It’s been a newsworthy year at Zygote Press, most recently with the announcement that the Cleveland Arts Prize will  recognize co-founders Liz Maugans and Bellamy Printz with the Martha Joseph Prize for Distinguished Service to the  Arts. This recognition and so much of Zygote’s activity is the result of collaboration, and this summer’s series of programs is a case in point.

Zygote’s neighborhood is known as the “Ar tsQuar ter”, a term coined by arts leaders and Saint Clair Superior Community Development Corporation. The ArtsQuarter Juried Exhibition—judged this year by Barbara Tannenbaum,  Curator of Photography at the Cleveland Museum of Art—continues through July 7.

Zygote’s InTURN exhibit is another annual collaboration, curated this year by Meghana Karnik, a CIA/CASE graduate  and former intern at SPACES and the Cleveland Clinic Art Program. Liz spoke with Meghana about her varied internship  experiences.

LM What compelled you to intern at several arts organizations?

MH There isn’t a paradigm for career advancement in the visual arts; I took up internships and assistantships because  these were ways to discover how to calibrate myself for professional success. I also wanted to develop the confidence to advance in the field.

LM What has been the most beneficial take away?

MH Intermediate positions in studios, museums, and galleries offer immersive experience. You see the methods,  politics, and inefficiencies of a given institution and you begin to postulate who succeeds, how, and why. Internships in  the arts rarely guarantee a job, yet offer imperative experiential knowledge on the field.

LM How has it been, organizing and curating In-TURN from the ground up?

MH I’m grateful to be the guest curator for In-TURN. The show exemplifies Zygote’s enthusiasm for the development of Cleveland’s arts community. I also have respect for In-TURN’s applicants. We’re giving them a wonderful chance to be exposed to art lovers, and Zygote is giving me the exact same opportunity as a curator.

InTURN features work of Intern Swap residents Anne Kibbe of Zygote Press, and Megan Sterling, from the Chicago Printmakers Collaborative. The Swap lets interns expand their network and gain hands-on experience. They make connections in Cleveland, which means many of them stick around and contribute to the region’s vitality.

This summer Zygote hosts two resident artists: Johnny Coleman arrives in Mid June, and will work closely with AIR Coordinator Paul Rogers. And Brant Schuller, a CIA graduate and Professor of Art at Millersville University, will be our resident artist beginning in mid-July. As part of Zygote’s annual Artist in Residence program, Coleman will create a body of work slated for an exhibit that will open Zygote’s Fall season September 7.