2024 Getty Marrow Intern Midpoint – JD Davillier

Hi everyone, this is JD, the summer 2024 Getty Marrow Undergraduate intern at Craft in America. A few weeks ago, I remember talking to someone who, many years ago, did an engineering internship at a company where the engineering department was in a bit of an off season. The first half of their internship was going into the office, sitting at the computer next to their supervisor, and playing solitaire. Now, they did eventually get a project to work on besides “familiarizing themself with the Windows game suite,” but hearing that definitely made me grateful to have an internship where I’m learning about things I’m passionate about (not that there’s anything wrong with solitaire).

Jokes aside, I was genuinely surprised when I realized it was time to make my midpoint blog post. The first half of my internship has flown by because all of the projects I’ve been working on have felt very directly engaging, interactive, and interesting. A big part of that is that the team here truly values my input and contributions. Early on, I became interested in social media and online content, so I shared some of my thoughts with my supervisors which eventually led me to make a document with some ideas and analysis. They were encouraging of my ideas right away, and I ended up creating social media content. That was an exciting creative project that I got a lot of control over and was able to feel personally invested in very easily.

A few weeks in, I started to want to do more on the graphic design side, and the team very quickly had a project with me on that front. I was given the resources and guidelines I’d need, but ultimately I was encouraged to be creative and make the project my own. That trust in my abilities and perspective has been very exciting, and it makes the lessons I have learned through working here that much more valuable. It means a lot to know that the work I’m doing has a significant impact, and I find that roles like these where I can take on a higher level of responsibility are always the ones that lead to the most development.

Of course, the content itself is also an aspect that I have learned so much from. Even while I’m working on tasks that sound less creatively exciting, such as updating the website, I am able to stay engaged because I am constantly discovering new things about the craft world. Craft has such deep history and community, so I am often surprised by all the different ways artists use materials to make interesting objects. For example, just yesterday I was blown away by Joan Takayama-Ogawa’s ceramics. So many of the artists I’ve seen or even met have truly inspired me with their work and I find myself thinking about them, looking them up, or showing people their work even when I’m not on the clock. That level of direct interaction and connection to artists and people who know so much about the craft world adds so much depth to everything I learn about. I also had the chance to meet other people my age in the intern events through the Getty, which was great because there are so many interesting and talented people.

Opportunities like these are definitely a situation where you get out of it what you put in, but to a degree they also depend on what you are allowed to get out of them. The trust of my supervisors to give me tasks and responsibilities that they know I can handle has allowed me to get a lot out of this experience, so I truly am grateful for that.