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Emma Gerch, IOCA Summer Intern

By Emma Gerch, LACAC Intern for Inside Out Community Arts

Hey P.S. ARTS community! I’m Emma, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission Intern for Inside Out Community Arts. As some of you may know, P.S. ARTS recently acquired IOCA, so I now have the pleasure of working with both organizations this summer. I’m excited to blog about my learning curve in arts education and nonprofit development this summer.  I’m a rising senior (yikes!) at Occidental College in Eagle Rock, working toward a sociology major with a film production minor. On my commute to the P.S. ARTS office, I enjoy listening to This American Life podcasts and young adult books on tape. After work, I train as a competitive Irish dancer and will be going to the North American Nationals in Montreal this week (yikes again)! In the future, I want to work in education in some capacity, while also engaging my love for visual arts and media production – goals that drew me to my internship here.

The P.S. ARTS office is an aesthetically pleasing place to work - even the puppies think so!
The P.S. ARTS office is an aesthetically pleasing place to work – even the puppies think so!

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my first month working for P.S. ARTS, specifically with the Inside Out program, it’s that the important work of an arts education nonprofit is much deeper and more complex than a final performance or even one art class. Before the Teaching Artists can make educational strides with students, there is data to enter, conference calls to make, art supplies to organize, and a hundred little things to coordinate. Every small step and detail is essential to bringing effective and engaging programs to schools that need them.

IOCA Intern Summer 2014
My corner of the office.

At our staff meeting last week I presented the first of my completed projects – a student feedback report for Inside Out’s spring program. Students in the Inside Out Community Arts after-school theater program this past semester completed surveys before the program started and after it ended. Students were asked to rate how strongly they agreed with statements like “I have self confidence,” “I can write a play,” “I like to sing,” etc. During the program, students that said they could overcome stage fright increased by 27%, students that said that they felt good about being unique increased by 15%, and students that said they could make friends with kids from other neighborhoods increased by 12%. These are just some highlights. As a sociology major, I find all kinds of human-related data interesting, and it was both fascinating and encouraging to quantify the improvements made in the program. It’s also satisfying to know that the numbers I compiled might inspire others to support Inside Out and P.S. ARTS programs in coming years.

IOCA Summer Intern 2014
Middle school students in Inside Out’s School Project perform “Gangs in the Neighborhood,” an original play.

Every day in the office is productive and informative, and I’m looking forward to participating in the development of P.S. ARTS and Inside Out programs for the rest of the summer. Coming up, I’m putting the finishing touches on videos from the Inside Out final performances and developing curriculum for the Teen Media Initiative program. Come back to hear more on my intern experience!

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