2008 Internship Opportunities

Educational Programs & Planning

Intern will assist in developing outreach programs; develop curriculum materials, research and public programs. Intern will also work with the Education Director to develop new ways to present art, architecture, and social history to diverse audiences. American Studies or Museum Education students preferred.

Curatorial Assistant I

Intern will work directly with the Director/Curator on reviewing the museum's collection for entry into a national database. Art History student preferred.

Curatorial Assistant II

Intern will work directly with the Director/Curator on inventory, accessioning, data entry and collection care of the museum's objects. The collection consists of decorative arts, textiles, furniture, prints, photographs and books. Art History, Museum Studies or Conservation students preferred.

Historic Preservation

Intern will work directly with the Director/Curator on the documentation of the restoration/rehabilitation of a historic coach house and an environmental survey of the main house. Project will also include budget management activities and report writing. Historic Preservation student preferred.

Development

Intern will work directly with the Assistant Director on the following activities: support production for the annual benefit event and other major events, assist with annual giving campaigns, membership solicitations, gift and grants acknowledgments, maintain donor files, answer calls and offer quality customer service, and provide administrative support. Museum Administration or Development students preferred.

PR & Marketing

Intern will work with staff to market tours, programs and events for Glessner House Museum , help raise awareness in the near south neighborhood, and develop target group mailing lists. Marketing/PR students preferred.

THE GLESSNER HOUSE MUSEUM INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

Tours, exhibits, and public programs are the most visible ways in which the organization interprets the resources of Glessner House. Another important method for sharing the cultural riches of the house is the museum's internship program. Through internships, we provide educational outreach to university students who come to Glessner House to learn about the architecture, art, and social history of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries - as well as the many aspects of museum administration. On average, two students join us at Glessner House each year, working unpaid for approximately 200 hours. Staff works closely with the students to determine internship objectives and to set project priorities. Many GHM interns are fulfilling a degree requirement and will receive course credit; several of our interns have come to Glessner House to experience working in the museum field before making an academic or professional commitment.

Glessner House has so many resources that we are able to take students from a wide variety of fields: historic preservation, decorative arts, museum studies, women's studies, history, marketing, communications, and institutional development. We provide interns with knowledge and training they can take with them into their careers, placing each student into a working environment where each becomes part of the GHM team. In school, most of what is learned is theory; here we are able to take that one step further and combine the theory with hands-on professional training and real work experience.

The majority of GHM interns work in the Curatorial Department; most join us from The School of the Art Institute's Master of Science in Historic Preservation Program and the University of Illinois at Chicago's Museology Program. Dr. David Sokol, Director of the UIC program, notes that he has placed "many interns at cultural institutions throughout the city, and Glessner House has been one of the most popular. All the interns have learned a great deal, have had a positive personal and professional experience, and have gone on to professional positions at local museums."

Doreen Reifel, GHM's current intern from the UIC program, indicated that she has "learned many valuable hands-on skills in the curatorial field." She is sure that her "internship experience at GHM will be viewed by prospective employers as a real plus."

Pat McKeever is pursuing her Master of Arts Administration degree at the School of the Art Institute and is currently at GHM working with the Executive Director on the Master Interpretive Plan. Pat considers her internship "an ideal opportunity to use my experience in community outreach and education while giving me the chance to learn about a unique and vibrant arts organization. I feel privileged to work at Glessner House Museum."

Bill Tyre, an SAIC graduate student in historic preservation, reflected on his intern experience during the summer of 1998. "My internship was extremely informative and interesting," Bill said. "Not only did I acquire a good basic knowledge of collections management, but I gained an insight into the Glessner family, their collections, and their intellectual pursuits. My specific work with the Glessners' book collection exposed me to their amazingly diverse areas of interest. It was truly a rewarding experience." (Bill was appointed Executive Director of the Glessner House Museum in October 2007).

Maura McCarthy fulfilled her internship studies in 1997. Maura remembered that, "working as an intern at Glessner House provided me with a unique opportunity to learn about art, architecture, and Chicago history. There are few house museums that have a collection like the Glessners', and my internship afforded me access to objects and expertise that I could not find anywhere else. My experience at Glessner House confirmed my beliefs that Chicago is a tremendous site for the study of art and architecture and that the opportunities within the city are boundless."

This year, as part of the Getty Program grant for the Glessner House Conservation Project, GHM offered a stipend for one intern - a first for the organization. The conservation project intern is working on site at Glessner House and at Restoration Works, Inc. Restoration Works, located in Kankakee, Illinois, is the contracting company for the window and exterior door restoration at Glessner House. This internship has provided a unique opportunity for technical training in both a restoration workshop and a museum setting.

The internship program is a great example of a mutually beneficial arrangement for everyone involved. In addition to the educational experiences provided for the student, GHM receives an invaluable resource that helps our staff to undertake and complete a variety of projects that might not be accomplished on staff time alone. Every intern brings forth a wonderful educational opportunity, not only for themselves, but for those who work with them. We are very enthusiastic and committed to this program and hope to increase the intern pool each year.