Art Fag City Seeks Editorial Fellow

by Art Fag City on January 16, 2013 · 9 comments Opportunities

Image courtesy of picstopin.com

Art Fag City invites you to apply to its Editorial Fellowship program. What is it? A fancy title for an internship. It’s also:

A crash course in the New York art landscape. Editorial training for emerging writers. Your work on the city’s best art blog. But most importantly, a bright future alongside other AFC alums, many of whom have gone on to write for ArtInfo, The New York Observer, and Animal New York. They curate major exhibitions. They become well-respected artists. They sometimes even join our staff.

We only expect fellows to come in two days per week, we’ll edit your work rigorously, and this is a hell of a lot more practical than most grad school classes. It’s also fun!

The Job
Here at AFC we all wear a lot of hats, so we welcome Fellows with a diverse skill set. We each often handle jobs that are above and sometimes below our respective skill sets. Get ready to roll up your sleeves.

You will work directly with AFC Director Paddy Johnson on all aspects of the blog. This involves copy editing content, digital image management, project-based research, basic invoicing and data entry, helping put together events, along the lines of our Art Fag City Rob Pruitt Art Awards and Auction*or the Art Fag City Wienerfest, grant research and post office runs.

Who We Are
Art Fag City is a New York-based art blog dedicated to providing exposure to emerging contemporary art and under-known artists. We believe that engaging in smart, critical debate helps us better define and shape the world we want, and that creative production of all forms is essential. To quote the experts:

“New York’s Best Art Blog” — The Village Voice
“New York’s Best Art Blog” — Times Online
“What you do is great, if somewhat misguided” — Adam Lindemann

Who You Are

  • Organized. Please be organized.
  • Interested and invested in Contemporary art. Points to those who have a knowledge that extends beyond New York.
  • A self-starter. You can identify problems on your own and solve them.
  • Reliable. You follow through on projects, are dedicated and arrive on time.
  • Language Lover. You laugh in the face of art speak. You don’t produce any of your own. You understand the rules of grammar and take great care to employ them.
  • Internet obsessed. You have way too many friends. You read way too many blogs. It’s a problem…except here.
  • Graphically inclined. You have a good sense of design and want to show it off.
  • Funny. You have a sense of humor and like to show that off too.
  • An AFC Reader. Familiar with AFC’s content is absolutely essential.

Requirements

Fellows must work two days a week. This is an unpaid position, but any AFC related travel is paid for, and you’ll occasionally get a free lunch. We’re also happy to do any necessary paperwork if you’re doing a for-credit internship.

We’re at the AFC office from 10 a.m – 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. You may be required to attend after hours events.

How to Apply

  • Tell us what you’re looking for in an internship, and why you want to work at AFC.
  • Use the subject line: “AFC Intern, Last Name, First Name” and send your email to internships@artfagcity.com
  • Let us know your preferred start date and which days/times you’d be available. (Make sure this works with our hours as described above.)
  • Include your resume. (That can be an attachment, but remember, your cover letter goes in the body of the email.)
  • Two writing samples.
  • Also include a link to your website or examples of design, or anything else you’ve created that you think we should see.

Application deadline: Friday, January 25th.

{ 9 comments }

nonono January 17, 2013 at 10:47 am

You can’t call an unpaid internship a fellowship. They are two different positions. Call it what it really is.

Paddy Johnson January 17, 2013 at 11:42 am

The post is clear. That line appears in the third sentence. Your advocating for a title that is significantly less valuable on a resume.

nonono January 17, 2013 at 11:49 am

Fellowships are never unpaid. Prefix the title with “Honorary” so it’s self evident you’re being cheap.

Nonprofit / Government
The title fellow can be used for participants in a professional development program run by a nonprofit or governmental organization. This type of fellowship is a short term work opportunity (1–2 years) for professionals who already possess some level of academic or professional expertise that will serve the nonprofit mission. Fellows are given a stipend as well as professional experience and leadership training.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fellow

Paddy Johnson January 17, 2013 at 3:36 pm

Thanks for the wikipedia description. To add a little to where this title comes from, check out this description on Rhizome for the same position:

http://rhizome.org/announce/jobs/56986/view/

Also, please refer to this conversation:

https://www.facebook.com/ianaleksanderadams/posts/118561344961056

Anyone who’s smart enough to land this job is also smart enough to determine whether their labor is being unfairly exploited, or duped into filling a different role than they imagine.

Woody January 17, 2013 at 1:25 pm

Paddy, can you please explain how this internship complies with federal labor law and how it is *not* illegal?

From Dept of Labor at http://www.dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs71.htm:

The following six criteria must be applied when making this determination:
1. The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an educational environment;
2. The internship experience is for the benefit of the intern;
3. The intern does not displace regular employees, but works under close supervision of existing staff;
4. The employer that provides the training derives no immediate advantage from the activities of the intern; and on occasion its operations may actually be impeded;
5. The intern is not necessarily entitled to a job at the conclusion of the internship; and
6. The employer and the intern understand that the intern is not entitled to wages for the time spent in the internship.

How does this satisfy #1, #2, #3, and #4?

Woody January 17, 2013 at 1:27 pm

Lol, just saw AFC is now a non-profit… damn loopholes…. still, please pay your interns!

Paddy Johnson January 17, 2013 at 3:37 pm

Good, then I’ll delete your last comment since it is inaccurate and misleading.

Guest January 17, 2013 at 9:23 pm

Fellowships
are never unpaid, so this opportunity simply isn’t a fellowship,
however much you like the sound of the title. At least prefix the title
with “Honorary”. Established titles have conventions so they are
universally understood.

Nonprofit / Government
The title fellow can be used for
participants in a professional development program run by a nonprofit or
governmental organization. This type of fellowship is a short term work
opportunity (1–2 years) for professionals who already possess some
level of academic or professional expertise that will serve the
nonprofit mission. Fellows are given a stipend as well as professional
experience and leadership training.

Paddy Johnson January 18, 2013 at 1:42 am

And somehow, those universally understood conventions were not greatly misunderstood when Rhizome introduced a position by the same title over three years ago. You’re advocating for a title that’s worth less money to the candidate in the future, than the one we’ve chosen. If your interest is in that of the applicant, why would you do that?

BTW, your quote from Wikipedia originally appeared in the comments above, but appears to have been deleted after I added the links to Rhizome and a facebook conversation we had in September.

Unrelated, but I’m not sure why disqus isn’t showing the above commenter’s name. Artist Jason Boughton left the comment above, so it’s not anonymous, like the rest of these comments.

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