We are excited to present the intern interview for our Summer 2019 Intern, Nina Agelvis!
Nina was Visual Terrain’s intern for Summer 2019. She joined us from the Master’s program at the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music (CCM). Nina has a lot of experience under her belt, having already done lighting design for over 20 productions. She has also programmed several productions, and also worked as Assistant ME/LD for 10 shows.
Additionally, Nina has experience in art gallery installations.
Nina got her undergrad degree at University of California, Irvine. She is fluent in Spanish, Mandarin and Taiwanese. We’re looking forward to having her with us for the summer. Check back here in August for Nina’s intern interview!
For previous Visual Terrain intern interviews, click here.
Q. How was this experience different from your previous work experience?
Visual Terrain is my first-ever desk job. I have always been used to the crazy schedules for theater and the labor-intensive electrician work, but never got a chance to work in an office with a set “9 to 5” schedule. At first, it was hard to adjust, but as the days went by I would say that despite the change in commute, I definitely got used to it and see myself wanting to participate in this type of environment more.
Q. What was your favorite part about Visual Terrain, Inc.?
I love the sense of community everyone has in the office. I also enjoyed working on different projects and being able to immerse myself into the design and create things I never thought I would do, such as custom fixtures, and updating redlines for hotels and live concert venues. But I feel like the people definitely make the work environment a lot more enjoyable.
Q. What did you hope you would learn most from your time at VTI?
Walking in I was very open-minded, since I knew very little about architectural lighting. After working here for a few months, I definitely have a new appreciation for the details and efforts put into every building, theme park ride, venue, etc. I was also surprised to learn the similarities architectural lighting design had with theatrical design, and it was amazing to learn that majority of the people in the office started from theater.
Q, Did your time with Visual Terrain affect your career or academic plans in any way?
My time at Visual Terrain has piqued my interest into learning more about the architectural world and wanting to look further into different internships or workshops that I could possibly attend. I know my interests are still strong towards concerts and night life, but understanding the architectural world would help me set my foot into wanting to go towards designing night clubs and venues, instead of just designing a concert rig or a theatrical space. I am also surprised with how much I have gotten better at AutoCAD and also want to learn more about the program and even try and pick up other programs such as Revit.
Q. How much was the work you did/experience you had at Visual Terrain different from what you expected before you started?
Like I said before, I was never in a desk job setting prior to Visual Terrain, but the preparation of paperwork was very similar to how theatrical lighting paperwork was prepped. Also using AutoCAD as the main drafting program helped me familiarize myself with the program more, since I am used to strictly using Vectorworks. Being able to see all the different projects and file/archive paperwork has helped me realize the details needed for the projects and how meticulous things had to be, since it doesn’t have the same luxuries you would have in a theater, since the project is a permanent installation.
Q. Any other comments?
Thank you Lisa, and David, and everyone else in the team, for making me feel like I am part of the community, and thank you for letting me learn from the world of architectural lighting design. Time flew by very fast, but with the short amount of time I had, I can say that I walked away with a lot of knowledge and eagerness to learn more in this industry, and without this experience I wouldn’t have known what to expect. I will miss working with everyone!