand its productions and educational programs with a permanent home in its theater in the former Studio 54 building. The Skyscraper Museum will be constructing a new facility in Battery Park City.

I have also been helping Manhattan’s East 4th Street cultural groups submit their paperwork to the DCA and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in order for them to purchase their buildings from the city. The East 4th street cluster are mainly performing groups—LaMama ETC, Choices Theater/Downtown Art, Rod Rodgers Dance Company, Duo Theater, Instituto Arte Teatral Internacional (IATI), WOW Café Theater, Alpha Omega Dance Company—along with the Lower East Side Printshop.

However, my largest on-going project was an annual equipment audit, for which I traveled to various institutions to check that the equipment the DCA purchased was still there and was being used for its intended purpose. The DCA purchases include: a tram for visitors to the Bronx Zoo, a water-bed for animals in the infirmary at the Staten Island Zoo, tractors, vans, and computers, among other things. Because of this project I was able to visit behind-the-scenes at the American Museum of Natural History, the New York City Ballet, City Center, and many other sites.

As part of the Capital Projects Unit, I helped institutions navigate their way through the city’s procedures and use their money to improve the cultural community at large. The DCA’s overall mission is to be an advocate for the cultural community within the city government. I learned that constant communication between the arts community and city agencies is essential, and that oftentimes a lack of communication slows projects to a stop. Often, the arts community does not know how much the city could provide for them, if only they used the right mechanisms. I spent much time explaining Capital Eligibility, the bidding and procurement processes, over the phone or in the DCA workshops.

I have learned the economic tendencies of a large city through working with both the Office of Management and Budget and the City Council Finance Committee, and by watching where money goes within the cultural community itself. Besides public programs, funds are spent on façade work, lighting, the trio of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (together called HVAC), and infrastructure improvements.

Working at the DCA has exposed me to parts of the arts community I had never known before. I saw the enthusiasm of the Black Spectrum Theatre in Queens, the independent fervor of the East 4th Street groups, the timeless curiosity of the Manhattan Children’s Museum, and the uniqueness of the P.S. 1 museum. Too often these places remain undiscovered by many visitors to New York City, and it’s largely the support that the DCA provides that allows them to flourish as they do.

The arts have always been a major part of my life. Currently, I am majoring in dance at Hunter College, and I was a drama major at LaGuardia High School. While an honor student at Hunter College, I applied for an internship through the Jeannette K. Watson Foundation. The goal of the Jeannette K. Watson Foundation is to provide college students from different New York City schools with three different professional internships for three consecutive summers. The Foundation wants their fellows to try working in different sectors of the economy, to make contacts, and to discover what type of work they enjoy. An internship with the DCA held the exciting prospect for me to learn something new.

Under the supervision of Lynne King, Maureen Nash, and Tim Thayer of the Cultural Institutions unit, my task at the DCA was to research audience development funding trends, strategies, and programs. The work began with a historical analysis of audience development initiatives of the 34 city-funded Cultural Institutions Group (CIGs) as reported in their own fiscal final reports.

I also had the great opportunity to meet with leaders in the field and make site visits to particular programs. Many have worked to welcome new audiences to their institution: Donna Walker-Kuhne, the director of the Community Affairs Department at the Public Theater, connected with the African American community when Bring In ‘da Noise, Bring In ‘da Funk premiered at the Public Theater; Jeffrey Rosenstock draws the Latino community to the Queens Theater in the Park program each summer; and "Meet the Met" travels all over New York City to families who have never been to a museum before.

The most substantial thing I’ve learned is the need for arts organizations to extend invitations to traditionally underserved audiences. When I was younger, my parents took me to see Broadway shows, to the New York City Ballet’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the New York City Opera’s La Traviata; the Metropolitan Museum of Art was a place we visited regularly. I always wondered why I didn’t see more young people at these places, and began to assume that people my age simply were not interested in them. Working on this project has made me more aware of the reasons for limited participation in the arts. Some people think they don’t have the right clothes to wear to the theater, while others are intimidated by the endless stairs that lead to the entrance of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There are many barriers to arts participation, both real and perceived. Some of the most typical barriers are the high cost of tickets, people’s lack of free time, and their perception that the art presented is irrelevant to their lives and interests. In addition, there are barriers on the side of the organizations, such as limited staff and budget, that prevent them from researching non-traditional audiences and collaborating with these communities.

Whenever I work on a project in the future I will inevitably be aware of the audience—whether an audience sitting in a theater or students sitting in a classroom—because without an audience, art is meaningless.

For the previous five summers, I had participated in various academic programs, such as studying Latin in Rome and taking college courses. However, in the summer between high school and college I wanted to have an internship and do something different.

After writing a letter to City Hall, making phone calls, and meeting with several department commissioners, I decided that I wanted to work at the DCA in their Capital Projects Unit. This unit helps organizations and institutions—mostly museums, dance troupes, zoos, and theaters—to renovate their buildings and undertake large-scale construction projects.

I helped the Capital Unit carry on its work with cultural groups that wish to expand, modernize, or otherwise improve their facilities by means of a significant capital (financial) investment. I worked with Assistant Commissioner Susan Chin and the Capital Unit to develop programs for organizations. I also worked on collecting data for the Mayor’s Management Report (MMR), which assesses the performance of New York City agencies during a given fiscal year, and anticipates the Administration’s plans and priorities for upcoming years. I enjoyed the interaction with cultural institutions and organizations throughout New York City—particularly the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, housed in Manhattan’s theater district, which I worked closely with to write a program outlining its upcoming roof renovation project, and the American Craft Museum in midtown, which is updating its gallery space. Part of my responsibilities has been to locate information about ten other cultural organizations that the DCA recently started working with.

I also helped Victor Metoyer, Deputy Director, and Louise Woehrle, Project Manager, write programs—outlines that describe the scope of work that the DCA is overseeing, usually construction or renovation projects—for the Cloisters/Metropolitan Museum of Art, where there is a multiphase renovation project in progress. Other project plans are for the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, where a new building is being constructed; the Queens Museum of Art, which is updating its New York City Panorama exhibit; and the Museum of Jewish Heritage by Battery Park, where plans to construct a new wing are underway.

I learned a lot about the "softer side" of government—that is, government working to improve the world, not just the passing and enforcing of laws. The New York City government spends a great amount of time and money working to enrich the lives of those who live here. Although my contribution was perhaps small, I am satisfied as I look back at my eight weeks at the Department of Cultural Affairs, because I know that my efforts helped to maintain the vibrant cultural community of the city.

At the core of the Department of Cultural Affairs’ mission is the advancement of public access to culture. The Cultural Institution’s Unit of the DCA has organized an Audience Development Seminar for Fall 2001. The objective is to persuade both executive directors and trustees to invest in long-term audience development initiatives. The seminar aims to offer New York City’s cultural institutions strategies for serving people who are traditionally excluded from, unaware of, or unreceptive to the cultural life of the city.

Case studies of successes, attempts, and failures will be examined and contested through a dialogue with arts administrators, private funders, and government agencies. Donna Walker-Kuhne, an expert recognized for pioneering audience development initiatives at the Public Theater, will moderate the panel. Participants include audience development specialists, executive directors, and board chairs, as well as corporate and private funders.

In order to reach a broader audience, a transcript of the seminar will be printed in an upcoming issue of FYI.

Date: October 3, 2001.

Place: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Uris Auditorium.

For more information: call the Cultural Institutions Unit, (212) 643-7714.

The DCA staff welcomes Cynthia Ingram as our new Director of Personnel. Ms. Ingram has worked for New York City for many years and comes to the DCA after holding the position of Director of Personnel at the Department of Finance. We wish her the best. . . .

The information contained in the above article is current as of its October 2001 publication date. Please be advised that this information may be out of date.