To Matthew A. White's comment:
>  I thought Robin Panza was a bit harsh with his/her reply, but it also
>made me want to echoe his/her sentiments by saying something equally
>harsh that hit me as I read everyone complaining about unpaid
>internships.   Interns need museums more than museums need Interns.  I
>know this sounds rude, but all potential interns should keep this in mind
>before they complain about whatever help a host institution can offer.

This may be true in a narrow sense, but think of what the museum profession
would be like if there were no internships.  In Japan there are few museums
with real vitality, and it seems that one of the reasons is the paucity of
internships or other ways to get real-world professional training.  Many
museum employees here come to their jobs by working their way through a
government bureaucracy (in the case of public museums) or through personal
connections with private collectors (in the case of private art museums), and
this lack of entry-level opportunities is one factor that discourages talented

people from going into museum work.

In the long run internships benefit museums as a whole.  Maybe museums should
be working together (through the AAM, etc.) to find ways to make internships
more feasable and beneficial for all parties involved.

Jeff Kupperman
Atelier Aza, Tokyo
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