I work for a medium-sized museum.  Because of restrictive funding, our full-time educational staff are people with subject backgrounds in the kinds of objects that we exhibit, collect and research.   That said, however, we have a very active performing arts program AND we utilize
part time educators fairly frequently for special projects that have a theater, music or dance component.   Sometimes these are afterschool programs, summer camps, or weekend family programs.   We also encourage "adjunct faculty" (our name for professionals we keep in our database
of people willing to present or prepare special participatory programs) to prepare new programs that can be given as an augmentation of an exhibit (examples: music/dance related to a mola exhibit, interpretive gallery dance, integration of performing arts with scientific concepts,
etc.).   We even had a Tiny Litter Opera program here once that paired learning about opera and preparing a child's "opera" (theater and music arts) with environmental science and recycling.

I believe a niche exists out there for a person with that kind of creative background.  However, I think she'll have to really "sell" herself and be ready to present tangible proposals about how she could benefit the museum's activities as a whole.

Of course, she may want to spend some time going through a directory of museums to target museums that are based already on some kind of performing arts.   For example,  Country Music Hall of Fame, Liberace Museum, museums with significant collections of musical instruments like
Yale or the Smithsonian, Boothbay Theater Museum, museums with resident artists programs etc.    Even Science and Technology Centers are trying to find new ways to integrate the arts with science.

Hope this gives her some things to think about.   Good luck!

Shirley Albright
New Jersey State Museum
Aaron Marcavitch wrote:

> Hi folks, got a question for you about the use of music and art in museum education.  My fiancee
> is looking into a program at Lesley College (Cambridge, MA, USA) called the Creative Arts in
> Learning program.  This gives her a Masters in Education that focuses on using art, dance, music,
> and theater in the classroom.
>
> If she had such a degree, do you think she would be "sellable" to a museum education department
> such as the MFA in Boston?
>
> Thanks for your thoughts,
> Aaron
>
> =====
> www.aaronmarcavitch.com
> Webmaster, VAF (www.vernaculararchitecture.org)
> Webmaster, ADM (www.americandinermuseum.org)
> Webmaster, Boston Harborfest (www.bostonharborfest.com)
> Grad. Student Caucus Chair, Am. Assoc of History & Computing
>
> M.A. (Public) History, Middle TN St. Univ
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger
> http://im.yahoo.com
>
> =========================================================
> Important Subscriber Information:
>
> The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).
>
> If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).

=========================================================
Important Subscriber Information:

The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes).

If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).