Art Windsor-Essex, a community-driven art gallery, hosts students from the School of Creative Arts (SoCA) and the Department of Communications, Media, and Film in internships managed by alumna Nadja Pelkey (BFA 2008), co-ordinator of digital initiatives and partnerships.

Sophia Sladic, a concurrent education and visual arts major, interned over the summer with the education and public programs section of the program.

“The internship at Art Windsor-Essex gave me the opportunity to broaden my experiences within the arts community of Windsor and to expand my artistic abilities,” she says. “It helped me to stay involved in the studio, where I spent most of my time working and teaching art lessons to school groups.”

The experience helped her envision working with children in a classroom of her own.

“This internship allowed me to be in touch with my educational and artistic sides, giving me the opportunity to explore the creative culture that the gallery has to offer,” says Sladic.

Phoebe Findlay, a visual arts student, interned at AWE during the Winter 2023 semester. Although her artistic journey began with being a practising artist herself, she longed to learn more about arts administration.

Through her internship, she learned that being a gallery curator — one of her aspirations — requires skills in business and administration along with artistic literacy. Her time culminated in the challenging assignment of curating display of images from SoCA students.

In an article for medium.com, Findlay writes: “With a broad assignment that allows for creative freedom, there were many different ideas explored. This posed a difficulty to me as a curator, trying to make all these images fit together.”

To learn more about the variety of internships offered by the gallery, as well as how to apply, contact Pelkey at npelkey@artwindsoressex.ca.