Art Curatorship Internships General Information

Art Curatorship Masters or Graduate Diploma students who have commenced in or since Semester 1 2010 must undertake two internship units – first ARHT6923, then ARHT6942. We advise you not to enroll in the first internship unit in the first semester of your course, unless you are completing your course in one year, full time. In this case, we advise you to take one internship per semester.

The internship aims to:

• broaden students' skills, expertise and experience in museum/gallery work.
• enable students to explore how specific areas of museum/gallery practice fit into the larger institutional infrastructure in order to expand students' understanding of museum work.
• develop an understanding of the relationship between museum/gallery theory and institutional practice and to explore current debates in a chosen area of museum work.
• develop awareness, understanding and critical appreciation of museum/gallery culture.

Our internships:

• are an integral and compulsory part of our Graduate Diploma and Master of Arts degrees.
• are supervised by museum/gallery professionals
• 20 days long
• are undertaken at different rates. For example, for a 20-day internship, one student might work 5 days a week for 4 weeks straight; another might work 2 days a week for 10 weeks. You are free to make any arrangements that are convenient to you and your workplace supervisor, provided that twenty, 7-hour days are completed and there is no conflict with class room sessions
• Take place in Australian and international institutions that vary widely in size, collection type and museology
• Are established by you in an institution of your choice, with the assistance of the Internship Officer,
• Are project-based; allowing you to gain real support for finite or ongoing projects or for the development of new projects, and allowing students to become involved in work that has an identifiable outcome.
• Usually involve one or a small number of projects in an area of museum work – for example, registration, education, exhibitions etc. However, especially in smaller museums, internships have involved projects across a number of such areas.
• require you to prepare written assessments and to make a presentation

Early in the semester in which you are enrolled, you will be notified of a compulsory internship information session which will cover the various processes and requirements of the internship. You must not approach an institution for an internship until you have attended one of these sessions or have met with the Internship Officer, to discuss your application plans.

If you are pre-enrolled in an internship unit and are seeking to commence a placement before the information session, you can contact:
Jane Johnston
Phone: 02 9036 6544
Email:

Information Sessions

It is compulsory to attend an internship information session at the beginning of the semester in which you are enrolled in an internship unit. This session will outline the requirements and processes of the internship, including the process of obtaining an internship and the assessments.

In Semester 1 2013 the information session will be on Friday 15 March from 4.45 to 6.30pm. Early in the semester, students who are enrolled in an internship unit will be notified of further details of this session by email. If you plan to undertake an internship unit in S2 2012 and would like to attend the session for early information, you would be most welcome. Please email Jane Johnston for the session details.

You must not apply to institutions for an internship until you have attended this information session, or have met with the Internship Officer, Jane Johnston, to discuss your intended application.

Presentation Sessions

A 10 minute oral presentation followed by a 5 minute question time is an assessment for each internship. Presentation sessions are usually held at least twice a semester, usually in the afternoons from 4.00pm.

Students are expected to attend one or more sessions, at least one before the session when they will present – to learn more about the work that happens in art museums, galleries and related institutions, and to build ideas for their own internships and presentations.

The next presentation sessions will be on 26 & 27 February. Art Curatorship students will be advised of the session details by email beforehand.

Students present at the first set of sessions after the end of their placement.