Internship Program

The Martha's Vineyard Museum has a well developed summer intern program, in place since 1993. This year, the MVM is offering five internship opportunities for the summer of 2009. Internships are available in the curatorial, administration/development, oral history, education, and library/archive departments. Interns will enjoy a variety of museum experience, including exhibits, programs, special events, interaction with visitors, and working with a professional staff. Hours and schedules are to be arranged with individual interns and departments, but typically range from 15 - 40 hours per week from May through Labor Day. Interns may be able to accrue credit through their individual school policy. With the experience gained at the MVM, many of our interns have gone on to careers in the fields of library science, historic preservation, public history, and museum studies.

Energetic, self-motivated, flexible individuals who are independent, creative, and willing to be team players will best fit these positions. These are unpaid internships with potential to earn academic credit. Consult your school advisor.

Duties and Duration of the Internship:  Along with the tasks assigned by their supervisor, interns will be asked to participate in several organizational events and perform a number of organizational duties.

• Internships will commence around early June.
• All interns must be able to work until August 22nd (with possible preference given to those who are able to work until Labor Day).
• Attend all Staff and Intern meetings.
• Conduct public tours of the Campus.
• Assist Staff in three summer evening events.
• Share responsibilities in Museum Shop.
• Assist in maintaining public spaces.

Housing: MVM has access to a limited number of discounted summer housing arrangements through local landlords.  MVM interns will be provided with contact information and some limited assistance in finding housing.  However, the MVM does not assume responsibility for making the actual housing arrangements for the summer interns.  It is the responsibility of each intern to secure housing.  The MVM recommends prospective interns also examine the MV Chamber of Commerce website for housing information.

Qualifications:
A background in history or museum studies is preferred but not required; a strong interest in museums, education, or archives is necessary. A high degree of responsibility and the ability to work professionally with the public are essential. Excellent organizational skills are necessary.  Experience with Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop are preferred.  Each of the five internship positions requires the intern to have the capacity to work independently.

Application Process:
To be considered for an internship position, you will need to submit a complete application package to the MVM by Tuesday, March 31, 2009 . This application package includes:

• Martha's Vineyard Museum Intern Information Sheet
• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Two Letters of Recommendation
• Most Current Contact Information (phone number and email)

Upon receiving the application packet, MVM staff will send an email acknowledgement.  A telephone interview will be necessary for the finalists. To obtain an Intern Information Sheet, simply download and print the MVM Intern Information Sheet. Please send the completed application packet to:

Positions for the Summer 2009 season:
Curatorial Intern: This intern will work with the curators on the overall management of the Martha's Vineyard Museum collections as well as the operations of the 18th century Cooke House, located on the MVM's campus. Within the Cooke House, the intern will be in charge of exhibit care and maintenance, calculating and tracking daily admissions, monitoring environmental conditions, and assisting with volunteer coordination and visitor services.  Through this experience the intern will gain an understanding of basic collections care and conservation, exhibit maintenance, and proper stewardship. Candidates for this position should have a strong interest or background in museum studies, education, history and working with the public.

Development/Administrative Intern: This intern is responsible for special events, mailings, and other fund-raising activities. The Development intern will participate in the planning, execution and follow up for the various events held over the summer. The candidate must possess excellent verbal communications skills and be comfortable in social situations. Good writing skills are also necessary and familiarity with computer design programs a plus.  Sense of humor required.

Oral History Center Intern/Curatorial Assistant to the Oral History Center: This intern will undertake a wide variety of tasks related to the collection, cataloging and use of oral history materials; interviews, tapes, transcripts, photos and related documents. The intern will assist the Oral History Curator in devising and improving the accessibility of the oral history archive of tapes and transcripts to the public; organizing the archive, transcribing interviews, indexing transcripts and the cataloging of the collection. The intern will also assist the Oral History Curator in the editing of tapes and transcripts for exhibits, publications and films. The intern will also have the opportunity to participate in the interviewing process.

Education Intern: The Education intern will work closely with the Director of Education to develop and deliver programs for school-aged children, their families and teachers. In 2009, the Education Intern will have several project options to be involved with:

• Development and implementation of summer programming and family friendly, interactive exhibits for children. This may include creating and maintaining scavenger hunt activities provided for visiting youngsters; helping facilitate arts and crafts workshops for children, helping create materials to publicize MVM, and helping install and maintain the summer exhibit in Kids’ Space. Experience and interest in interacting with children will be necessary for this project. 

• Development and implementation of an online exhibit on Whaling. This is an NEH project and will entail include working with a team of writers, curators, and web designers to research, write content, digitize, transcribe and describe documents and objects. This exciting project is looking for interns with research and writing skills, as well as computer skills (digital photography, scanning, Photoshop).

• Implementation and fine-tuning of an online exhibit of student projects on local history topics and related teacher lesson plans. The student work includes papers, movies, artwork and more. The teacher resources include the digitization of primary sources used in lesson plans. This project also requires computer skills.

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