2017 CIIP Program Book 2017 CIIP Program Book | Page 43

Community Partner: Station North Arts & Entertainment, Inc.
Intern: Chris Frick
Site Supervisors: Amelia Rambissoon
What is Station North Arts and Entertainment?
Station North Arts & Entertainment, Inc. employs an arts-based revitalization and placemaking
strategy by managing quality public arts projects, providing thought-provoking programming,
and forging strong supportive relationships with local artists, designers, businesses, and
institutions to guide development in the Station North Arts & Entertainment District.
"My time at Station North Arts & Entertainment this summer has been fulfilling in a multitude of ways.
Every day as I sat at my desk in the Motor House overlooking North Avenue and the Howard Street
bridge, I thought about how the many small mistakes and lessons from this internship have instilled in
me a powerful view of the world of nonprofits in the arts.
My CIIP internship has been primarily centered around the Station North Mini Golf project. The project
has been in the works since the fall of 2015, and we launched at Artscape 2017. Four artists, four middle
and high school classes, and several nonprofits and volunteers came together to make the project a
success. My site supervisor is currently the only full-time employee at Station North, and I was therefore
responsible for a wide variety of tasks necessary to move through the final stages of the project. I
helped coordinate meetings and solve logistical problems. I worked with the graphic designer and the
printing company to make sure all the print materials were delivered on time, and I reached out to local
businesses and stakeholders for engagement with the project.
The mini golf project has been largely successful in engaging kids and artists from the community. The
feedback we received after a busy Artscape weekend has been overwhelmingly positive, and I’m proud
to have been a part of a project that is greater than I and greater than Station North as an organization.
While the focus of my work has been on the logistics of a mini golf installation, the main insight from my
time in CIIP is simultaneously broader and more personal. As I have experienced the operation of
nonprofit arts organizations from an inside perspective, I have gained a greater understanding of the
nonprofit sector’s reliance on money and power. On many occasions, what I have seen and heard has
prompted me to carefully reevaluate where I stand in the world as a musician and as an artist.
I’d like to thank CIIP for the experience of working on a large project at Station North, for valuable
insight into the internal workings of the nonprofit world, and for a deeper understanding of what it
means to work in the arts while answering to those with money, power, or a stake in the outcome of
one’s work." -Chris
• Reached out to local
stakeholders, event
organizers, and businesses to
seek engagement with the
Station North Mini Golf
project
• Coordinated graphic design,
printing, and feedback
collection and analysis for
mini golf
• Maintained the Station North
website and weekly
newsletter with current press,
events in the district, and up
to date information on the
mini golf project
• Assisted with document
preparation for board
meetings and applications for
local funding
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