BA+BFA Yearlong Internship
Offering Cleveland-based arts organizations the opportunity to become participants in Oberlin College’s new BA+BFA in integrated arts program, sharing local arts expertise with motivated and talented fifth-year Oberlin students eager to support and participate in the local arts scene.
The BA+BFA Integrated Arts program at Oberlin serves as a launch pad for today’s “thinking artists,” allowing Oberlin students to earn two degrees in five years. Students complete their BA in their major of choice on Oberlin’s campus, along with 10 additional courses across the visual, performing, cinematic, literary, and musical arts to work towards a BFA in integrated arts. During this time, they work with professors and fellow students to develop a proposal for a major project that they will undertake in the fifth year. During their fifth year, students live and work at Park Arts in Cleveland, Ohio, where they will have 24-hour access to private studios, rehearsal spaces, theaters, and production facilities.
A key component of this fifth year is a yearlong arts internship in the Cleveland area. Given Oberlin College’s long history of excellence in the arts, BA+BFA students experience the rigor of an arts school along with the well-rounded, interdisciplinary education of a liberal arts college. The BA+BFA program aims to develop students who become holistic thinkers and problem solvers. The program’s emphasis on professional development aims to introduce students to the many career paths available to artists, thereby helping them carve their professional path while strengthening the long-term pool of arts leaders in cities like Cleveland.
- Mentor students who have a holistic, interdisciplinary mindset and approach to their work in the integrated arts
- Engage with bright young minds with fresh perspectives and ideas
- Work with students who are excited to learn, to make an impact, and to contribute positively to their host organization
- A well-structured immersive internship experience, with support from Oberlin’s Career Exploration and Development department and the professional development staff at Park Arts
- Quality supervision and mentoring
- Support for networking and connecting students with industry professionals
- Quality ongoing feedback on the student’s work
- Firsthand experience of what it's really like to work in the practicing arts and become part of a professional arts community
- The opportunity to apply their liberal arts skills to a real-world environment
- Experience to strengthen their future job or graduate school applications
- Networking opportunities in the local art community
- A first step into a career
- Supporting the programming and initiatives that arts organizations assign to students
- Making a positive impact and contribution to arts organizations
- Representing themselves, the program, and Oberlin with professionalism
- Making the Oberlin community aware of an organization's events and initiatives to strengthen participation, support, and morale