Jason W Onerheim asks:
"just one question, HOW is one to get experience?"

I usually just lurk on this list, but perhaps I can offer my own story as an
example?

For years I worked in marketing, a job I had fallen into for lack of
direction and hated rather totally. I was lucky enough to be working for a
university, however, and free classes were an employee benefit. I entered
the Master's program in history, with an emphasis on material culture and
museum studies. The free classes were the lucky part. The rest of my story
is simply hard work and perseverance.

I worked 40 hours a week and took one class a semester. So it took me six
years to complete the program. My primary interest is historic clothing.
During those years I also volunteered for local history museums on weekends
and in the evenings (projects at home), mostly researching and making
reproduction costume for living history sites, but also putting together
educational materials. I built up enough of a reputation that after years of
giving away my labors (one dress I made took 250 hours!), I was able to land
a part-time job running the costume production shop at one of the museums
for which I had volunteered, and so began my career switch. When I was not
at my part-time job, I was volunteering at another institution, rounding out
my experience by helping them implement a collections care grant which
included improving the storage of their costume collection. After that
project ended I was able to volunteer time at another museum which needed
someone to take their historic clothing collection in hand. As a result of
that volunteer effort, I was offered the chance to curate a historic
clothing exhibition; I did it for free, and for the experience. In return
they sent me to a week-long mannequin-making workshop, where I learned a LOT
and made excellent contacts. All of this was volunteer work, but it was
starting to pay off. I began to receive contracts for mannequin and
exhibition work from people who had seen what I could do. I had the
opportunity to do a small exhibition for the museum where I was a
part-timer. And then an opening came up at a university art museum--no
costume collection, but a great chance to solidify my overall museum
practices and exhibition work (we change exhibitions every 8 weeks). And I
got the job, and I love it.

And you know what? I'm still taking on contract work for mannequins on top
of my 40 hour work week, because I also love costume and I want to keep my
hand in. Because down the road, I want to wind up at a small institution
that has a costume collection as part of its holdings.

As I said, I got to where I am due to a little luck but mostly a lot of
sheer hard work. I gave away a lot of time and effort. And no, Mommy and
Daddy didn't pay for any of it. I buckled down and did what I had to do in
order to achieve my goal of being part of the museum world. And looking
back, I can see that everything I did opened doors-- and they're still
opening.

Astrida

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Astrida Schaeffer, Assistant Director
The Art Gallery
University of New Hampshire
Paul Creative Arts Center
30 College Road
Durham, NH 03824
(603) 862-3712
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