MSU Community Music School-East Lansing (CMS-EL) has been awarded funding for the fifth straight year to provide internship opportunities for College of Music students. Since 2013, with the support of the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA), CMS-EL has been offering a unique arts management internship for two College of Music students to gain valuable work experience in many facets of arts administration.

Since its inception, CMS-EL has been awarded a total of $12,475 and offered 10 College of Music students the opportunity to get a unique glimpse into careers in arts administration, arts education and non-profit work with the overarching goal of strengthening the arts/culture workforce within the state of Michigan. Interns get the opportunity to oversee CMS’s five summer camps and participate in a rotation with CMS administrative staff. During their rotation, interns gain valuable competency in areas such as marketing, public relations, fundraising, budgeting, human resources, customer service, program evaluation, planning and operations.

“This internship made me step outside my comfort zone and work with an eclectic group of individuals. Thanks to this experience, I now feel more comfortable dealing with music administrative tasks such as grant writing, event planning, and finance. [It] is a great internship with mentors that are truly interested in your success.” – Sarah Brzyski, New Leaders Intern

“This internship exposes interns to multiple sides of arts management and all the staff are easy to work with. From my internship, I learned how to work one-on-one with a supervisor and take criticism to better my work.” – Eric Locker, New Leaders Intern

“The value of this program to College of Music students and the community in which they serve cannot be underestimated,” says Jaime DeMott, director of CMS-EL. “The structure developed at CMS-EL continues to be acknowledged by the MCACA as a wonderful example of how the program is intended to work.”

Students who graduate and seek employment in the arts can leverage skills gained from the program says DeMott. “The tools they acquire will ultimately make them much more successful in their careers and strengthen the arts organizations and communities in which they work.”