On Fri, 5 Nov 1999, Troy Segal wrote:

> Why shouldn't an institution have to "pay for all it gets"? Don't most
> employers? If a business ran the way a museum does--getting by with free
> labor--it would be called exploitation. I believe that a museum always has to
> "break even"--or risk losing its status as a nonprofit.

I think you overestimate the amount of money most museums have at their
disposal.  Getting funding for ongoing operational expenses (as opposed to
special projects) is very difficult, and hiring permanent staff is
something that is very hard to sell in a grant proposal.  Moreover, people
who work in museums are almost by definition not primarily interested in
money.  I think is it rather unfair to accuse museums of maliciously
exploiting unpaid interns, etc. It isn't as if they are putting away
millions of dollars at our expense.

Those of us who have master's degrees in museum studies (or, in my case,
art history) probably should not have to volunteer for free to get museum
jobs. *shrug* But the economic reality is that there are too many of us
searching for jobs.  Given the glut of people who want museum jobs, why
would any museum choose to hire someone who doesn't love museums so much
that they would volunteer?

<for the record, I'm not currently working for a museum; I'm working for a
non-profit and contemplating places to volunteer.>


Eva



-- Eva Crider                           [log in to unmask]

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