Students can strike a chord in the professional world with new internship opportunities through Phoenix’s Musical Instrument Museum.
The museum, near Tatum and Mayo boulevards in north Phoenix, will hire student interns in four departments: development, education, exhibit design and volunteer and events.
The museum opened in April and plays host to more than 12,000 different instruments from all over the world. The museum also showcases a concert series with faculty from the ASU School of Music and co-sponsors a string quartet residency program at ASU.
“The whole MIM project is a unique opportunity to be involved in,” said Brian Dredla, the museum internship coordinator. “Any intern, especially one this fall, will understand that there are new exciting projects and lots of things going on.”
Four interns have already been selected for this semester and will begin working the second week of school, he said.
“We had students applying from many of ASU’s degree programs, such as museum studies, history, education, art history and graphic design,” Dredla said.
The only hard and fast rule is that applicants must currently be students, Dredla said.
Dredla said he hopes to expand the internship program in future semesters to include departments like marketing, music theater, registrations, conservations and curatorial.
Susan Simmerman, assistant director for experiential education at ASU, worked with Dredla in the early stages of the internship to establish certain requirements and guidelines that must be met.
“I advised Brian to include specific details when posting internship descriptions, as students tend to be more interested in internships that include examples of specific projects they may work on,” Simmerman said.
As a liaison in promoting internship opportunities between businesses and ASU, Simmerman also helped Dredla establish monetary compensation for the students’ work.
Students participating in the program can earn credit for their involvement with the museum, Dredla said, and will also receive minimum wage.
“We wanted to be able to offer credit to students who have internships as part of their degree requirements,” Dredla said.
Students interested in the education aspect will learn how museum education programs enhance the experience for guests, Dredla said.
“The education intern will assist in an array of projects from helping to catalog the instruments in the MIM’s Experience Gallery to preparing presentations for children and adults throughout the museum,” he said.
Exhibit design interns will assist the department team on various projects, like building a model of the MIM’s Artist Gallery. Students in the development program will research information on donor prospects and work on a variety of fundraising projects, Dredla said.
The volunteer and events intern will work with the department team on event planning, volunteer programs and on-site special events, he said.
“We are excited about these internships and want students to have a great experience here and spread the word to their friends and fellow students,” Dredla said. “We would like to give as many students as possible the opportunity to work with us as interns.”
The students will be working primarily with personnel in their specific department, but will report to the head of the department, as well as have assessments throughout the program.
As the museum collection continues to grow, the MIM is quickly becoming a significant addition to the worldwide community of museums, said MIM spokesman Alan di Perna.
“The Musical Instrument Museum and Arizona State University share a common goal of educating the public about the arts and world cultures,” he said. “We are honored to have them partner with us.”
Dredla expects new spring internships to be posted mid-semester on the MIM website.
Reach the reporter at amoswalt@asu.edu
