This summer 18 local cultural organizations hosted high school students through the Bloomberg Arts Internship (BAI) program, where participants learned essential workplace skills that are applicable in any sector.
The seven-week BAI program is a part of Bloomberg Philanthropies. One of the BAI placement organizations is Sitar Arts Center on Kalorama Road in Northwest D.C. This is the third consecutive year BAI has brought the paid internship program to Sitar, with 45 public high school students participating.
One of the BAI students this summer has been Taylor Banks, a rising senior at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts. Banks is in the visual arts program at the Northwest, D.C. high school.
“We have different programming, including an early childhood afterschool, a program for teens, one for young adults. Sitar also provides career training,” said Jennifer Huddnell, Sitar’s director of communications. “Teens like Taylor work together on Sitar’s mural art projects throughout the year.”
What Banks has been learning at Ellington was a good fit for the mural program at Sitar.
“We learn so much from our teachers at school. They are all in the arts field,” said Banks about the Ellington environment.. “We learn about sculpting, painting, and many different forms of fine art. We are just taught to be well-rounded.
It was Banks’ father who learned about the BAI program through a Sitar email thread. He showed it to his daughter, and Taylor thought the program was cool, so she wanted to go for it.
Through the BAI program, Banks was assigned to the Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens on the edge of Rock Creek Park on Linnean Avenue in Northwest. Hillwood was the home of its founder Marjorie Merriweather Post, a cultural arts philanthropist. The Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland was named in her honor. Being onsite at Hillwood widened Banks’ view about a museum environment.
“Every single day, we work with a new person and team,” said Banks. “Last week, we followed a photographer taking photos of Marjorie Post’s dresses. They were really beautiful.”
Many rooms are decorated with paintings, and personal items are displayed. Part of Banks’ internship has been learning how to give five-minute presentations about various aspects of the estate. She gave a portion of one talk about an unfinished portrait of Post. Banks showed her skills in using descriptive language to guide visitors to find something in the portrait that might be easily overlooked.
“I was drawn to that portrait because I’m a painter. I liked how you could see the painter’s process in the portrait and the likeness of Post’s face,” said Banks. “My presentation is a conversation because the portrait has a beautiful backstory.”
Those presentation skills acquired through this internship were useful for an art competition during the NAACP Convention this summer. Banks won a Gold Award for one of her drawings, where she had to discuss her work.
The Sitar and Hillwood experiences have further defined Banks’ vision for college. She is looking at dual-degree programs, where she can study art and some of her other interests, like psychology.
“I want to go to college and get my bachelor’s in fine arts with a focus on studio arts. It’s something I am really passionate about,” said Banks. “ I want to be able to show my art in galleries, travel the world, and bring that into my art.”
To learn more about Sitar Community Arts and their programs for children to adults up to age 24, visit the website at sitarartscenter.org For information about the Bloomberg Arts Internships, visit bloomberg.org.