Marketing the Arts: Victoria Cushing ’17 Web Director | July 14, 2017

Victoria Cushing ’17 has been dancing since she was three years old.

Growing up, her dream was to be a dancer on Broadway – until she realized her aversion to big cities.

At Thomas College, Victoria was a part of the dance team and even taught one of the dance classes.

This summer, she has found a way to incorporate the arts into her job.

Victoria is the marketing intern at Waterville Creates!, a non-profit organization working to promote arts and culture in Waterville. She helps with the advertising and promotion of events.

One of her favorite projects this summer was an exhibit called SNAP that was on display in the Common Street Arts gallery. “SNAP was an interactive exhibit where community members could send in their own pictures of Waterville,” she said.

Victoria was in charge of collecting the photos from Facebook posts and email submissions, which were then displayed on a monitor outside on Main Street, where people could view the pictures and admire the ones they had taken.

Victoria said that during this marketing internship she has written many press releases and has been able to practice her professional writing. She has also interacted with community members frequently, which she says has helped improve her people skills.

The most important thing Victoria has learned during this internship is to take her time and not rush through tasks.

“Part of my job is to post on social media on the Waterville Creates! platforms,” she said. “You might think it’s easy to just write a Facebook post, but you have to check for spelling and punctuation and make sure if you are promoting an event, you are marketing it correctly.”

Victoria said she would give first-year students the same advice she received before beginning her journey at Thomas: get involved.

“Try all types of new things – because you never know what you might end up enjoying,” she said.

Victoria was an EDGE tutor, an Orientation Leader, a member of the Thomas College dance team, and a student ambassador, where she gave tours to prospective students.

Victoria’s internship opportunity at Waterville Creates! was made possible by the Harold Alfond Institute for Business Innovation‘s signature internship program.

“Diane from Career Services helped me out a lot and was actually the one who found this internship. She knew I was a Marketing Management major, so she sent me an email encouraging me to apply.”

Victoria will graduate a semester early in December and only has two more classes to take this fall. She is able to achieve this from taking an intensive course in the EDGE program before her first year, utilizing a heavier course load allowed at the same tuition cost, and taking one or two courses during the summer.

Victoria said it was challenging at times, but it helped her learn organizational time-management skills.

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Victoria said she likes art because everyone has a different style; some like music or theatre, and others like painting and dance.

“It’s a way for people to express themselves,” she said. “That’s why I consider myself an artist.”

Victoria has found a new way to express her art this summer: through marketing– with the help of Thomas College.