The Illustrated Press is looking to hire a young illustrator and we need your help! We’ll be partnering with the Illinois Humanities Council and the Community Media Workshop for an upcoming project and we’ve got a slot open for a motivated young artist interested in illustration and media. Our ideal candidate will have a strong leaning toward art and newswriting with a passion for illustration.
This is both a paid and educational position. Our intern will have the opportunity to work one-on-one with professional journalists and illustrators to create a well-reported, engaging, relevant piece of illustrated journalism for “Reporting Back: New Perspectives from Communities.”
This will be an exciting learning experience with a highly visible final project. We’ll encourage our young artist to pursue a story thread that interests him or her, according to project guidelines. Our candidate will help to write, research, report, and illustrate the story, with the guidance of Illustrated Press mentors.
We’d love to reach as many South and West side teens and young adults as possible, so, if you fit this description or know someone who does please feel free shoot us an email and/or forward this email along.
Duties Include:
- Working with Illustrated Press staff to conceptualize a theme related to an issue of importance to communities on the South and West sides of Chicago (see “The Project”).
- Reporting the story with guidance from Illustrated Press staff (including interviews, photos and writing).
- Illustrating the final product with guidance from Illustrated Press staff.
The Fine Print:
- The application is open to all ages, genders and skill levels; however an emphasis will be placed on young men and women ages 16-25 with a passion for illustration, civic engagement and diversity in media.
- Our community participant will be paid $500/month for three months, beginning in January and culminating in the IHC/CMW presentation in March/April.
- Time commitment: 5-8 hours/week for 3 months (specific times flexible; to be coordinated between media mentor and community participant)
- Applicants: please send 2-3 illustration samples along with your name, age, school affiliation, neighborhood of residence and a description about why you’d like to be involved in the project to illuspress@gmail.com by Dec. 1.
The Project:
“The Illinois Humanities Council seeks an engaged Chicago resident for its upcoming project,Reporting Back: New Perspectives from Communities. As a member of a two-person media-citizen team, the community participant will collaborate closely with a media mentor to co-research, co-report and co-write an enterprise story broadly related to gun violence in Chicago and its representation in the media. Successful projects will highlight alternative or underrepresented perspectives on communities frequently associated with gun violence in Chicago, aiming to shift media narratives and improve the quality of discourse around the issue.
Projects may address topics including but not limited to: reality vs. media representations of life in a violence-affected neighborhood; social, political and economic factors in gun violence not adequately analyzed in media; solutions-based community initiatives and their impact; or other topics according to team interests.”
Partnering Organizations:
Illustrated Press
The Illustrated Press thrives at the intersection of journalism in the public good and the art of documentary. Our three members are accomplished in their individual fields and united in the creation of a new take on an old form. Comics journalism — or graphic reportage, sequential art and narrative nonfiction and illustrated news — has seen critical acclaim in recent years, in no small part due to the innovation of our collective. Chicago reporter Darryl Holliday (DNAinfo Chicago), illustrator Jamie Hibdon and graphic designer Erik Rodriguez (Chicago Tribune) are artists and journalists at heart.
Our past stories have delved into the formation of neighborhoods over decades, the immigrant struggle in the Midwest, urban oddities, the long-term effects of residential segregation in Chicago and first-hand tales of loss and survival after through the city’s gun violence epidemic.
- Web: IllusPress.com
- Twitter: @the_illus_press
- Facebook: /IllustratedPress
Illinois Humanities Council
The Illinois Humanities Council is an educational organization dedicated to fostering a culture in which the humanities are a vital part of the lives of individuals and communities. Through its programs and grants, the IHC promotes greater understanding of, appreciation for, and involvement in the humanities by all Illinoisans, regardless of their economic resources, cultural background, or geographic location.
Learn more at: http://illuspress.com/2014/10/21/were-hiring-an-intern/
