I do hope the omitted information--on compensation--is forthcoming. The
Tudor Place internship seems to require much more responsibility than a
volunteer should have to bear. 

At the risk of being impolitic, may I suggest that the current definition
of what is a "professional position" within the museum field is not what it
was even just a few years ago? Maybe the internship presumes to offer
worthwhile OJT, a strong resume line, and a useful network. Maybe, if the
same job is funded next year, the intern can anticipate a place in the
front of the "line." Maybe none of the above. Lowered budgets and an
unprecedented glut of graduate degrees in museum-related disciplines seem
to have created an uncertain landscape for aspiring museum specialists--
who were perusing a growing field, with optimistic salary charts, just a
few years ago. 

As a member of this group, I, too, have aspired to become a museum
"professional" who would work in some meaningful way with textiles and
costume. I had a studio arts/textiles background and, at the time, was a
hand weaving instructor. I purchased and read most every recommended book,
journal, and periodical on my subject and on the the field, joined the
Textile Society of America, the AAM, and the AASLH, signed up for courses,
workshops, and conferences, and became a volunteer docent at the Textile
Museum in Washington. Later, after relocating to one of Washington's
distant bedroom communities, I became volunteer registrar for the local
history museum. For the next five years, I served as a mostly-volunteer and
sometimes-paid ($6.00 hr.) registrar, conservator, and associate curator,
while completing a degree in history. I became paid director/curator when
the museum's former curator retired. Although paid for a twenty-hour week,
I usually accomplished forty or more hours, orchestrating volunteer &
maintenance schedules, tour bookings, special events, publicity, website,
grant-writing, docent & board education, interpretive programs,
exhibitions, etc. The list is far too long to include here. Post-911, the
museum reverted to an all-volunteer operation. 

While completing a prestigious graduate program in curatorial studies, I
served for seven months as an unpaid intern, doing important work, in the
National Museum of American History's textiles collection. Although it is a
significant collection, it is in a budget-compromised area of the
Smithsonian, and I knew there was no chance of my internship leading to an
employment opportunity. Still--I knew my work was important and that other
highly-qualified volunteers performed similar work. 

I continue to looking for the right "professional" museum opportunity and
keep abreast of developments in the field. Meanwhile, I am adjunct teaching
in my specialty. I am able to infuse my courses with historical references
and I require multiple museum field trips of all of my students, most of
whom have never been to Washington's or Baltimore's fabulous museums. Many
of my former students have written to thank me for introducing them to the
Textile Museum, Smithsonian, and other museums in the area. Yes; I am still
"volunteering." Adjunct teaching-- the future of America's post-secondary
education in the humanities--all too often requires service
"above-and-beyond." Increasingly, the institutions that deliver insight
into the human condition are less able to support "professional" positions.
  

Rebecca Trussell
"Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in
the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being." Mahatma Gandhi
(1869-1948) India


> [Original Message]
> From: Adrienne DeAngelis <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 1/16/2005 1:33:16 PM
> Subject: Re: Washington, DC buildings preservation/conservation
internship for spring or summer
>
> Sorry, my e-mail must be defective--something must have been dropped from
> this announcement. Exactly what is the intern getting out of this "no
> stipend"  internship?  Doesn't this sound like a professional position?
>
> Adrienne DeAngelis, Editor
> Resources in Art History for Graduate Students
> (http://members.efn.org/~acd/resources.html)
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
> > Please feel free to circulate this internship posting to any interested
> > potential interns. More information about Tudor Place can be found on
our
> > website: www.tudorplace.org.
> >
> > BUILDINGS CONSERVATION INTERNSHIP:
> > Intern sought to implement plan for the management of buildings
> > conservation and maintenance projects at Tudor Place Historic House and
> > Garden located in the Georgetown district of Washington, DC.  Start and
> > end date flexible; spring or summer internship possible. Work includes
> > researching and organizing conservation and maintenance projects, and
> > correcting/updating database for  conservation and maintenance projects.
> > Intern will also prepare first draft of a buildings management policy,
> > working with Tudor Place's professional staff.  Applicant will possess
> > knowledge of buildings conservation, Access database experience, and
good
> > organizational skills.  Housing available on the site.  No stipend.  All
> > interested applicants should email resumes to:
[log in to unmask]
> > or send applications to Tudor Place, 1644 31st Street NW, Washington, DC
> > 20007 Attn: Conservation internship. Deadline: February 15th, 2005.
> >
> > Cedar Phillips
> > Development Associate
> > Tudor Place
> > 1644 31st Street NW
> > Washington, DC 20007
> > Tel: (202) 965-0400 x 104
> > Fax: (202) 965-0164
> > [log in to unmask]
> >
> >
> >
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