Each summer, View, the arts center in Old Forge, attracts a number of interns who assist the regular staff with the many programs, workshops, and exhibits that are offered at the facility throughout the busy season.

This summer, View is hosting seven interns who receive a stipend, free housing, and plenty of practical experience in the arts field.

The interns are: Darcel Downing, Maggie Wilson, Shawna Armstrong, Brittany Rea,  Emilie O’Neil, David Weygandt and Rebecca Demetriades.

• Darcel Downing is from Rensselaer Falls, a small town near the Canton/Potsdam area. She recently graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a BFA in Graphic Arts and plans on attending grad school following her internship. She is currently overseeing and assisting with childrens’ workshops, and will soon be helping with the many workshops planned for all ages.

• Maggie Wilson of Rome, is a junior at Alfred University where she is a major in the BFA program. She wants to focus on different forms of art in her senior year, she said. She is familiar with the Adirondacks, having visited the area as a child, “but I’m glad to get to know the area better, and I was surprised to see the new arts center building.”

As an intern she is assisting with shows and exhibits.

“I get to see the shows and also take workshops. I love Old Forge and I’d love to come back next year as an intern,” she said.

• Shawna Armstrong of Champlain, which is a half-mile from the Canadian border, just graduated from SUNY Plattsburgh with a BFA in Graphic Design and a BA in English Literature.

As an intern she is working in Graphic Design with Jody Pritchard, View’s Graphic Design Program Manager. “I really didn’t know anything about View but I was excited because it’s a new building and a non-profit, and it does so many things. It’s a very busy place,” she said.

She is taking advantage of the free workshops as an intern, and said she is doing ceramics. She hopes to attend graduate school, but for now she is seeking job opportunities.

• Brittany Rea is from Branchport, NJ and attends Alfred University where she is working toward a BFA degree with a minor in Art Education.

“As an intern at View, I’m actually teaching in a classroom for kids this summer in the Ceramics Studio,” she said.

She has also studied art at Munson Williams Proctor Institute in Utica and she was an intern at View last summer. “I was very happy to come back,” she said.

• Emilie O’Neil, of Hamburg, recently graduated from Buffalo University with a BA in English and a minor in Biology. Next year she will be starting medical school. She said her mother is a physician and also a watercolorist, which inspired her to appreciate medicine as well as art.

“My family comes up here every year, so I’m familiar with the arts center, and its internship program,” she said.

As a View intern she will be assisting with workshops, “so I can get my hands in everything,” she said.

• David Weygandt is originally from Fort Worth, TX, and is a recent graduate of Eastman School of Music in Rochester where he received a BA in Vocal Performance and a Minor in Music Cognition.

“I’m doing this internship In combination with the Arts Leadership Program and I’m actually studying this summer for the Law School Admissions test in October,” he said.

He planned to do the internship in arts and performance because he hopes to create a diverse career that combines his law studies and the arts.

“I’m here as an intern learning to produce performances and I will be working with the Performing Arts Manager Alan Saban,” he said.

• Rebecca Demetriades is from Albany and just graduated from Marist College in Poughkeepsie. She said she has been at View for a week and is really enjoying the work.

She is currently assisting Events Manager Elise Carlson with preparations for View’s Gala celebration on July 6th.

Rebecca said in the future she wants to work in some aspect of the field of arts.