My overall experience of interning at NEST has been inspiring and insightful into gaining a better understanding of how the future of my studies and career could look. I feel like it has also given me a unique and broad experience compared to the traditional graphic design studio internship.
This is in line with my artistic statement, dealing with the need to experiment and not sticking to one method or role. In this case I like to try to explore different areas and step out of my comfort zone, and I feel like Nest has given me the opportunity to explore this and to not be afraid to ask questions and to try and see how different tasks feel for me and allowing myself to learn in the process of trial and error and under supportive circumstances.

My goal as an intern at Nest was to gather as much information about the arts and culture scene.
I was also very open to exploring what goes into running an art space and therefore also the responsibilities that follow with that.
Another reason was my desire to experience first hand how artists operate within this scene and gain insight into the various practices of said artists.
My last major goal dealt with gaining work experience outside of the graphic design bubble and seeing how art functions at large.

As far as these goals go I feel like they were met, to a certain extent.
I have most certainly learnt much about how NEST as an organisation is run, as far as setting up new programs like we did for Out and About. Here I was involved in the development from start to finish and I could see the logistics of the project, the design which I was in charge of, the choice of artists and the whole reasoning behind this program. Furthermore, I saw the small day to day maintenance of how things are run. I also was able to ask my colleagues about what they were working on and that gave me an insight into the variety of tasks that exist within an art space and how the reach can also be further than just within the space by creating collaborations and attending external events such as art fairs and festivals.

I saw almost every week how the artists would bring their works to Out and About and explain the backgrounds of these. This broadened my frame of reference and gave me ideas of what artists are working on at the moment. I also got to look at a proposal from Latin American artists who wanted to exhibit their work at NEST about decolonization called CREAD and this was so inspiring and exhilarating to gain knowledge about we even got to meet and talk to Magda (one of the artists) who came by NEST.
I was also excited to follow the artist's talk about the current exhibition at NEST and seeing the variety of work in the submissions in the calls for graduates, in which I was also active in selection.
I saw everything very much from the point of view of the art space so I would like to in the future take the time to learn more about how art institutions function for artists and how they find it to navigate within this area.
I also really enjoyed hearing about the proposal from CREAD, so I have also discovered that I am interested in research of practices and artistic research in general.
For me when choosing an internship it was important for me to shift my perspective, I wanted to break out of the stagnant process of working solely as a graphic designer this is what led me to choose an art space such as NEST because it could provide me with a place to try my hand at a handful of things, so whilst looking for an internship I had this goal in mind and decided to pursue it.

An unexpected outcome was learning a lot about the financial and funding structure of NEST.
Prior to my internship this wasn't something I was seeking or thinking about learning how artists and organisations apply for public or private funding. This was something I acquired through the process of the Mondriaan Fonds application and the CBM assignment.
This now gives me a realistic insight into how art is run and functions in our society, this is important for me to know as I am interested in initiating projects that have autonomous and social goals in the future and learning more about this in my minor Public and Private. I want to be able to work design wise, development wise and do tasks that are hands on and involved in wide range of areas within the art scene.

I also feel that I was given a good amount of responsibility, which in turn led to a personal realisation about how this is important and meaningful to me in a position.
For example in the period after the Mondriaan Fonds application was turned in I had tasks that were more chore oriented and more a matter of ticking things off the list and I could really feel the need I had for responsibility and having an on-going project. We had a meeting where we were able to reflect on my internship so far and explain that I was looking for more responsibility and involvement. I also received feedback on how I could be more aware of my position within the atmosphere of NEST. Given my position as an intern, I realised that I had to leave certain responsibilities to my colleagues, this was also a learning moment for me and I took it to heart and made sure to ask before acting.

When I came back after my week off I was happy to receive interesting projects such as furthering the development on the design of the Salon and Verwend Nest and the Calls for Graduates selection.
With the design projects I had I was given free rein to develop my ideas, leading to opportunities where I could present these. I felt trust in my vision from my colleagues and in the case of Out and About, I was given constructive feedback before implementing these designs, combining my design knowledge with their knowledge.

I have felt like a part of the team here at NEST and taken seriously and embraced by my colleagues. For me it really helps with positive reinforcement to keep me motivated and I feel like they have provided me with that alongside honesty which is also important. When it hasn't been only been about work we have also been able to get to know each other more which makes me feel more comfortable in my work environment. People outside of the core team of NEST have also contributed to interesting conversations about life and art. I will for sure miss the routine and interactions I have had at NEST. But I also know that there can be connection to the space in the future and I feel welcome to return for a visit.
I would say that I am now Graphic Designer with a focus on the multidisciplinary in the autonomous and social realm. Having had an internship already in the summer that was very commercial and only graphic design, I knew that this was more for the experience and that I wanted to explore further what there was on offer in an more artistic environment.
However it give me the confidence and the push out of my comfort zone to be able to get the most out of my internship at NEST and when I came here I wasn't afraid to ask questions or to be honest with what I wanted to work on.
I would say I am now very well rounded and that I still have lots to consider and think about but it's a good start to have different perspectives on how a future in certain fields would look like. Being at NEST made me want to reconsider a masters which I had written off prior, I would now consider this as to deepen my practice in the arts and my new found interest for research. I do however think it's important for me to know exactly where I would specialize and I think I would only know this after some time away from education and working for a while.
Graphic design for me is an outlet to be creative but its not the only thing I can do with creativity.

I would recommend this internship to students who are interested in getting a broad overview into what there is to offer in the arts and culture scene, someone who is flexible but still has of goal of what they want to learn would be embraced here. Of course as a graphic design student it's not the place if this is all you want to develop on but it can for sure be a part of it. It can also really help with testing your skill set and learn new things.