The show will go on for arts interns [updated]

The county’s on-again, off-again summer arts internship program is on again.

And not a moment too soon for local arts organizations scrambling to fill spots that have been in limbo since a proposal to fund the program out of county reserves first went before the Board of Supervisors on March 2.

Since then, members of the board have suggested tapping the civic arts program for funding, debated loaning the arts commission money for this summer’s internships, and sharply questioned whether the commission had done enough to raise money from outside sources or had fully explored drawing on Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) welfare funding to give jobless single mothers a chance to take part.

The board voted 3-0 to approve a motion by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, seconded by Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, to spend $250,000 in county reserves to make a go of this summer’s paid internship program. Also voting in favor of the motion was Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich. Supervisor Don Knabe abstained, and Chair Gloria Molina—the board’s most ardent advocate of the TANF option—voted “no, with attitude.”

After the vote, the arts commission started spreading the word to intern-seeking organizations. Some had been calling anxiously in recent weeks to inquire about the program’s future.

“Fantastic!” said Elise Dewsberry, artistic director of the Academy for New Musical Theatre in North Hollywood, when she learned of the board’s vote to keep the program afloat for another summer. Dewsberry said last summer’s intern was a whiz at social networking and showed the organization how to create inexpensive, effective advertising campaigns on Facebook.

“We got a lot of people clicking through to our website,” she said.

The Virginia Avenue Project, which runs an after-school arts program for students in Santa Monica and Los Angeles schools, also has been hoping to land another intern this summer.

“I wouldn’t have the job I have now without the opportunity to show the organization how we would work together,” said Simon Hanna, a former summer arts intern who is now Virginia Avenue’s director of development. “I think it’s a stellar program.”

The stripped-down internship program will put 75 college undergrads to work this summer, down from about 120 the year before. The program’s funding–$500,000 last year–was cut in half, with concessions and contributions required from participating arts organizations. In the end, the money came from the county’s “provisional financing uses” account, the same funding source proposed when the matter first came before the board.

“We’re going to implement this as if it was shot from a cannon,” Laura Zucker, executive director of the Arts Commission, said after the meeting. “We’re all grappling with what the budget’s going to look like for next year. I greatly appreciate the board’s providing the support to continue, even in this reduced form.”

Posted 3/23/10

Updated 3/25/10:

Nonprofit arts organizations interested in taking part in this summer’s internship program have until April 7 to apply. Complete information is here.

Updated 4/28/2010:

There’s still time to apply for a summer arts internship. College students can find out about available positions and get program information here.