Celebrating San Francisco’s First Bloomberg Arts Internship Graduating Class
This summer marked an exciting first for San Francisco. Enterprise for Youth, in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, welcomed the Bloomberg Arts Internship to San Francisco for the first time, creating a new opportunity for young people to gain hands-on experience within the city’s arts and cultural community.
Eight weeks later, 26 interns gathered alongside their families, mentors, host organizations, and community partners to celebrate the graduation of San Francisco’s inaugural BAI cohort.
Throughout the summer, interns worked across 16 arts organizations, contributing to real projects while developing professional skills, forming relationships with mentors and peers, and exploring new possibilities for their futures.
At graduation, interns took the stage to reflect on their experience. Their presentations highlighted the many different ways they had grown throughout the summer, from becoming more confident in professional environments to discovering new interests and learning how their own perspectives could contribute to the organizations around them.
For many interns, BAI was also their first introduction to the professional arts world.
As intern Sam Neiman shared:
“This program is so much more than just a summer job. It's a stepping stone into careers we might have never pictured, into an industry that too often stays closed to people without the right connections.”
Creating access to those opportunities is at the heart of the Bloomberg Arts Internship. As Genevieve reminded the graduating class, “Talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not.”
Over the course of eight weeks, interns gained that opportunity firsthand. They worked within museums, theaters, artist spaces, and cultural organizations while building skills and relationships that will stay with them long after the summer ends—whether or not they ultimately pursue careers in the arts.
But the impact of the summer went both ways. The interns were not only learning from San Francisco’s creative community; they were contributing to it.
Speaking to the cohort, Carlo reflected on what their work represented:
“You contributed, you learned, you connected to something bigger than yourselves, and you proved something that I think our city has really needed to hear for a long time—that the spirit of art and activism that has always defined our city and us as San Franciscans is still alive and thriving.”
The graduation celebration brought together the larger community that helped make San Francisco’s first BAI cohort possible. The evening included remarks from Enterprise for Youth leadership and Bloomberg Philanthropies, a keynote address from Essence Harden, and a special congratulatory video message from Mike Bloomberg.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie also joined the celebration, recognizing the contributions interns made to organizations across the city and reflecting on the importance of arts and culture to San Francisco’s identity.
He reminded the graduates that continuing that creative legacy depends on the next generation being able to see themselves as part of it:
“But that legacy only continues if the next generation—that's you all—sees themselves as a part of it.”
Through their internships, this inaugural cohort began building that connection firsthand. Interns gained real-world experience, formed relationships with mentors who believed in them, and developed the confidence to pursue opportunities they may not have previously imagined for themselves.
Mayor Lurie left the graduates with a message for what comes next: San Francisco needs their creativity, their energy, and their continued involvement in the city they are helping shape.
Graduation may have marked the end of an eight-week internship, but for these 26 young people, it also marked a beginning.
As San Francisco’s first-ever Bloomberg Arts Internship cohort, they did more than complete a summer program. They helped establish BAI in a new city, demonstrated the important role young people can play within San Francisco’s arts and cultural community, and laid the foundation for future cohorts to follow.
We are grateful to Bloomberg Philanthropies, our 16 host organizations, mentors, families, speakers, partners, and everyone who helped make this inaugural summer possible.
Most of all, we are proud of the 26 interns who brought their curiosity, creativity, professionalism, resilience, and individual perspectives to San Francisco’s first Bloomberg Arts Internship.
Congratulations to San Francisco’s inaugural Bloomberg Arts Internship graduating class. We can’t wait to see where you go from here.
