The Rollins Museum of Art announced today that it has been chosen as one of 10 art museums to participate in the Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) annual paid internship program. For the program, which focuses on college students from underrepresented backgrounds, RMA will host an intern for 12 weeks and provide opportunities for work and career development in the Education Department.

AAMD’s paid internships are available to undergraduate students in their sophomore, junior, or senior years, and are designed to provide opportunity for students who have begun to solidify their academic interests and potential career path. In 2023, interns will receive a stipend of $6,720 over 12 weeks, equivalent to an hourly wage of $16 for a 35 hour work week. Each intern is also paired with a mentor—a member of the museum’s senior leadership team—who is responsible for directing their activities and providing overall counsel on their professional development. Because mentors can be so crucial to the development of a person’s career, this approach encourages the kind of long-term relationship-building that is often essential to an individual’s success in the field. During the term of their internship, mentors ensure that there are opportunities for conversation, feedback, direction, and questions. Here at Rollins, the intern will be mentored by Associate Curator of Education David Matteson and Bruce A. Beal Director Ena Heller.

“This internship is an incredible win-win: we get to open the amazing world of museum work to a local student, while they add their unique experience to the voice of our museum. We are honored and proud to have been chosen by AAMD for this opportunity.” – Ena Heller, Ph.D., Bruce A. Beal Director, RMA

RMA hopes this internship will encourage a member of a community currently underrepresented within the field to pursue a career in museums. With new and different perspectives, RMA hopes the intern and his or her ideas may also help shape the way they welcome and engage with audiences – of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Ultimately, RMA hopes the experience facilitates a meaningful learning opportunity for both the intern and RMA, and fosters a more inclusive museum representative of Central Florida’s diverse population.

The AAMD intern will be placed in the Education Department and will primarily contribute to developing RMA’s online Teaching Portfolios. The Teaching Portfolios are an ongoing effort that feature a growing collection of themed selections of works from the RMA permanent collection. The themes are derived from topics frequently addressed by Rollins faculty as part of liberal arts education, including activism, the environment, immigration, black representation, indigenous representation, media manipulation, and global politics.

For more information about how to apply, please visit RMD’s website at: https://jobs.rollins.edu/en-us/listing/. The application process will formally open on March 10 and applications must be submitted by April 7th; the Museum will make its selection by the first week of May, 2023.

“We are excited to welcome the class of 2023 internship hosts and grateful to The Rollins Museum of Art for embracing this program as a way to support students,” said Christine Anagnos, AAMD’s Executive Director.

“Persistent financial limitations remain a barrier to accessing career-building summer work experiences, especially for students from Asian, Black, Hispanic, Native American, or multiracial backgrounds. Our paid internship program, which covers much of the costs the museums would otherwise need to bear on their own, is a benefit we can offer to our members while also investing in the future of the museum field. The Rollins Museum of Art was among those institutions selected because they proposed a compelling proposal that we are sure will be of interest to local college students.”

About AAMD’s Paid Internship Program

The museums participating in AAMD’s paid internship program this year includes the second Canadian institution in the program, along with three museums—the Mississippi Museum of Art, San Jose Museum of Art, and Speed Art Museum—that have hosted an intern previously. An 11th museum, the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum, will also host an intern this year after deferring from 2022. The 10 participating museums in 2023 are:

• Hillwood Estate, Museum & Garden

• Mississippi Museum of Art

• Rollins Museum of Art

• Royal Ontario Museum

• San Jose Museum of Art

• Speed Art Museum

• Spencer Museum of Art

• The Bass

• The Newark Museum of Art

• Weisman Art Museum

Financial and logistical support for this program is provided by AAMD and by the participating member museums. This is only one of a number of steps AAMD has taken to increase equity and diversity in the field, where research has consistently shown that fewer than 20% of leadership positions are held by people of color. In 2019, the Association issued a resolution calling on museums to offer a stipend with all internships, recognizing that the limited financial resources often available to students from diverse backgrounds also becomes a limitation on access to career development opportunities. Recognizing that it is also difficult to address problems that are not properly evaluated, AAMD has also been an active partner with the Mellon Foundation, Ithaka S+R, and other organizations on a series of research projects exploring elements of museum staff, leadership, and trustee diversity and participation. This includes, most recently, the Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey 2022.

About The Rollings Museum Of Art

The Rollins Museum of Art features rotating exhibitions, ongoing programs, and an extensive permanent collection of approximately 6,000 objects that spans centuries, from examples of ancient art and artifacts to contemporary art. Open to the public year-round, its holdings include the only European Old Master paintings in the Orlando area, a sizeable American art collection, and a forward-thinking contemporary collection on view both at the Museum and The Alfond Inn at Rollins. Located a few blocks from campus, The Alfond Inn is a visionary philanthropic boutique hotel whose proceeds help fund student scholarships. In 1981, the museum became Florida’s first accredited college museum by the American Association of Museums (currently the American Alliance of Museums) and continues in 2022 as one of only four AAM-accredited museums in greater Orlando. For additional information, call (407) 646-2526 or visit www.rollins.edu/rma.

Photo Credit: Laney Mae Velazquez

Date Posted: March 7, 2023