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Access Tactile Inventory Intern – Fall 2024
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Access Department is responsible for ensuring that people of all abilities feel welcome and are able to make direct connections with the Museum’s collection and exhibitions. The Department offers internships to college students who enjoy working with people with disabilities and are interested in learning more about the intersection of art and disability.
The Access Tactile Inventory intern will serve a crucial role within the Access department, documenting and cataloging the tools used by access guides to make tours multisensory to the public. These tools, referred to as tactiles, are objects such as fabrics, sculptures, jewelry, samples of materials and others. This internship will continue the work of previous interns, exploring and documenting our collection of tactiles, creating record sheets on them, and uploading that information onto a digital database. Additionally, the intern will support the ongoing accessible programming within the Museum. This opportunity will allow you to make connections within the MFA, other museums, and the disability community in the greater Boston area.
The selected intern will work alongside and learn from experts in arts and disability, and will gain valuable customer service skills through communicating with a variety of audiences, visitors, and organizations. The intern will also gain skills in photographing objects, creating object records, and website design within a museum setting. Additionally, the selected intern will also gain skills and confidence in working with a wide range of persons with a diversity of degrees of disability, and will build a professional network of disability advocates, arts administrators, and related organizations.
The ideal candidates must be able to work onsite 20 hours per week, (within Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm parameters), from Sept 13 through Dec 13, 2024, including attendance at the Museum Pathways & Practices professional development course from 12:30-2:30pm on the following Fridays: Sept 20, Sept 27, Oct 4, Oct 11, Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, Nov 15, Nov 22, Dec 6, and Dec 13.
The selected intern will be paid at a rate of $ 16.80 per hour, and will receive a $90 per month transportation subsidy. (The subsidy is subject to taxes.)
As we amplify our efforts toward becoming a truly inclusive institution, ensuring that diversity, equity, and access are lived values, we actively encourage candidates from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to apply to the program.
Essential Functions:
- Observe access tours to see how tactiles are used
- Photograph tactiles
- Fill out condition reports
- Upload documentation onto website
- Produce short presentation on experience
Secondary Functions:
- Assisting access team with small digital research projects
- Organize assistive technology and equipment such as wheelchairs and assistive listening devices
Qualifications
- Enrolled in an undergraduate program concurrent with the internship period
- Demonstrated interested in accessibility-related practices
- Proven ability to work as part of a team as well as independently
- Proven ability to interact easily and successfully with the disability community
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment and take initiative
- Ability to set realistic project deadlines and work independently to meet them
- Ability to commit about 20 hours per week on site (within Monday through Friday, 9am-5pm parameters), from Sept 13 through Dec 13, 2024, including attendance at the Museum Pathways & Practices professional development course from 12:30-2:30pm on the following Fridays: Sept 20, Sept 27, Oct 4, Oct 11, Oct 18, Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8, Nov 15, Nov 22, Dec 6, and Dec 13
- Ability to attend orientation on Fri, Sept 13, 2024, 10am to 3:30pm.
How to Apply
- Combine your cover letter and resume into asingle document, (Word or PDF). The cover letter must include all of the following:
- the title of the internship for which you are applying (one internship per application)
- how the named internship fits into your academic and/or career goals
- why your specific skills/experience/interests qualify you for the internship
- any periods when you are not available for an in-person interview
- your contact information including e-mail and daytime phone
- *do not include additional documents unless specifically requested within the description
- Upload the single document as your resume via the ADP portal Internships | Museum of Fine Arts, Boston ASAP before Aug 16.
- Do not include any additional documents unless explicitly requested in the description.
- Candidates may apply for no more than two internships per season, and must submit a separate cover letter/resume document is required for each position.
**Direct any/all questions to: intern@mfa.org before submitting your application. Applications not conforming to these guidelines may be deemed ineligible.
