Conservation Intern
Schedule: Full Time, 35 hours/week
Duration: Monday, June 5th, 2023 – Friday, August 11th, 2023
Pay Rate: $7,500 stipend (pre-tax, one time payment)
Position Description
This internship will serve as an introduction to the field of contemporary art conservation and provide the intern an opportunity to experience typical collection care museum activities. The intern will have an opportunity to work with staff conservators in five disciplines: objects, paintings, paper, photography, and time-based media. Their primary responsibilities will include assisting in gallery and outdoor sculpture maintenance and archiving digital files. Additional activities will be determined on summer programming, but will likely include participating in hands-on, in-house workshops. The ideal candidate will have a strong interest in pursuing a career in collection care/conservation.
Project Plan
The 10-week internship will include two primary projects: gallery maintenance and digital archiving. The primary projects will take ~3 days/week and be supplemented by 2 days of additional activities, including participating in ongoing departmental activities and workshops, SFMOMA People team intern programming, and organizing the Artist Material Collection.
- Gallery Maintenance: Holistic collection care includes many activities across the preventive conservation to restoration spectrum. Critical to up-keeping a museum collection is regularly reviewing and cleaning artworks that are on display. The Summer Intern will assist the Asst. Objects Conservator for 1.5 days/week while the museum is closed to the public to survey collection items on view, checking for any changes, and cleaning as needed. From this activity, the Intern will grow their observational skills and learn different types of cleaning protocols and tools.
- Digital Archiving: The conservation department is in the process of re-organizing and migrating our artist folders. The Summer Intern will work with Associate Media Conservator for 1-2 days/week. From this activity, the intern will develop their understanding of conservation documentation workflows and basic digital archiving practices.
- By the end of the 10-week internship, the intern should ideally have:
- Confidence to independently executing gallery maintenance
- General understanding of conservation documentation workflow
- Completed one activity with each conservation discipline
- Exposure to museum conservation activities
For more information about this internship opportunity and to apply, please click on "Apply Externally" link.