Art nonprofits up and down the valley are handling interns in different ways. The Aspen Art Museum typically tries to work with locals who might be staying with family or who are home from college for the summer.
At the Art Base in Basalt, interns range in age from 13 to 17 years old. Most internships start as unpaid, but can lead to compensation.
Currently, the nonprofit is going through preliminary stages of future expansion. Part of that is adding live- and work-space to bolster their programs.
“There’s a lot of interesting people out there doing good work, but it is difficult to think about bringing them here and putting them up for any long period of time,” said Art Base Executive Director Genna Moe.
Eventually, Moe said, the goal is to be able to house interns, or perhaps artists in residence for longer periods of time. That goal is only in the planning stages for now.
Grace Olson, a photojournalism intern at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, said her internship wouldn’t have happened if housing wasn’t provided.
“I feel really fortunate that a part of being here in the internship is housing,” Olson said. “I think that’s a huge benefit to the program.”
