Exploring Careers in the Arts, Media, and Communications

“Wait, you’re not paying them?” a Grinnell student exclaimed. 

The student had just learned that the professionals who welcomed the Creative Careers Trek group from Grinnell College into their workplaces in Minneapolis were volunteering their time and expertise. 

The students learned many lessons from the Grinnell College alumni and others they met on the trip. 

One thing the students learned was that careers are guided by mentoring relationships; invest in building strong ones. They also learned to lead with gratitude. 

Career Explorations

From Oct. 19–22, CLS Associate Director of the Arts, Media, and Communications Career Community Destini Ross traveled to the Twin Cities with 11 Grinnell students, all members of the Arts, Media, and Communications Career Community. 

The Creative Careers Trek is part of a larger model for career-focused student travel organized by staff in the CLS. Students spent time with alumni and external hosts to learn firsthand about possible career trajectories and fields they could work in.

When selecting hosts, Ross says she prioritized variety and professions that are not well represented on campus or locally — photojournalism, landscape architecture, progressive art studios, and nonprofit book publishing — while also considering host availability.

Photography and Photojournalism

On Monday morning, the group met Ben Brewer ’11, director of photography and a photojournalist who creates stories for some of the world’s most recognized brands and agencies, as well as editorial giants like The New York Times, Reuters, and Bloomberg. The visitors joined Brewer at Slate Studios for a career talk, Q&A, and group portrait photoshoot. 

Brewer studied biochemistry and neuroscience at Grinnell and developed his photography practice outside of the classroom through internships and as a staff member at the Scarlet & Black. 

Brewer offered many words of wisdom, but the students particularly appreciated his advice on effective storytelling. He asked the students to think about the story that only they could tell. 

For students considering a career as a freelancer, the gap between college and career seems especially daunting. Brewer’s advice was straightforward: “Going from doing it for fun to doing it every day — that is what separates a hobby from a job.” It takes more than passion or talent to be successful in a career, according to Brewer. Consistency matters more than either on its own.

The portrait photo shoot with Brewer provided a casual and participatory setting for group bonding early in the trip. Noah Biniam ’26 created a beautiful recap video of the shoot.

Landscape Architecture

As heavy rain began to fall in the afternoon, Laura Kamin-Lyndgaard ’00, director of the landscape architecture firm Coen + Partners, welcomed the group to her office as the visitors shed coats and umbrellas. 

The organizers had planned a walking tour of the firm’s major projects in the city, including the landmark Peavey Plaza restoration and the Minneapolis Central Library. Kamin-Lyndgaard proposed trying to dodge the rain on a walk around the city. Ross took a vote of the students; the result was 9 to 2 in favor of a walk in the rain toward Peavey Plaza. 

Kamin-Lyndgaard considers Peavey a “career-making” project because of its locale and the resulting improvements in sustainability, community use, and Americans with Disabilities Act compliance. She has built her career on principles she developed through her study of theatre design and German at Grinnell. Adaptability is at the heart of her work; every design, like any good postgraduate plan, should leave room for growth, change, and those things that cannot be projected. 

The Grinnell students learned to expect and prepare for the unpredictable. 

Progressive Art Studios

Tuesday morning began with a visit to the Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts, a progressive art studio that provides workspace and professional development for artists with disabilities. Lizzy Hinman-LeDoux ’20 is a performing arts instructor and administrative assistant at Interact. The performers had just concluded their fall mainstage production, yet they welcomed the group from Grinnell with contagious enthusiasm. 

The Grinnellians toured the center’s performance spaces and studios, spending time with works of art currently on view. They then gathered in a circle of folding chairs in the gallery as Hinman-LeDoux shared her immense love for her role, which she also carefully balanced with a discussion of the realities of nonprofit work. Students asked questions about maintaining healthy work-life balance when working a job that is closely tied to one’s sense of self. They learned that there is a difference between hardworking and overworking.

Nonprofit Publishing

The final site visit brought the students to Milkweed Editions, a nonprofit book publisher best known for publishing Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass. The impetus for this visit embodies a career development lesson in itself: It was a cold call. Daniel Slager, CEO of Milkweed Editions, is not an alum or otherwise affiliated with Grinnell College. Ross emailed Anessa Ibrahim, Milkweed’s administrative coordinator, about her interest in bringing students to learn about nonprofit publishing from one of the best. Milkweed enthusiastically accepted. 

The students saw that taking calculated risks can pay off.

Slager’s publishing career began with freelance reader reports, translation, and editorial work while working on a Ph.D. He advised the Grinnell students to express “demonstrated interest” as an early career applicant. 

Milkweed’s mission centers on fostering community development and mentoring artists. Slager recounted the story of how Creative Director Mary Austin Speaker joined Milkweed. “Mary walked up to our table at the Iowa City Book Festival and pitched herself. She had worked at the best places.” 

The Grinnell students realized that putting yourself in situations where opportunities arise can be a successful strategy.

Speaker joined the conversation via Zoom from California, where she lives full time. She designs the interiors and covers for all of Milkweed’s publications. Speaker holds an MFA in creative writing, but she “wanted to keep [her] writing brain for [her] own work.” 

As she held examples of her work up to the camera, Speaker introduced important considerations, both haptic and practical. She considers a book’s form, most importantly, in relation to the body, but also to the size of a bookshelf in a bookstore. How to get started in book design? “Publish other people’s chapbooks. Working with an author is key.” 

The value of collaboration with the people around you was a valuable takeaway for the Grinnell students.

Be Engaged and Present

The journey wouldn’t have been possible without the hosts, but it was made memorable by the sincere engagement of the students. Over shared meals at local restaurants, they narrated childhood stories, reflected on philosophical questions, and prioritized being present with one another. The group sat with the lessons their hosts had taught them and practiced a few more. 

The students learned to resist the urge to reach for their phones and instead to stumble through small talk with a peer; to scribble something in a notebook; to make a swan out of a napkin; to be here, now.

What have the students been up to since mid-October? An artist and a poet are collaborating on chapbooks, as Speaker advised. A record label is in the works. Students are applying to graduate school, strengthening their portfolios, and thinking more about how to invest in their communities. 

While the visit to the Twin Cities only lasted a few days, Ross says she sincerely hopes that the lessons learned will reverberate and shape these 11 students throughout the rest of their time at Grinnell, and perhaps beyond. 

Of course, there are more lessons for each student to discover in the years ahead.

As Brewer reflected after the visit, “[These are] the kind of conversations that remind you how much possibility lives at the start of a career.”

Many thanks to the Grinnell alumni and other professionals who continue to strengthen the work of the Center for Careers, Life, and Service (CLS).

— Adapted from a blog entry by Destini Ross, Associate Director of the Arts, Media, and Communications Career Community