Paid Internship in a New York State Folk Arts Program Now Available

Applications are now being accepted for a Folklore Graduate Student Folk Arts Internship, supported through the Internship program of New York Folklore and the New York State Council on the Arts. Submissions are due by March 13, 2022.

The internship provides opportunities for graduate students in folklore to learn first-hand about public folk arts programming and field research while completing a project that will benefit both the host organization and the folklorist intern. This program, involving mentoring by a senior level folklorist within a cultural agency, has introduced many public folklorists now employed in the field to the challenges and opportunities of working within the public sector. For a participating folk arts program within an organization, the internship provides an opportunity to interact with students immersed in the latest folklore scholarship at the graduate level.

This year one internship is available, to be hosted by GLOW Traditions, located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State. Any student enrolled in a masters or doctoral graduate folklore program may apply. Folklorists who graduated from a graduate folklore program in the past two years may also apply. The duration of this internship is 8 weeks, 30-35 hours per week.  It will occur from late May through August, 2022.

Interns will be expected to undertake a special project linked to their learning program for graduate study which will also benefit the host organization.  This year one internship is available, to be hosted by GLOW Traditions, located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York State.  GLOW Traditions is a shared program with the Arts Council for Wyoming County, the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts, and the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council which is directed by Karen Canning.  GLOW Traditions is located in a predominantly rural area of western New York between Rochester and Buffalo, with a service area encompassing around 2200 square miles.

A driver’s license and use of an automobile is required.   A dedicated office at the Genesee Valley Council on the Arts in Mt. Morris, NY will be made available for the intern. Karen Canning will assist in securing housing in a centralized location, possibly in Geneseo, NY.  A stipend of $5000 will be provided to the intern.

To apply, submit a resume or CV and a letter describing the potential benefits of the internship for the applicant’s career goals as a public folklorist.  For current graduate students, please reflect on the internship’s relationship to your graduate learning program.  The application letter should also indicate how previous experiences in programming, field research and/or administration would contribute to the organization hosting the internship. Following the internship, the intern and the host organization are both required to submit a report evaluating the internship.

Applications must be submitted electronically to Laurie Longfield at New York Folklore.  Decisions about the successful candidates will be made by March 28. Additional information can be obtained by contacting Ellen McHale, Executive Director of New York Folklore. Please do not contact GLOW Traditions for information about these internships.

Details about the internship: 

Stories That Cook: Art, Memories and Recipes

This is a two-year project, recently funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, that will include a series of arts workshops, an exhibit, and a cookbook created by artists, farmworkers and their families in western New York. It is a collaboration between GLOW Traditions and another GVCA program, Creative Artists Migrant Program Service (CAMPS). CAMPS was founded in 1975 at the Geneseo Migrant Center, with a mission to offer free art workshops to migrant farmworkers and families in Western New York, who are currently predominantly Hispanic. GLOW Traditions has consistently worked with these communities for more than 15 years to document and present traditional arts, music, dance, foodways, and celebrations such as the Día de Muertos and Tres Reyes.

This project will spotlight and honor the rich cultural gifts that reside in our agricultural community, from generational farm families to newer farmworkers, and celebrate points of connection among diverse cultures in the region. The intern will assist GLOW Traditions staff with interviews of farmers and farmworkers to gather foodways and family histories, and work with ongoing data entry of recipes and contextual materials for the book preparation.