CONCORD, Mass. – The Decorative Arts Trust has announced that its partner for the 2020–2022 Curatorial Internship Grant is the Concord Museum.
The Decorative Arts Trust is a nonprofit organization that underwrites curatorial internships for recent masters or doctorate graduates in collaboration with museums and historical societies. Through a matching grant program, these internships allow host organizations to hire a deserving professional who will learn about the responsibilities and duties common to the curatorial field while working alongside a talented mentor. The trust’s internship program seeks to provide mutually beneficial opportunities that will nurture the next generation of museum curators while providing essential staffing for the host.
The Concord Museum brings Concord’s remarkable past to life through an inspiring collection of historical, literary, and decorative arts treasures. Highlights of the over 50,000 artifacts include Ralph Waldo Emerson’s study, Henry David Thoreau’s desk, Louisa May Alcott’s teakettle, a Paul Revere lantern, a Paleoindian spearhead and the most complete collection of Concord clocks anywhere.
The Concord Museum is embarking on a 2½-year effort to redesign their 14 permanent galleries. Called “Concord: At the Center of Revolution,” the newly renovated 6,000-square-foot permanent exhibition is set to reimagine the museum experience. The project will begin by focusing on three galleries related to Concord’s role in the political revolution of 1775. Phase Two will focus on the Transcendentalist period leading up to the Civil War as well as four decorative arts galleries.
The curatorial intern will serve as the assistant project manager for this undertaking and will be involved will all levels of the project, including the selection of artifacts, facilitating conservation, meeting with design partners, installation, writing, editing, developing operation manuals for media elements and analyzing the visitor experience. The intern selected will work under the direction and mentorship of the Concord Museum’s curator, David Wood.
Interested scholars are encouraged to visit the Concord Museum’s website at concordmuseum.org for updates or to sign up for their email list. Also look for social media posts on the Concord Museum Facebook and Twitter pages and the Decorative Arts Trust’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
