Through a partnership with The Prior Performing Arts Center, Kate Wheeler joined the Cultural Development Office as an intern in Summer 2024 and wrapped up her experience Spring 2025. From the very start, Kate brought unwavering dedication and focus to every aspect of her work—supporting community events, contributing to program planning, and assisting with marketing and outreach efforts. Her time with the office provided valuable hands-on experience and revealed how the arts can build community, foster connection, and serve as a meaningful career path. We’re deeply grateful for Kate’s hard work, creativity, and commitment to arts advocacy. Read on to hear Kate reflect on her internship experience.
When I first began my Worcester Cultural Coalition (WCC) journey, I was looking forward to diving deeply into the intricacies of outreach to artists and venders as well as assisting the people of Worcester. What are their needs? How does the City customize its components to fits the needs of its residents? Lastly, I wanted to see more if this work is for me. As a rising senior, now was the time to determine my future plans. Now that I sit at the end of my internship 11 months later, I can gladly say I got to experience all of those questions to their fullest and more. The next few paragraphs reflect on a few touching experiences I had over this internship.
The Out to Lunch Festival and Farmers’ Market experience was one of the best for exposure to the culture and art of Worcester. Assigned to retrieve, waive, and then return parking tickets to venders, I met every vender and got to hear a little more about their organization. From candles to tattoos to library books, I saw the variety of what vendors offer to the city. It was also great to build relationships with people as I saw them every week at Out to Lunch. Watching the Downtown Worcester Business Improvement District
Program Director Victoria Mariano, Program Coordinator, Alex Monaco, along with the rest of the BID work during the event, I was inspired by their dedication to assisting both vendors and community members. I hope I will be back in Worcester for another Out to Lunch.
Speaking of building relationships, one of the benefits of working with the WCC for almost a year was getting to meet with artists over the course of multiple seasons. Through the WCC and Holy Cross’s Creative Residencies at the Prior, I met musician Daniel Gay who continued his project documenting the musical cultures of his students. After that summer, I met him twice more, once at the Worcester Cultural Coalition Annual Meeting and a second time when he brought some of his students to perform at the City of Worcester’s Annual Festival of Lights celebration. Both times, he recognized me and was happy to see me again. It was great to continue a relationship like that, especially with our paths unlikely to cross. I love that Worcester artists keep making art for and about Worcester.
A piece of my internship that has developed into a passion project is the updating and streamlining of the City of Worcester’s Public Art Map. Realizing that we needed to add to the existing data in the map, I created a separate excel sheet with documentation and improvements indicated. Currently we are working on pictures for pieces that have never had images taken, and I found several murals around Worcester which we do not have documentation for. In the future, hopefully we can find more information about these pieces. I am also super excited for the new Woobox photos to be added to the map.
These are just a few of the key moments I could touch on. This internship has grown my confidence, public-speaking, and communication skills, as well as adding more gems than I could count. I highly recommend this internship for any college student in my position, wanting more exposure to the arts environment.
Read more about Kate’s Journey at Holy Cross.
Vol. 1, Spring 2025 – Prior Performing Arts Centerq
