museum careers

AAM: American Association of Museums

People ask a lot of staff members what kind of job opportunities there are in museums. The short answer is: there are lots of different kinds of museum jobs, with one caveat, which is this: you should probably be willing to relocate. A minority of museum professionals work in their hometowns, though LRMA is an exception. Job opportunities are not thick on the ground, but they are out there.

A longer answer:

Museums range from the tiny (one staff member) to the enormous (the thousands of employees at the Smithsonian museums). Topics range from teapots to art, archeology, coffee, neon signs, history, science, archeology, medicine, timber, labor, tenements, and so on. Each museum, regardless of focus, has four primary functions: collection, preservation, education, and exhibition. Museum employees can include conservators, curators, directors, business managers, fund raisers, development officers, grant officers, exhibition designers and fabricators, IT staff, educators, docents, and more. Whatever your skill and interest, you can probably find a niche in the museum profession. A good place to start looking for information is the website of the American Association of Museums, which website I have linked above.

Emerging Artists Exhibition

Each year, Mandy and Mark organize an Emerging Artists Exhibition which takes place on the front lawn of the museum. It's open to students from four area high schools, and includes performance and art demonstrations in addition to artworks on display. It's been a beautiful spring so far, and we had another pretty day for this event, which took place on Thursday, April 6.

Lecture Hall closing...

on Tuesday, April 11, from 11 am to 1 pm, the Lower Level Lecture Hall will be closed for a meeting. The rest of the Pinturas de Fe exhibition will still be open to the public.

Very Special Art Festival

One of our favorite art activities each year is the Very Special Art Festival, a free program for kids with disabilities. As far as I know, it's the only activity they don't have to share with the rest of the school, and a lot of them don't get to go on school-wide field trips.

This year's theme was "A Magical Day." We had six different art activities, including making tissue paper butterflies and beaded necklaces. We took a "magic photo" (a Polaroid!) of each kid with his or her creations, and we followed up with a performance by a wonderful magician, Joseph Harris, and then story telling by staff members.

Here, Allyn helps students makes their own jigsaw puzzles:




Joseph Harris entertains with magic in the LRMA lobby:




Donnelle helps students customize their glittery magicians hats and magic wands:




Tommie reads a story to students from West Jones:




Mandy painted faces for both kids and their helpers: