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CONTACT:  Pat Verner Program Director

NC Arts Council Intern Spends Fall in Cabarrus County

The arts council hosted a North Carolina Arts Council Community Arts Administration Intern this fall.

Recent college graduate Anita Burnette worked at our offices three months.  She learned about and assisted with all areas of arts administration, including programming, fundraising, marketing, grant writing, planning and facility management.

“We are honored to have been selected to mentor Anita,” said Noelle Scott, arts council executive director.  “This is a very competitive program in which only two interns and two local arts councils are selected.  The goal of the program is to train promising young people to lead successful arts councils and other non-profit arts organizations.”

A native of Roanoke, VA, Burnette received a Bachelor of Music in piano performance from Gardner-Webb University in May.  An accomplished pianist, she played Rhapsody in Blue with the Gardner-Webb University Community Orchestra as one of the winners of the regional concerto competition.  She has performed as a soloist and accompanist for choirs and theatre and opera productions both at Gardner-Webb and in Roanoke. Burnette hopes to use the internship as a springboard to a job in arts administration.  She already has worked during summers for several arts organizations including Opera Roanoke, the Roanoke Symphony, the Wintergreen Summer Music Festival in Wintergreen, VA, and the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. 

“These internships provide an excellent opportunity for both recent college graduates and career-changers interested in arts administration to get an in-depth introduction to the field,” said Jack LeSueur, North Carolina Arts Council community programs administrator.  “Over the 30-year history of the program, the large majority of interns have gone on to full-time arts administration employment in North Carolina, so the program benefits not only the interns but the state’s arts organizations as well.”