Communications and Marketing

Communications and Marketing Department Goals
The goals of The Textile Museum’s Communications and Marketing Department include: increasing Museum attendance and membership by creating international, national, regional and local awareness and intent to visit by a broad spectrum of audiences; raising the Museum’s profile to build public awareness and support in the Washington, DC metropolitan area; and communicating key Museum messages to TM members and other audiences locally and nationally.

Duties
Intern duties include: assisting with the development of media and promotional materials, assisting with press mailings, organizing archive materials and press clippings, updating media lists, and other tasks related to museum communications.

• Must be interested in museum or arts work and commit to two (2) days or 16 hours per week.
• Excellent communication skills (oral and written) required. Experience with Adobe Photoshop, InDesign and Dreamweaver helpful.
  

Internships are on a volunteer basis, but we will help students arrange course credit.

To Apply
Submit a cover letter, resume and writing sample to Annie Laurie Sánchez at
asanchez@textilemuseum.org.

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Internship Goals

• To become familiar with the organization and procedures of conservation
  • Documentation
    • Condition report
    • Treatment report
  • Basic treatment (e.g.: sewing a Velcro band, passive mount, custom padded hanger)
  • Familiarize with various archival materials
  • Budget planning
• To become familiar with preparing textiles for exhibition
  • Decision-making criteria for selecting textiles for display and appropriate mounting methods
  • Gain experience with various mounting methods
• To become familiar with the work and organization of a conservation lab
• To become experienced with interdisciplinary teamwork

Qualifications

• In order for the candidate to be integrated into The TM’s work, the candidate is required to have work experience with a textile collection in the following areas: storage (knowledge of basic storage techniques), preparation of textiles for exhibition, condition reporting and basic treatment (knowledge of basic stitching techniques)
• Interest in conservation, particularly at this stage in preventive conservation and basic treatment
• Hand skills
• Meticulous and detail oriented
• Ability to manage long and short term projects

As a policy, The TM only accepts interns under specified conditions. These include:

• Graduates from a two year recognized conservation program or those in an internship period of a 4 year conservation program.
• Special circumstances would permit internship to full time employees, working in collection management, with a minimum of 4 years experience. (e.g.: collection manager, museum technician). 

Duration: Between 2 to 6 months

To Apply
Please send a cover letter (which should include information about your availability and names of 2 references) with your resume to emethe@textilemuseum.org.

The primary objective of the Eastern Hemisphere Curatorial Department is to ensure the strength of The Textile Museum's collections for the diffusion of knowledge. We strive to realize this objective through the processes of accession, collections documentation, and research, as well as the dissemination of information by means of exhibitions, publications, lectures, public programming, and addressing public inquiries. Our goals are to contribute both to the development of a field of scholarship and to the broadening of public awareness and understanding based on a fund of knowledge, which relies upon research and the collections.

The Collections Management Department strives to maintain the integrity of the collection.  This involves a great deal of behind the scenes  work, including incoming object processing, location control, label sewing, database management, registration photography, and pest management/environmental monitoring.  We collaborate a great deal with the Curatorial, Conservation and Facilities Departments to ensure that each object individually and the collection as a whole gets the care it needs.

Click here for an application.

The goals of the Development and Membership Department are: to support museum activities through the cultivation of potential and longstanding donors (e.g. individuals, foundations and corporations); to provide stewardship to the Board of Trustees, Advisory Council and major donors; to enhance the museum membership program through benefits, events, member services, and outreach to our local, national and international members; and to increase museum revenue through the acquisition of new members, active fundraising, and annual solicitations.

Internship Projects
An intern within the Development and Membership Department must be have excellent communication skills, be personable and project-oriented, and maintain a high level of professionalism. Experience with MS Office is a must, while Raiser’s Edge experience is a plus. Interns can expect to:

• Aid in the compilation and submission of grant proposals and final reports
• Assist in regular membership mailings and major direct mail acquisitions
• Learn Raiser’s Edge through gift processing, updating records and recording donor information
• Provide planning support for member and donor events such as exhibition opening receptions, including (but not limited to) managing invitation lists, working with caterers, vendors and sponsors, processing reservations and donations, and coordinating follow-up
• Follow through with other duties related to Development and Membership

Click here for an application.

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We wish to extend a warm welcome to prospective interns in The Textile Museum’s Education Department.  Our goal is to provide meaningful learning experiences that inspire our visitors to make connections between the textile arts and their own lives.

Interning is a wonderful way to learn new skills, or share and use talents which are specialized. Interns are requested to commit to a minimum of three months time to the activity because of the time commitment invested by the Museum in the training of each individual.

Click here for an application.

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The Arthur D. Jenkins Library of Textile Arts is an outstanding collection of textile scholarship.  Literature and visual materials explore the history of ethnographic textiles, rugs and costume from non-European cultures, as well as art history, textile techniques and ethnographic studies.

Students are encouraged to enroll in unpaid internships in the Library in order to learn about the functioning of a museum library, how it fits into the museum as a whole, the issues that are encountered in a special library, and the varied work performed in a one person library.

Library materials are beautiful and informative.  Interns are encouraged to explore and enjoy them as they work.  Projects of special interest to the intern and those that contribute to their formal education can be undertaken as well as day to day work that contributes to the functioning of the Library.

Students whose education focuses on textiles, costume, fiber arts, information science or museum studies will find an internship in the Library a valuable experience.  Because of the Library’s wealth of visual material from the world’s cultures, students of art and design are encouraged to apply.

Internships are usually one semester or an entire summer in length.

Click here for an application.

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