The names of 20 Scottish museum and galleries who successfully bid to host one of twenty paid internships offered by Museums Galleries Scotland have been announced. Orkney Islands Council Arts, Museums and Heritage Service and The Pier Arts Centre have successfully secured one of these internships and the process to find a Museums and Gallery Intern has commenced.

This internship along with all the others offered by museums across the country are a fantastic opportunity for graduates to gain valuable experience helping them to develop their career path.

Museums Galleries Scotland, the organisation responsible for the strategic development of Scotland’s museums and galleries, created the Interns Programme with funding from the Heritage lottery Fund Skills for the Future scheme. The Interns Programme aims to help the industry address sustainability issues around skills sharing that could face the sector in the future and help it diversify the workforce in future. At its heart, it encourages the passing on of skills and knowledge essential for the successful management of museums and galleries. Each internship is tailored by the host organisation to play to its strengths and so provide a first-class learning opportunity.

The internship hosted by Orkney Islands Council Arts, Museums and Heritage Service and The Pier Arts Centre will provide an opportunity to explore the diverse nature of the collections while learning the established standards which all accredited museums adhere to. The intern will work with experts across both organisations to learn how to digitise artefacts, update the collections database, research, provide online information, prepare and deliver presentations and learn how museums and galleries care for objects.

Clare Gee from Orkney Islands Council said: “This is an exciting and innovative opportunity for us and we are looking forward to taking part and welcoming our intern to Orkney”.

Neil Firth, Director of the Pier Arts Centre added ‘The internship will allow the successful applicant to work within the arts, museums and heritage sector in Orkney and gain experience in the field while learning valuable skills. It provides the Pier Arts Centre and Orkney Islands Council Arts, Museums and Heritage Services the chance to develop our already successful working partnership and to forge new working relationships with the other 18 museums and galleries participating in the programme throughout Scotland.’

Jane Robinson, Head of Museums Development at Museums Galleries Scotland, said: “Although we did anticipate huge interest from the sector, we were impressed by the high quality of internships being offered by museums and galleries all across the country. The host museums have thought deeply about the learning experience that they could offer. The response demonstrates how keen the sector is to welcome young people with fresh ideas and, in exchange, experienced, long-time museums professionals being able to pass their specialist knowledge on.”

“We are just about to start recruiting the interns and we know we will receive a lot of interest from graduates. It is encouraging to know that through our work to create the Interns Programme we are opening up exciting career opportunities for 20 people across Scotland.”

Joanne Orr, Chief Executive of Museums Galleries Scotland said: “We are delighted to reach such an important stage of our Intern Programme. Knowledge and skills transfer is such an important area and there is nothing better than actually learning from an experienced person in the workplace. At Museums Galleries Scotland we believe that this type of programme is essential for the sustainability of our sector and we want to encourage more ways of working like this in the future.”

“This is as much an investment into developing Scotland’s people as it is an investment into the museums and galleries sector. The skills that our interns learn will be of great benefit to them as they continue to develop their future careers.”

Recruitment is now underway to fill the 20 internships. Internships are for one year and will commence by October 2011. For information on all the internships and how to apply visit the Museums Galleries Scotland website www.museumsgalleriesscotland.org.uk.

Source: Museums Galleries Scotland