501c3 Galleries, Inc. is a Rhode Island not for profit corporation that acts as an incubator for local art gallery start-ups in the Providence area. The first of its completed gallery build outs is Angell Street Galleries located at 324 Angell Street, Providence. As a non-commissioned, non juried and community accessible space, Angell Street Galleries is seeking help from any variety of motivated student interns who have interest in learning and growing in a vibrant and instructive non profit gallery setting. Angell Street Galleries is offering employment opportunities for 20 students per semester, all of whom will have the same responsibilities for completion of required “coursework,” which include but are not limited BY the following:
1. Gallery Management Hours: In cooperation with the current shows’ exhibiting artists, the interns (who will be referenced further as “The Providence 20”) will work together as a collective to develop a workable schedule for their monthly gallery hours (minimum 4 hours per week). These employment opportunities are unsalaried but do offer a valuable return on hours worked - that return is access to a local space (walkable from Brown University and RISD) that has been developed by a cohort of well traveled artists familiar to Providence. That cohort will remain as guideposts for our interns, helping them understand the intricacies both of gallery management and of gallery survival in these times.
2. Fundraising: Also in cooperation with the resources of 501c3 Galleries, Inc. and others, our interns will be required to work on various fund raising efforts throughout their semester at Angell Street Galleries. There is an expectation of 2 hours per week of engagement with the future patron community, whether that be social media interaction, email, handshake meetings or by any means necessary. Our target patron will be recent alumni from surrounding universities; The Providence 20 will be working with and coordinating with the University Alumni Clubs for guidance. It is our belief that the community members will respond, whether they are artists or not. The specific fundraising goal per intern per semester is $250. It is our preference that the makeup of that patron base be small donors, incentivizing a greater outreach and exposure for Angell Street Galleries. The funds raised by The Providence 20 will begin, starting day one, to satisfy all of the financial obligations of Angell Street Galleries.
3. Special Events: The Providence 20 will be encouraged to organize and manage personally curated special events in the space during off hours, hopefully giving them a sense of connection with the space. Events will have to be scheduled and approved, but we are hopeful that their creative expression can be fostered and sustained.
4. Semester End Exhibition: The Providence 20 will be required to submit work for a semester ending show sponsored by the gallery. Their show will be open to the public for two consecutive weeks and it will be curated by others.
5. Engagement with Faculty: The Providence 20 will be asked to explore discussions with their faculty members regarding potential teaching opportunities in the space, as we are trying to both maximize community participation and legitimize the internship program as a sustainable, educational and developmental path forward for art students generally. Having the support of the local universities is vital to that end. "Gallery Management," "Non-Profit Entity Management" and "Community Outreach and Sustainability Management" would be examples of courses that could be offered in the space by cooperating faculty. These types of potential courses would serve the greater purpose of providing the interns with the requisite experience to flourish in these spaces.
6. Preparation for next show: The Providence 20 will be responsible for closing down the space in preparation for the next group of interns, who in turn will become The Providence 20. Fundraising will continue, and the cost per unit donated for future patrons will invariably go down. It is our expectation that, as the second semester of internships move on to their brighter futures, we will have 1000 patrons donating $5 per month to meet the static fundraising goal of $5000 per month. Achieving this goal ensures the viability of our community centered and non commissioned space in perpetuity.
Application period is not yet opened, but we look forward to receiving expressions of interest at:
Curator@501c3galleries.com
All will be reviewed.
