Internship Syllabus (IN-396)

Fall 2010
San Francisco Art Institute
Faculty Advisor: Jennifer Rissler
jrissler@sfai.edu
(415) 749-4586
Office hours: by appointment Monday-Friday
Office: Academic Affairs (on the mezzanine)

This class is structured as a directed study/tutorial, allowing you to focus on your internship while staying engaged
with you faculty advisor throughout the experience. Readings and writing responses augment your investigations
and cover topics including visual arts funding, organizational structure, the culture wars and the sustainability of
arts organizations. During tutorial meetings, we will discuss your individual experiences as they relate to your
internship - the challenges you have faced, the projects you have undertaken, etc. I am also available to discuss
your professional goals further. For assistance with resume and cover letter writing, please contact Megann Sept,
Assistant Director of Student Life and Coordinator of Career Resources - 415.351.3509 / msept@sfai.edu

Course Objectives
By the end of the course you will have:
• Completed an internship with an arts organization, (commercial, for-profit or non-profit institution) or a
practicing artist. You are expected to work a minimum of 6 hours per week.
• Become acquainted with arts organizations in the city.
• Explored organizational structure, funding for the arts, and other issues affecting visual arts and cultural
institutions through readings and assignments.
• Discussed your individual experiences with the faculty advisor through individual meetings.

Course Requirements
• Successful completion of an internship
• Demonstrated understanding of the readings
• Completion of all assignments

Internship Contract
Complete the internship contract with your supervisor and return it to me by Tuesday, September 14.

Grading
To successfully pass the course you must complete all assignments by the stated deadlines and demonstrate through
your supervisor’s evaluation that you have interned at least 6 hours per week for the duration of your internship.
Your grade will drop one letter grade per missed assignment.

Important Dates:
Tuesday, September 14: First Assignments due (including Intenship Contract)
Tuesday, September 28: Second Assignment due (reading response)
Tuesday, October 12: Third Assignment due (reading response)
Tuesday, October 26: Fourth Assignment due (reading response)
Tuesday, November 16: Fifth Assignment due (written analysis/research project)
Tuesday, November 23 - Friday, December 10: Mandatory Tutorial meeting must be scheduled during this 2 1/2
week period– plan ahead!
Friday, December 10: Sixth Assignment due (written analysis/internship experience)
First Assignments: Due Tuesday, September 14
1. Read "Leverage Lost" by John Kreidler

2. Using the San Francisco Visual Arts Network (SFVAN) map as a resource, visit one of the non-profit or artist-
centered organizations, galleries, spaces or resources in the city (other than your internship site). Submit a brief report on
the organization and discuss its mission statements and organizational structure. Submit your response to me via email or
place it in my mailbox, located in the mailroom.

3. Secure your internship, complete and return a signed Internship Contract to me.

Second Assignment: Due Tuesday, September 28

Submit a written response (one page minimum) to the following set of readings, addressing your internship
experience where applicable:
Culture Wars: From Art Matters: How the Culture Wars Changed America:
"The Children of John Adams: A Historical View of the Fight Over Arts Funding" by Lewis Hyde
"Theses on Defunding" by Martha Rosler
"The Privatization of Culture" by George Yudice

Third Assignment: Due Tuesday, October 12

Submit a written response (one page minimum) to the following set of readings, addressing your internship
experience where applicable:
Alternative Arts Spaces: From Alternative Art New York, 1965-85, Edited by Julie Ault:
"For the Record"
"Public Funding and Alternative Spaces"

Fourth Assignment: Due Tuesday, October 26

Submit a written response (one page minimum) to the following set of readings, addressing your internship
experience where applicable:
Institutional Critique, The NEA:
From Art and Its Institutions: Current Conflicts, Critique and Collaborations, Edited by Nina Möntmann:
“A museum is not a business. It is run in a businesslike fashion” by Andrea Fraser
From Visionaries and Outcasts, by Michael Brenson:
“The Artist in America, 1965,” “Ideology and Idealism,” “1995”

Fifth Assignment: Due Tuesday, November 16

Submit a written analysis of one of the following topics related to the class readings, or choose a topic more closely
related to your internship:
Corporate sponsorship: Select a corporation and research it’s funding for the arts
(Examples: IBM, Phillip Morris, AT&T)
Funding for the arts: Research the shifts in funding from 1995-present (government, foundation, private)
Funding for the arts: Research and compare funding for the arts in other countries
The corporatization of museums: Research the trend of increasing corporate practice in the museum world,
including the loss of curatorial autonomy
Censorship: Research controversies surrounding exhibitions that were censored or defunded due to controversial artwork

Tutorial meeting:
You are required to schedule an individual meeting with me to discuss your internship during the 2 1/2 week
period beginning Tuesday, November 23 - Friday, December 10. I am also available to meet individually with
you more than once (up to three times), if necessary throughout the semester. Please plan in advance.

Sixth Assignment: Submit a written analysis of your internship experience, addressing projects you were involved
in, specific challenges and your accomplishments in relation to your personal and professional goals. Due Friday,
December 10.