Summer Internships

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art Summer Internship Program provides insight into museum careers through practical work experience not available in most academic settings.  Interns participate in daily operations of a specific department and participate in activities that provide a “behind the scenes” view of the Museum.  Positions for 2011 are in the Art Library, Asian Art, Education, Modern and Contemporary Art, Public Relations, Registration, and Technical Production.

The internship consists of ten, 40-hour weeks from May 27 – August 4, 2011.  Interns earn $11.25 per hour (less taxes) and are paid bi-weekly. Interns are responsible for their own housing (the Museum will assist with locating nearby rentals).

Candidates must be graduating seniors or current graduate students. International students must have a current US Visa and be eligible to work in the US.  The positions require fingerprinting.  The Museum encourages students from all backgrounds to apply and is committed to a culturally diverse group.

The application deadline is March 1, 2011.

Located on a 66-acre estate on Sarasota Bay, The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the State Art Museum of Florida. The Museum of Art offers 21 galleries of European paintings as well as Cypriot antiquities, Asian art, American paintings, and contemporary art. The campus also includes Cà d’Zan, the Ringling historic mansion; the Circus Museum; the Tibbals Learning Center; and The Historic Asolo Theater.  As a division of Florida State University, the Ringling estate is one of the largest university museum complexes in the nation.

2011 Internship Position Descriptions

2011 Position Descriptions

Art Library

The library intern will assist the Librarian in specific projects, including digitization projects, conservation plan, and research on rare books.  The internship will provide the student with exposure to all aspects of special art librarianship.

Major areas of learning will include: the administration of people, planning, and budgets; the role of technology in the Museum Library in the cataloging process, digital preservation program, and provision of reference assistance to users; research on special topics; collection development and maintenance.

Asian Art

The intern will carry out research on the Asian art objects from current Museum collections, as well as the Museum’s recent acquisitions.  The research will include the ongoing documentation of individual objects. The intern will also work with the Asian art staff in researching and planning an Asian art exhibition that will be presented in the Searing Wing of the Museum.

Education

Education is looking for an intern with an interest in working with a broad spectrum of museum audiences, from life-long learners to young children.  Education interfaces with many departments of the Museum including Curatorial, Preparation and Exhibition Design, Visitor Services, Security, Collections Management and the Museum library. Duties can include: assisting with research and development of adult programs, assisting with research and development of training for the Museum’s docent corps, conducting docent evaluations, development of family activities for upcoming exhibitions, including gallery guides and art activities, active participation in the Museum’s summer youth and family programs.

Modern and Contemporary Art

The Museum of Art has an extensive works on paper and print collection much of which falls within the parameters of Modern and Contemporary (1850-present) and has largely been unstudied.  A graduate student with a background in Art History and, preferably, with an interest in works on paper would be the ideal candidate to assist the Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art with an assessment of the collection looking for strengths which might be built upon through further acquisitions as well as possible exhibitions that might be generated from the collection.

Public Relations

Intern responsibilities will include monitoring the media for Museum news and industry trends; drafting press releases and fact sheets; building and updating media lists; conducting online research; assembling press kits;  assisting the PR manager with photography and information needs; gathering information and drafting copy for external newsletter; as well as departmental duties as needed.

The intern will be a good listener, take direction well, possess strong verbal and written communication skills, as well as have the ability to multi-task and work with a variety of different personality types. The candidate should also have good computer skills with a minimum of two years experience working either in a business or in a school with Microsoft Office Suite, including Microsoft Word, Excel and Outlook, as well as demonstrated capability to learn new software programs.

The ideal candidate is pursuing a degree in public relations, marketing communications, journalism or public affairs. Prior office and computer experience is preferred. Working use of social media, such as Facebook, MySpace would be beneficial, but is not critical.

Registration

The intern will be introduced to all aspects of the Collections Management Department.  He/She is expected to gain a broad understanding of the Registration profession.  Intern will attend exhibition openings; gallery talks, departmental, and board meetings, as well as work with different Museum departments on small projects.  The Intern’s primary project will consist of working with the works on paper collection; surveying, cataloguing and updating records in collections database TMS; assist with digitization projects to facilitate collection objects entering the database.  The goal of the Internship is for the Intern to be a valued, productive member of the Museum staff, as well as gaining invaluable experience and tangible projects that can be used to further a resume or future education.

Technical Production

The Technical Production Intern will work closely with the Technical Director in pre-load-in preparation, load-in, and technical/dress rehearsals for the Historic Asolo’s summer circus production. The intern will also work with the performers once the show is in performance to maintain production integrity and smooth day-to-day operations as well as run the show. The performance schedule is two shows a day, Wednesday thru Sunday for six weeks. Each performance lasts approximately one hour. Towards the end of the run, the intern will assist with load-out plans and load-out.

Unpaid internships for academic credit are available to students 18 years and older in some departments.

For additional information about internships contact Karen Patriarca, Student Services Coordinator, at karen.patriarca@ringling.org