Arts for Learning MD awarded grant to expand Bloomberg Arts Internship Program

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Arts for Learning Maryland’s Bloomberg Arts Internship Program (BAI) is expanding to reach more students in Baltimore thanks to a grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies.

The Bloomberg Arts Internship Program offers Baltimore City Public Schools rising seniors full-time, paid internships at leading arts institutions and college and career mentorship.

The program is running this summer through Aug. 14.

This is the eighth year of the program in Baltimore. To-date, BAI has served 284 students in Baltimore. Since 2012, the program has supported more than 1,700 internships at more than 250 cultural organizations across seven cities, including Baltimore, with an investment of $37 million.

The program will continue through June 2026 and expand to include 50 interns and 25 worksites each summer. The grant also funds a new “sneak peak” initiative to help with future recruitment efforts: 10 Baltimore sophomores will “shadow” the program this summer while earning a stipend. Arts for Learning Maryland has also hired a full-time Bloomberg Arts Internship Associate to manage the program.

This is the eighth year of the program in Baltimore. To-date, BAI has served 284 students in Baltimore.

The Bloomberg Arts Internship helps students develop skills, including communication, problem-solving, and team building, that are essential for any professional field while encouraging awareness of culture as an industry and a civic resource. Arts for Learning Maryland manages all aspects of the Baltimore Bloomberg Arts Internship program, such as coordinating with high schools to recruit potential interns, securing worksite placements at cultural organizations and coordinating workshops, mentoring and field trips.

By partnering with public schools and paying a living wage, the Bloomberg Arts Internship program reaches students from all backgrounds and helps them secure workforce experience that is crucial to accessing future education and career opportunities. Students who could benefit from the program are identified by public school districts, teachers, citywide youth employment programs, and affiliated nonprofits that work with youth.

This year’s Bloomberg Arts Internship worksites include: AREA 405 under Central Baltimore Partnership, Art with a Heart, Artscentric, Ascend through Music (Living Classrooms), Baltimore Arts Realty Corporation, Baltimore Clayworks, Baltimore Jewelry Center, Baltimore Office of Promotion & the Arts, Baltimore Public Media, Baltimore Rock Opera Society, Baltimore Youth Arts, BrickRose Exchange, Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, Creative Alliance, Creative Nomads, Dance & Bmore, Everyman Theatre, Johns Hopkins University Museums, Leaders of Tomorrow Youth Center, Maryland Center for History and Culture, Peabody Preparatory, Port Discovery, Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures, The Baltimore Museum of Art and Yele Stitches LLC.

Since 2012, the program has supported more than 1,700 internships at more than 250 cultural organizations across seven cities, including Baltimore.

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