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Name: Miriam Bernstein
Class Year: 2021
Major: American Culture Studies
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas

Internship Organization:
Job Title: Patron Services Intern
Endowed Internship Funding Award: Jentes Family Internship in Film
Location: Philadelphia

What’s happening at your internship?

We are gearing up for an annual Fringe Festival in September that will be different than any other year, with a majority of the 100-plus shows in the festival taking place online, and a few socially distanced in-real-life performances that will look nothing like the traditional audience experience. As the Patron Services intern, I am managing our box office and learning along with the rest of the arts world as we figure out what ticketing looks like for virtual performances. I have also been working on accessibility for this year’s Fringe Festival; digital performances create new challenges and opportunities for accessibility, so I’ve been excited to work on making our performances as accessible as possible. I’ve managed our Festival accessibility budget, worked with the programming team to ensure that we host events on accessible platforms, purchased an account with an online captioning platform so that all Festival artists can put captions on their content, worked on a program for artists to apply to have their pieces audio described to be more accessible for blind and low-vision artists, and created how-tos and accessibility information about various digital platforms for artists and audiences.

Why did you apply for this internship?

I first visited FringeArts on a field trip with a Haverford class, Critical Disability Studies: Theory and Practice. We saw a play about the history of disability activism in the Philadelphia area, and I was really impressed with the ways that FringeArts seemed to be thinking about accessibility, including their detailed “Know Before You Go” information. I’m interested in arts administration, and FringeArts has been a great place to apply my interest in accessibility while learning about nonprofit arts.

What is something you have learned from your internship that you didn’t expect?

Like many organizations, especially in the arts, FringeArts has taken this summer to recommit to anti-racism. At a staff meeting early in the summer, our president opened up a conversation about FringeArts’ relationship to anti-racism. As these conversations have gone on all summer, I’ve learned a lot from the FringeArts staff about what it means to embody an anti-racist framework and how to have tough conversations in a workplace. I’ve also gotten a chance to contribute to some Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion projects, and I’ve really enjoyed learning about that type of work.

What is most rewarding about your internship?

Because FringeArts has such a small staff, I really feel like my voice is heard and when I have ideas I get to see them put into action. I got an email from an artist thanking me and my team for the accessibility resources we’d put together, and it felt great to see all the work I’d put into budgeting and planning actually translate into something that someone was excited about! It’s cool to see how the projects I’m working on will actually help people to experience the Fringe Festival.

Visit the Summer 2020 Internships page to read more student stories.