(The Day After) My First Day as an Arts Advocate

Postponed because my internet connection wasn't working last night. There wasn't much to report on anyway. Like all first days at a new job, it involved a lot of paperwork, training videos, 'here's the copier and here's the fax' tours, and meeting 50 people whose names you forget 30 seconds after shaking their hands.

It also poured rain when I left, and I had no umbrella.

I did, however, get taken out to a nice lunch (Georgia Brown's) and got a spiffy new bag and keychain. My commute was less than 30 minutes door-to-door, and I caught the bus immediately both ways. Everyone in the office is genuinely nice and interesting and weird.


my new office

Today was much more exciting, not the least because it was a breezy 75 degrees with sun. After an intro meeting with the vice president of policy and research (my cup o' tea), I finally got to sit down with my new supervisor and find out what exactly it is the "Government and Public Affairs" intern does.

Turns out, some pretty neat stuff.

Sure, there's the requisite tedium inherent to any internship, but my minutiae appears to involve number crunching. More fun.

I'll also be sitting in on some Congressional sessions next week, as the Senate mark-up begins on the Interior appropriations bill (which encompasses the NEA, one of our primary interests, of course). The House approved a $15mil increase in the NEA's funding for next year; now it goes to the Senate. Ms Maria Officially Goes To Washington!

I also have a mini-project researching Barack Obama's arts policy committee, which includes my former supervisor and a professor who works closely with my old museum.

My long-term summer project is to review and revise my organization's federal resource guide for international cultural exchange. The State Department's position and funding for cultural exchange seems to vary year to year, so the existing document needs some updating and analysis. Woohoo!


this is the first time i've ever had a cubicle. it's empty and sad and right next to the noisy copier

Also: there were two homemade cakes in the office Monday, and two more cakes today!! (Including one from my housemate/co-worker's mom, but I'll tell you about that in another post.)


So far, I am liking DC a whole lot more than I thought I would.