From fashion to furniture to outer space, students are making the most of this summer’s internship opportunities.
RISD Students Expand Their Horizons Via Enlightening Summer Internships
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Summer can be a great time for RISD students to relax and mentally prepare for the coming fall, but for many juniors and seniors it’s also the perfect time to explore real-world opportunities via summer internships. More than 300 students are doing just that this summer, working for organizations as nearby as Providence and Boston and as far away as Los Angeles and the Netherlands.
“RISD Careers actively engages with leading companies and organizations throughout the year to promote RISD talent,” says Associate Director Susan Andersen. “These opportunities allow students to gain work experience, build skills and networks for future jobs and learn how to navigate real-world markets and scenarios.”
In addition to helping students connect with hiring managers, RISD Careers provides financial support for students who might be interested in unpaid internships but can’t afford to work for free. Architecture major Sophia Francesco BArch 25, for example, earned an Undergraduate Discovery Internship Grant, which allowed them to move out west for the summer and work for the Navajo Nation’s Capital Projects Management Department. There they are learning to engage with the community on master plans that combine traditional values and Western design standards.
“I’m helping different chapters—communities within the reservation—with technical things like GIS and aerial mapping and also facilitating conversations to help determine which resources each community needs most,” Francesco explains. “The work I have been doing is inherently community-based, and I am deeply invested in listening to and learning from the community members here.”
Francesco credits their mentor, RISD Assistant Professor Angelo Baca (Diné, Hopi), with bringing them into the community and says he has influenced their approach to design. “I’ve taken two liberal arts classes with Angelo, and that work has hyper-focused my thinking about communities of color that use sustainable and traditional practices,” they explain. “It has helped to shape where I want to go next in the field of architecture.”
Baca has this to say about Francesco: “Sophie demonstrates an incredible adaptability and positive attitude and was searching for a challenging new environment in which to deploy their skills and talents. The Navajo Nation is grateful for the opportunity to collaborate on equal and respectful grounds with someone like Sophie.”
“These opportunities allow students to gain work experience, build skills and networks for future jobs and learn how to navigate real-world markets and scenarios.”
Much closer to home, rising senior Phillip Walker 25 PT is studying New England flora and fauna as a fine arts intern at the Massachusetts Audubon Museum of American Bird Art Education Center in Canton, MA. “It’s called an internship, but it’s more like an artist residency,” he explains. “I’m writing and making art about my experience on the park’s trails and 121 acres of pinelands, fields and vernal pools and hopefully having a show here at the end of the summer.”
A Painting major and Computation, Technology and Culture concentrator, Walker says that his multidisciplinary practice is informed by science, and he’s enjoying this opportunity to reconnect with nature. “Engaging with the center’s different habitats is really inspiring and infuses my work with intention and purpose,” he notes, “as opposed to making paintings about painting or strictly in response to an assignment.”
Rising junior Jake Lunder 26 ID is also bringing skills he learned at RISD into new settings as a product design intern at SharkNinja outside of Boston. He is working with the company’s creative and industrial design teams to make moving renderings of parts for customers and optimize CAD files for compatibility with multiple software platforms.
“I basically do photo-realistic CGI for the website, so that people can buy specific parts if their blender breaks, for example, and they only need to replace the handle,” Lunder explains. “I’ve gotten really good at using this software, and some of the skills I’m developing—like lighting—are transferrable to other software. I’m also learning about working collaboratively for a big company.”
Illustration major Zaineb Aljumayaat 25 IL is building experience in her field as a (virtual) intern at Riot Games in Los Angeles. She first connected with the video game giant last summer through the Career Center’s Trek LA event. “Riot’s was one of the coolest campuses we visited,” Aljumayaat recalls. “I fell in love with the vibe and could tell that the people who work there really love games.”
This summer she’s building 3D environments for such Riot games as Teamfight Tactics, which is closely related to the world-making work she does at RISD. “The fundamentals of illustration apply to many art forms: understanding composition, color theory, perspective…,” she explains. “I’m learning a lot on the job about industry-specific tech and rules.”
Aljumayaat plans to work in the gaming industry after RISD, and hopefully design her own game, and she’s planning to devote her senior year to building the necessary skills. “I intend to explore my own stories using what I’m learning in this internship to create something polished and refined for my portfolio,” she explains, before adding a plug for RISD Careers. “The Career Center is amazing,” she says. “They’ve helped me write artist statements, among other things, and set up that trip to LA, which has been the highlight of my entire RISD experience.”
Simone Solondz / top photo: Window Rock, Navajo Nation
July 29, 2024
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