Documentary Production Remote Intern, Museum Association of New York
Documentary Production Remote Intern
The Museum Association of New York (MANY) is seeking an intern from a graduate program in the arts, museum studies, digital humanities, film studies, or public history to help produce a video documentary about the virtual programs MANY produced between March and August, 2020. The goal of the project is to share the ways in which NY’s museums responded to our national health and economic crises, to tell the story of museum professionals coming together and sharing expertise, and to model the peer to peer learning for future museum leaders. This internship may be entirely virtual.
Background
Following Governor Cuomo’s New York on Pause executive order issued on March 20th, MANY brought museums and museum professionals together in 13 Virtual Meet-Ups to share resources and ideas, offer support, and hold space for open dialog while fighting a crisis that threatens our lives and the museum field. These programs proved critical to keeping the museum community informed as CARES Act funding came available through the PPP and EIDL programs and through federal funding agencies including the NEA, NEH, and IMLS. Professionals from all museum sizes, types, and disciplines – from NY and 10 other states, came together virtually to learn and share plans to ensure the safety of staff and visitors alike, and provide engaging museum experiences for visitors of all abilities despite the necessary changes to the spaces and offerings.
In over 20 hours of footage, members of MANY’s board of directors, MANY’s Executive Director and invited guests discussed the state of museums amid the pandemic, data from COVID-19 impact surveys, technological challenges, virtual programming, CARES Act funding, and social media engagement. Industry professionals discussed fostering inclusive workplace environments as well as mental health and strategies for supporting staff while working remotely and through uncertainty. Staff from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum shared their experience and expertise in rapid response collecting to help museums and historical societies collect and record community experiences through the pandemic and extended protests against police brutality and systemic racism.
Click here to learn more about MANY’s COVID-19 response and the Virtual Meet-Ups. Click here to learn more about MANY’s staff who will be supervising the intern.
The ideal graduate student will be a talented storyteller, critical thinker; someone interested in and familiar with museums, art, history, and culture and skilled in Adobe Premiere Pro.
MANY will offer an honorarium of $500 upon project completion.
Expectations:
The intern will identify and tell the story of NYS museums responses to the pandemic, highlighting the creative and innovative ways in which our state’s museum professionals responded to the rapid and extended closures under the Governor’s NY on Pause Executive Order. The intern will watch each of the Virtual Meet Up recordings (more than 20 hours), create a log of selections, and work with MANY staff to combine footage and create a teaser video, and a longer (20-30 min) video that will distill and make more accessible the most crucial information from the Virtual Meet Up Archive and highlight MANY’s role in the state’s museum community response.
The intern will work remotely with regular virtual meetings and draft reviews with MANY staff. The intern is expected to become familiar with MANY and the state of the museum field in NY and the nation the wake of the pandemic.
Project Timing:
We estimate the project will take 100 hours. The work will take place between September 21 and December 11, 2020
Required:
- Graduate student in the arts, communications, museum studies, history, social science fields or related field who will receive course credit for their work.
- Experienced and comfortable with Adobe Premiere Pro
- Access to hi-speed internet and file sharing services
- Great time management skills, ability to work with deadlines
- Collaborative and team oriented, able to work independently and without direct supervision
- Thoughtful, creative, and a critical thinker
- Detail-oriented
Preferred:
- Experience in a museum or art/history organization
- Familiarity with New York State’s museum community
To apply send resume, cover letter and sample video to: hdesmeules@nysmuseums.org on or before September 8, 2020.