An Iowa College in the Liberal Arts Tradition
Internship Stories
Internships allow you to enhance your 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.
Learn more about different internships from Visual and Performing Arts faculty by going to the art, theatre, or dance internship pages.
Trevor Haren
When: Summer 2019
Where: Des Moines Playhouse Theatre
Major: Theatre
Trevor Haren is a theatre major with minors in management and musical theatre. This past summer, he interned at the Des Moines Playhouse Theatre in Des Moines, Iowa. While there, Trevor served as a theatre education intern. As an education intern, his job was to teach theatre classes to kids in grades K-9. He also helped run the weekly camps put on by the playhouse, and assisted with lighting, sound, and props. Trevor really enjoyed being exposed to different age groups and it taught him about the ins and outs of working in a community theatre setting. The thing he loved most was his ability to watch his students grow in their love for theatre every week. He is very excited for his future and cannot wait to continue to study theatre here at Luther.
Cleo Garza
When: Summer 2019
Where: Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre
Major: Theatre
Cleo Garza is a theatre major with a musical theatre minor. This past summer, she had an internship with the Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre in Carmel, Indiana. While there, she helped build set pieces for their 2019-2020 season. She also helped set up different sets for their shows this summer. The internship was great for Cleo because it allowed her to explore different aspects of technical theatre. She learned how to rig larger stages, and she was able to work with and learn from professionals. Cleo loved her internship because it helped her realize that theatre is a viable option for life after college. She couldn’t be more excited for her future.
Morgan Fanning
When: Spring 2019
Where: TimeLine Theatre Company
Major: Theatre and Music
Morgan worked at TimeLine Theatre Company as the casting and administration intern. TimeLine is a midsize theatre located in East Lake View in Chicago, IL. The theatre primarily performs pieces inspired by history. The concepts of the shows are then applied to today's social and political climate. One of Morgan's jobs included managing agent and actor correspondance for TimeLine. She sat in on the auditions, and prepared sides and schedules for the audition process. In the theatre world, connections can be essential. Morgan benefited from the opportunity to form those connections with real-world theatre professionals. She also appreciated getting a hands-on experience of the Chicago Theatre world. The knowledge of the inner workings of the professional world is invaluable. Morgan is now confident that she has the skills, motivation, and perseverance to succeed after Luther.
Matthew Espey
When: Summer 2017
Where: Clinton Area Showboat Theatre, Clinton, Iowa
Major: Theatre
Matthew has interned with the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre since high school. While interning, he performed in mainstage productions each summer. Another duty was working in the costume shop, scene shop, and box office. Matthew and other interns also attended workshops about acting, dancing, and singing which were led by professional performers. At the end of the season, the interns put on their own show showcasing what they learned.
Once Matthew began his studies at Luther, he was promoted to administrative and secretarial duties for the company. This allowed him to gain even more professional experience. Matthew loved having a voice in running the theatre. Even with these extra jobs, Matthew was still able to perform in the mainstage productions as an actor. These experiences and the connections he made were very rewarding. Matthew is most grateful for the influential and professional artists he met at the Showboat. After all, in theatre, connections mean everything.
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.
Laura Thoms
When: January 2016
Where: Dry Run Studio, Decorah, IA
Major: Theatre
For her internship with Dry Run Studio, Laura participated in meditation and daily discussions with her supervisor. Each day, Laura meditated in a different location on Luther’s campus or around the Decorah area. While at these sites, she would reflect on how ordinary life can be beneficial for creativity. These meditative observations helped her develop a deeper understanding of her own learning process. Through this, Laura was able to refine her creative discussions and process. She also kept a blog, where she was able to track how her ideas grew and became polished. The most rewarding part of the internship was learning how meditation and reflection can heighten creativity. In relation to her theatre major, Laura plans to uses these new tools to further her artistic development.
Abigail Suhr
When: January 2016
Where: Yaro Dance Company, Urbandale, Iowa
Major: Dance with a Psychology minor
Abigail interned with a Yaro dance company, a professional dance company in Urbandale, Iowa. She wanted to learn how a company produces their shows and was glad that one of her duties involved attending board meetings. In these meetings, she learned about choosing dates, venues, and marketing techniques for a season of dance. She also assisted in dance rehearsal. That allowed her to compare Luther’s Movement Fundamentals courses to ballet. Other duties she had included costume upkeep, poster distribution, and being a stagehand during performance. The most rewarding part of her internship was when she saw her name in a program and knew she had done her part to earn it. Abigail’s internship taught her that she wants to be more confident in sharing her ideas because dance is a collaborative art form.
Kristin Anderson
When: January 2016
Where: Inspire(d) Magazine, Decorah, IA
Major: Art
Kristin had the opportunity to intern with the local magazine, Inspire(d), as a graphic designer. Some of the tasks included copy editing blog posts, managing the web page, and developing her own graphics for blog posts. She also had a paper project to work on where she created a kaleidocycle with paper and designed a step-by-step ad on how to recreate it. This experience made Kristin realize that she enjoys the nitty gritty of design work. She also improved her visual communication skills because now she can't help but analyze and deconstruct images. Additionally, she learned a lot about self-management because she worked on campus and met up with her supervisor every few days. This gave her the knowledge of what it takes to own her own graphic design business some day. She was also inspired to start her own web page and submit her art to galleries.
Hannah Tulgren
When: January 2016
Where: Norway House, Minneapolis, MN
Major: Art
Hannah Tulgren is a sophomore majoring in art and minoring in management. During the month of January, she worked with the Norway House art gallery, café, and bookstore located in Minneapolis, MN. Her internship focused on marketing and project management, which allowed her to blend her interests in art and business administration. Hannah found the internship to be incredibly valuable because it gave her an inside look at a volunteer-run non-profit. During her experience, she learned the importance of communication, time management, and collaboration. She also discovered a great deal about herself and her goals for life after Luther.