Intern Spotlight: David Kortes
Published February 11, 2022 by Rebecca McDaniel | Share this post! 
It’s time to shine a spotlight on our recent intern, David Kortes! David interned with us throughout the second half of 2021, and we were so grateful for his help — especially with our fundraiser, the TCP Office Holiday Party. Thank you for everything, David!
Where are you from?
Milwaukee, WI.
What is one thing about yourself that you’d want everyone to know?
I will be graduating in May 2022 with a Masters Degree in Arts Administration; if you know anyone hiring, I’m looking!
What are you up to these days?
I just finished up all my final projects for my last fall semester of graduate school and now I get to enjoy my winter break! Excited to see what the spring has to hold but also terrified that it’s my final semester.
Give us a link to something about you.
Check me out on LinkedIn (it seems to be the only social media I use now): https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidkortes/
When did you intern with TCP?
My internship was from July 12th – December 15th, 2021.
How did you connect with TCP?
I tuned in for a live stream that TCP was doing for a university and at the end Sean mentioned something about needing internships. After a couple of days of thinking I reached out!
Did you gain anything from the internship that you’d like to share?
I got to see how a smaller organization operates. Looking at it through the lens of an arts administrator it was interesting to see how they organized everything and what programs they used to assist them.
What else did you do while interning with TCP?
Besides my internship with TCP I’ve been working at the Indiana University Cinema for my work study program. That’s another great organization that I’ve learned a lot from and have had a blast working/running events for.
Favorite memory from the internship?
I think my favorite memory has to be when I came to Chicago for a donor/board member hang at Burning Bush. As someone who is going to have to interact with a lot of these types of people it was great to get to know the donor base that TCP has backing them up! Having Sean Connors buy you a beer too isn’t that bad either.
Give us a GIF or a YouTube link that sums up your experience with TCP.
If you were a cartoon character, who would you be?
Probably Courage the Cowardly Dog. There are a lot of things that terrify me, but I’m still going to do them.
What’s a funny or embarrassing story from the internship?
I think the funniest thing that has happened too many times during this internship is people not remembering that I visited Chicago multiple times in the summer. I realized this was an actual problem when I saw all the guys at PASIC this year and David [Skidmore] came up to me and said “It’s finally good to meet you in person.” To which I promptly responded with “We’ve already met…” That’s what I get for switching between remote work and in-person!
TCP accepts interns any time of the year. If you are interested in learning more about TCP’s internship programs, please email TCP team members Sean Connors ([email protected]) and Rebecca McDaniel ([email protected]).