Week 13: 4/18-4/24

4/19 - First Session at Lucy Laney - 3:30-5:50 pm

  • Was originally scheduled for Loring, was moved over to Lucy Laney instead due to mentor shortage

  • Was paired with a girl who’s character idea was called love girl

    • Planned to make a purple and pink ensemble, with a long skirt, a cape, and a purple-pink shirt with a glittery purple heart on it

    • Was mostly hot gluing, cutting fabric, etc

    • Ended with 5 minute dance party after clean up

4/19 - Coptic Sketchbook Shadowing 

  • rescheduled for 4/26 due to teacher illness :(

    • Interview also rescheduled for then

4/20 -  Pen Pals Letter Writing - 1:00 - 3:00 pm

  • Theme of the week: home

    • Wrote about pets, dream pet, what type of building i live in, and what my dream house would be (has a pond, wizard tower, big yard)

    • Took photos and sent to Mari

4/24 - Pen Pals Letter Writing - 3:00 - 6:00 pm

  • Theme of the week: neighborhoods

    • Wrote about places nearby I like to go (library, park, the MIA, etc)

    • Took photos and sent to Mari

Week 12: 4/11-4/17

4/11-4/12 - MNBookArts Book Prep - 1 hour

  • Gluing covers, hole punching for cover and signatures


4/12 - Coptic Sketchbook Shadowing - 7:00 - 9:00 pm

  • Informational interview postponed for the 19th

  • Began putting signatures and covers together, begin sewing binding


4/13 - Updated TA Website - 8:00 - 9:00 am

  • Uploaded finished lesson plans

  • Updated weekly logs, uploaded


4/13 - Pen Pals Letter Writing - 11:30 - 1:00

  • Theme of the week: favorites

    • Mostly wrote about weather, seasons, favorite things to do when it’s raining, etc

    • Took photos and sent to Mari

Week 11: 4/4-4/10

4/4 - 6:15 - 6:45 pm - ArtBuddies Penpal Orientation

  • Overview of the mailed penpal packet

    • Each week labeled on envelopes, buddies are numbered off, all 5th graders

    • Artist trading cards

    • Letters only need the letter part, but you can add whatever you want to it (ex: digital printed comic, stickers, drawings, etc)

    • Follow along with penpal book, be positive, upbeat, and supportive

    • No addresses, no last names, no social media, no contact outside of program

    • Only one stamp, so keep it to 1-2 pieces of stationary, no bulky items

    • Get letters sent by sunday, take/upload photos of letters just in case they don’t arrive in time

    • No photos of yourself, photos of pets/nature is fine

  • Gathering celebration

    • 2:15 pm, May 17th

    • whittier international elementary school 

    • Give last letter to buddy, do a craft together, take a picture with photographer

    • Last letter is week 7, bring that to celebration (week 8 was cut)

  • First week:

    • Send in letters and artist trading cards


4/5 - Coptic Sketchbook Shadowing - 7:00 - 9:00 pm 

  • Did introductions, took notes on the pacing/layout of class

  • Cut pages, assembled signatures, made covers with paper and poster board


4/6 - Pen Pals Letter Writing- 1:00 - 5:00 pm

  • Wrote introduction letter to my buddy

    • Took photos and sent to Mari as backup

  • Designed Artist Trading Card

Week 10: 3/28-4/3

No session/meeting this week

3/29 - Gig Grant edits

  • Adding notes on parts to edit/add on to

    • Largely for artist bio/summary segments 

      • (check if other artists added any edits or comments?)

3/29 - Email Aki about TA website

  • Having trouble uploading logs? Will discuss next check-in on monday

4/1 - ArtBuddies Penpals Week 1 info email

  • Week 1 prompt - introductions

  • Reviewing mailed materials (envelopes, artist training card, etc)

4/3 - Prep for Copic Book Shadowing

  • Checking supply list, signing up for google classroom, etc

Meeting with Aki

  • Aki planning to observe the April 19th session

Week 9: 3/21-3/27

3/22 - First session at Loring canceled due to recent ongoing teacher strikes, schedule pushed back to begin on April 12th


3/23 - 1:00 - 2:00 - Grant Meeting with Mari, Lora, and Suyao

  • Reviewed the Gig fund grant and artist summaries

    • Revising descriptions to fit updated artist bios

    • Received input and advice from Lora and Suyao about specific things to include in the grant

      • Include how the artists connect to community

      • Adding what is happening in the world/how you feel about it? (bio?)

Week 8: 3/14-3/20

~1 hour adding comments and keywords from ArtsMidwest into Gig Grant proposal


3/14 - 5:00-5:30 - ArtBuddies Loring Orientation

  • Mentor introductions, popcorn style

  • Overview of tasks/goals

    • No weapons, nothing negative, only positive tools (ex: staff instead of sword, etc)

    • Key thing is spending time with the kids

      • There to support them and assist with their ideas

  • Important dates/info

    • Meet every tuesday, ~3-5pm

    • No session april 5th

    • Most important day to be there is the last day (may 3rd)

    • Vaccination card required to be shared (uploaded to folder)


3/16 - 12:30 - 12:45 - Meeting with Mari Marks about grant-writing

  • Reviewed grant with keywords from ArtsMidwest, comments from me

    • Upload photo of page of keywords to folder

  • Checked in if there was a specific time to be ready by for carpooling

  • Plan to touch base again on Tuesday, after Loring session

Week 7: 3/7-3/13

3/9 - 12:30 - 1:45 - Meeting with Mari Marks about grant-writing

  • Grant-writing session, mostly observation + talkthrough

    • Step 1: looking at guidelines

      • Review of grant requirements

        • Ex: time, activity, and matching fund requirements

      • Reporting: information on how we used the grant money if we get the grant

    • Step 2: copy down guideline details, filling out form provided

    • Step 3: jumping back to rough draft

      • Pulling from the official ArtBuddies website + from recent grants written with updated, approved information

        • Language from other grants can be very specific, so only pulling relevant sections for a base and editing later to tailor fit

      • The more specific, the better

      • Confident sentences are better (no “perhaps, might, etc”, more “we will, etc”)

    • Collecting thoughts/information, making sure it’s consistent across public information/grants

      • Really focus on the questions being asked, get specific as possible on what they’re asking 

        • Ex: going on, their website about page and find more about them

        • find out their goals and connect what their goals are to what your organization’s are

        • Check who they’ve partnered with before, getting a sense of their community

  • Resume tip - copy/paste what they’re looking for, pulling and using exact language, a matter of finding the best spot for it

  • Meeting again next week for grant-writing check-in, reviewing gig grant key words



To do:

  • Prep questions for meeting with Lora and Suyao March 23rd

  • Upload lesson plans to TA website + Update TA journals (+add custom art banner)

  • Look through ArtsMidwest website, find key phrases, pull them into grant rough draft, writing in my own words (highlight in purple)

  • Orientation the 15th is virtual

  • First week mentoring will be a little different than the rest of the weeks, filling out buddy book w/ buddy pair, update Aki on this

Week 6: 2/28 - 3/6

~2 hours finalizing lesson plans


3/1 - 1:00 - 1:30 - Meeting with Mari Marks

  • Reviewed finished lesson plans

  • Discussed involvement in grant-writing

    • Setting time to meet for grant-writing demo

      • 12:30-2:00 pm

    • Add photo (jpeg) to internship folder

  • Orientation march 15, goes till may 3rd, loring session

    • Mari checking abt carpooling

  • Meeting with Lora and Suyao March 23rd

    • Prep questions for them for call



Update Aki re: lesson teaching dates:

  • Program should take place between July 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022

    • Kristina will propose a “Hybrid” program. She will be virtually attending in Fall, while mentors and buddies are in person for Character Creation program

    • Kristina will plan daily prompts for helping buddies create their Super Buddy Costumes

    • Feature Kristina’s illustration skills and create related activities for buddies

  • Be a Mentor for Character Creation Loring Spring session

    • Tuesdays March 15 - May 3rd 2022, 4 - 5pm

    • Plan 2 daily announcements / lesson plans

    • 1 hour a week for a total of 7 program hours

    • 2 hours planning 2 announcements


-Aki observing march 22nd loring elementary session

-Shadowing - MN center for book arts - virtual options 👀


Week 5: 2/21 - 2/27

Lesson plans - 8 hours across 2/21-2/23 

  • ~2 hours per sheet, roughly?

  • Mark-making, color, shape, and space

    • Completed mark-making worksheet

    • Completed all lesson plans

  • Worked on backwards lesson plan materials

    • Review with Mari during next meeting

      • Material, “big idea”, etc



2/23 - 1:00 - 2:00 - Meeting with Mari Marks

  • Reviewed lesson plans

    • Add images to shape lesson

      • New task: Create complex shape worksheet

    • Added to backwards lesson plans

      • Materials

      • “Big idea” → copy from overview

    • Established lesson/program timeline

  • Discussed setting up meeting with Creative Career Guest artists Lora and Suyao

    • Meeting arranged for march 23rd


To do: 

  • Firm up lesson plans/worksheets for next week

    • Create complex-shapes from simple-shapes worksheet

      • Add example shapes

    • Edit horizon line into fore/mid/background image

      • Add examples at end of doc, like textures in mark making doc 

  • Forward lesson plans to Aki

  • Give teaching dates/times to Aki –needs to be there to watch lessons

Week 4: 2/14-2/20

2/16 - 1:00 - 2:00 - Meeting with Mari Marks

  • Went over materials created/edited during last week with mari

    • Gig fund grant questions being sent to heidi for review

    • Lesson plans modified/elaborated upon

      • Animal sidekicks moved to supplemental worksheet (optional)

        • Replaced with symbols/more emphasis on creating logos/badges

        • Considered possibilities of other optional/supplemental worksheets

          • line/angles

          • Use of color together

      • Going back to add more detailed instructions, reformatting/polishing

      • Connecting lesson plan themes with the aspects of the project

        • Making complex shapes from simple ones (badge-building), using mark-making for texture (costume design/lair), etc

        • Crunched poster design and lair-building into one (1) final capstone activity

    • Mark-making worksheet will be put together by other design intern

      • Will be making the images to put onto it

  • Things for next week:

    • Finish lesson plan outlines

    • Mark-making worksheet images

Week 3: 2/7-2/13

2/9 - 1:00 - 2:00 pm - Meeting with Mari Marks

  • Covering illustrative prompts for buddy book

    • Secret Lair/base

    • Hero Logo

    • Sidekick animals

  • Shared ideas for coloring pages

    • Hall of heroes

    • Superhero squad

    • Heroes helping other (saving cat from tree, putting out fire, etc)

  • Lesson plans for prompts 

    • 2 weeks to work, check-in next week

      • Superhero logo - shapes and color

      • Color wheel and color meanings (color theory)

      • Mark making

      • Sidekick animal

      • Draw your lair/cave on larger piece of paper - perspective, foreground, middle ground, background

      • Make a poster for your character 

  • Reviewed artist statement/gig fund sections

    • Going to go back and flesh out a few of the prompts

Lesson plan stuff - 2 hours spread across week

  • Referencing previous buddy book materials

  • Putting together materials/reference material for character creation lessons

    • Mark-making worksheet draft

    • Foreground/middleground/background image

    • Definitions and brief outlines for ways to use color/shape (+symbolism of)

      • ideas for ways to link all of these into activities

        • Shape+mark-making for animal sidekick

        • mark-making+depth for lair

        • Shape+color for logo

Updated grant questions - 0.5 hours

  • Edited and polished a few questions answered for the gig fund grant

Week 2: 1/31-2/6

2/2 - 12:30 to 1:30 pm - Meeting to discuss grant-writing task with Mari Marks and Heidi Rich

  • Looking over gig fund grant, talking about meeting needs of the grant (plan to meet in person to review and talk about (2 future meetings w/ these 2))

  • Research what grants have been granted before, what the grant-funders are looking for 

    • (specificity and inclusiveness important!! Grants are competitive) 

    • Be v inclusive in grant writing, include people who haven’t received from grants in the past

    • (Heidi mentioned it’s not uncommon for around 600 people to apply to one of these (she also said we have a pretty good chance to get this one, good to get a jump on it ahead of time))

  • Artists to be included in grant will be two local artists we’ll be working with (one mcad graduate who works with watercolor, meet cut out so couldn’t catch the other’s details unfortunately) and also me

    • Write bio and answer questions for grant proposal

      • “Bio:

      • Why did you want to be part of Art Buddies?

      • Plans for future and how this internship will help you”

  • Was sent a copy of the buddy book to examine

    • essentially the kid version of a project brief, a tool for them to use to ideate their characters from the character design course

    • Prompts intended to be fun and silly, engaging to kids

  • Plans for next week:

    • share ideas for illustrative prompts after looking over the buddy book (30 mins+)

    • Plan on designing a coloring page for the buddy book

  • ~1 Hour reflecting/journaling, 1 hour reviewing Buddybook and grant materials

Week 1: 1/24- 1/30

1/25 - 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm - Volunteering at Whittier Elementary School

  • Helping students put together cardboard cars for the twin cities art shanty

  • 3 groups of students, 1st group ended up arriving 20 minutes late so some groups ended up overlapping, 

    • mostly helping students figure out what they wanted to make with their cars, and helping hot glue things on (lots of varied ideas between the kids!)

  • Groups were k-1, then 3rd-5th (which ended up overlapping with the last group) and then 2nd, if I remember correctly, 

    • the room was bustling by the end of the session, due to the limited number of hands available to help kids hot glue 

    • (Mari (internship supervisor) informed me that on usual days, there’s about 1 helper per kid, so this day was busier than the norm)

  • Wrapped up with cleanup

    • turning off hot glue guns

    • gathering up staplers and scissors 

    • putting away leftover supplies

    • making sure all the cardboard cars were stowed away with their corresponding materials


1/26 - 11:00 am to 12:00 pm - Meeting with Mari and Aki

  • Working with Art Buddies in an internship role

  • Discussed expectations for tasks, figured out what the timeframe for each task was

    • 1- Grant writing (Apply for GIG Fund - Arts Midwest) 

      • deadline April 12

      • Actual session being planned happening in fall, planning for hybrid lesson

    • 2- Mentor for Character Creation Loring Spring session

      • Tuesdays March 15 - May 3rd 2022, 4 - 5pm

    • 3- Mentor for Penpals Whittier Spring session

      • April 4th - May 30th 2022

      • ~1 hr a week, 8 hrs total

  • Planned for next meeting for next week to discuss grant writing task

    • Meet with Mari 1 hour per week to make progress on grants and other needed discussions

After this, I felt more reassured and had a clearer idea of what my tasks were shaping up to be after this meeting, and what the general timeline of the semester would look like.