I honestly should not have gotten the Data and Research internship with Ingenuity. I was completely under qualified. My application was a total shot in the dark; I only hoped the arts education organization in Chicago would see that I applied to every position they offered and maybe understand just how much I wanted to work for them. The internship description called for candidates who had:

• Familiarity with ETL tools for data warehousing (e.g., Zapier, Apatar, CloverETL, Talend, Pentaho)  
• Experience writing APIs  
• Experience designing and developing software and/or computer systems  

Even after nine weeks with Ingenuity, I can’t tell you what half those words mean. Thankfully after reviewing my resume, my supervisor envisioned a different project for me — one that would teach me new skills while still utilizing my writing and research abilities. (I could write a whole other post about what I learned about applying to jobs I think I’m “under qualified” for, but I’ll save that for another time).

This summer I took the lead on writing the annual State of the Arts report which examines the arts education landscape in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The 100-page publication will be available in October, and I had a blast collaborating on data analysis with co-workers, providing feedback to the designer, and presenting preliminary findings to Ingenuity and CPS directors. Possibly the best part of the summer was learning how much I enjoy working with data.

As an English and music major, I had firmly established myself as “not a numbers person.” In fact, the only reason I worked to pass AP Calculus in high school was to never have to take a math class again. I wasn’t necessarily bad with numbers, I just didn’t find excitement in them as I did with a good novel or a new piece of music.

However, working on the State of the Arts report showed me that I do actually like numbers — I like numbers that tell a story.

Ingenuity collects A LOT of numbers from schools, arts organizations, private and corporate funders, and the CPS district offices. Some days I spent hours pouring over spreadsheets trying to make sense of all them. My supervisor, co-worker, and I would do mental aerobics trying to figure out how to manipulate numbers into meaningful data. Some days I left the office with a pounding headache and no answers to our numerical problems, but the days we figured out solutions were extremely rewarding.

Once we collected and analyzed our data, it was my job to write it into a narrative. No one wants to read a 100-page report and still be asking “why does this matter?” in the end. By framing our numbers within a larger narrative of supporting schools in providing arts education to every CPS student, our data has meaning.

So while on paper I should never have been made the Data and Research intern at Ingenuity, I ended up being in exactly the right position to learn how important numbers can be in advocating and supporting a field I am passionate about.

Much of the data Ingenuity collects is available at artlookmap.com. This summer, I also had the pleasure of leading a breakout session showing new arts partners how to utilize the website.

Whenever a teacher or professor announced, “for this assignment, you’ll be working in groups,” I would internally (or at times, externally) groan and lament the impending onslaught of scheduling via 600 emails, navigating group dynamics, and inevitably picking up others’ slack. As an English major, I much preferred writing essays on my own time, in my own way, and with my own quality of work standards.

However, my internship with Ingenuity this summer has turned group work on its head for me. I am part of the Data and Research team, and our projects are way too big for one person to tackle on their own. Even though we are only a team of three, we bring professional contractors, advisory panel members, and art education stakeholders to join in on our work. Our giant projects all of the sudden feel manageable as everyone in the room brings valuable insight and technical skills. Projects are broken down into specific timelines, tasks are delegated, and progress is tracked. It’s amazing what can be accomplished with a room full of dedicated and talented people.

My own dedication to the Data and Research projects is not hard to muster, as I am passionate about the work Ingenuity does. As a non-profit, Ingenuity serves as a “backbone” organization for arts education in Chicago. We work as a hub for data, strategy, advocacy, and partnerships supporting more than 600 Chicago Public Schools and a similar number of community arts partners.

All of the past State of the Arts Reports and the beginnings of this years

One way we provide data to the Chicago arts education community is through the annual State of the Arts Report. My main task for the summer is to be the lead on this project. I spent hours my first week reading through the last four reports and internally geeking out that I get to have a hand on such an important document. However, my excitement was coupled with uncertainty. How was I, “just the summer intern,” supposed to analyze the numbers, establish a narrative arc to the data, write up the findings, and advise design decisions all in a couple months? Thankfully, this is a group project.

While I definitely have a lot of work on my plate, I’m not left to flounder on my own. My supervisor Steve initiated a contract with a design firm. My co-worker Tom aggregated all of our data. All three of us divided and conquered data collection and clean-up. Both of them are readily available to answer my questions and provide feedback. Our advisory panel will offer final reviews and recommendations. By the end of the summer, our report will be well on its way to publication due to our combined efforts.

Witnessing group projects in a professional setting is a whole new experience from college. Team members are here to work, (and thankfully are not bogged down with 18-credit course loads, five extracurriculars, and a part-time job). Seeing the dedication of the rest of the team encourages me to do my best. Besides, this definitely beats pulling an all-nighter to write a paper by myself.