Above: The class meets with artist Antoine Catala.
For the first six months of 2018, New York City endured two blustery and ill-tempered seasons. March ushered in a bomb cyclone and four nor’easters before giving way to a chilly April. It was a frigid welcome to five sculpture students who were set loose in the biggest city in America.
They were there for a new practicum course, offered by the Department of Sculpture + Extended Media, that placed each student in a series of internships with full-time professional artists.
By the end of the semester, Ben Mattoon clocked in 500 hours of work. Not one was the same. With artists Antoine Catala and Alex Hayden, Mattoon built out their studio and fabricated work with them. As he would do carpentry, make molds, build crates and mix colors, Catala and Hayden requested his opinion on creative decisions and taught him about the technology central to their practice, such as 3D printing and modeling.
“Every day was very hands on,” Mattoon says. “However, it was also amazing just to have long conversations about art with these two, learning lots about their experience as artists, [with] finances and business.”
Mattoon and his classmates were the first cohort in the junior- and senior-level course conceived by Corin Hewitt, associate professor of sculpture.
Hewitt wanted to facilitate unique learning and networking experiences for students in a course designed to acclimate them to the dynamic rhythm—and varied occupations—of creators in their field. Four of the host artists—Mike Rottenburg, Mark Dion, Nick Hallett and Shana Moulton—have been featured on Art21, while others have been profiled in publications such as the New York Times and Art in America.
In addition to their internship placements, Hewitt led students in multiples weekend outings throughout the semester. Together, the class would take trips to museums, galleries and other events in the city, as well as share candid conversations and reflections about their experiences so far.
“I always learned a lot on weekends Corin would come up and show us around,” says Abby Huston, whose artist internships were supplemented with more than 100 hours with the Performance Space New York production crew. “He introduced us to New York-based VCU alumni just about every visit.”
“It is my hope,” Hewitt says, “that from this experience they will build lasting mentor relationships with prominent New York artists, which will provide connections and support in their futures as artists.”
Hewitt’s idea, it turns out, was a rousing success. For some students, these internships were their first experiences working for an artist. Keeping up with the pace and demands of each artist or venue often proved to be both challenging and instructional—even when it involved more phone calls and mail runs than grand openings.
“It can be weird to insert yourself into this place where someone has to do so much research,” says Cassie Sheedy, who worked with Mark Dion and his wife Dana Sherwood. “I had to figure out where I could be helpful.”
Huston adds, “Everyone’s life as an artist is so unique to them. I should be grateful to see any side of it, even if it’s more the logistics than the glamorous grind.”
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