Hello! My name is Soleia Quinn and I am an English and Psychology major with a Fine Arts minor entering into my Junior year this fall. This summer it has been my pleasure and honor to work with Dr. Feldman, the executive director of Artistic Circles.
Artistic Circles is a nonprofit that works to create media for social change within a multitude of varied communities. Their mission is to help unite communities and foster mutual understanding through media. This summer Dr. Feldman’s book “Building Communities of Trust” was released, and companion documentary project is currently in the works.
The documentary plans to focus on the work of several youth activists currently creating social change, such as Andreea Coscai. Andreea created an NGO in Romania to facilitate networking so that various social issues faced by women in Romania can be spoken of and the solutions worked on. Other youth activists participating in the documentary include an activist working with the LGBTQ+ community to get the vote out, and an activist working to secure the Ojibwe tribe cleaner water and sanitation resources.
Working with Dr. Feldman has mostly consisted of research into fundraising for the documentary through grants, collaboration with corporations, and meeting with Dr. Feldman to help with any scheduling + brainstorm ideas for the documentary.
Through working with her, I have a much deeper understanding of what creating an award-winning project takes. However, organizing dozens of people, managing funds, and trying to refine the vision and impact of the project are barely the tip of the iceberg.
This internship opportunity has allowed me to learn and refine skills like fundraising, networking, as well as organizing and planning long term projects, and hopefully learning what it means to try and create lasting change in communities.