Internship Opportunities
Florence Arts and Museums offers internships at all four locations.
Internships are opportunities for high school, undergraduate, and graduate students to gain meaningful work experience, develop new skills, and explore career options in a professional museum setting.
Past Florence Arts and Museums interns have worked to catalog and digitize items in collections; work on creating inventories of collections; assist with archaeological excavations; assist with promotional materials and media campaigns; developed virtual tours, and assisted with programs.
Internship Listings
Collections Internship
The Collections Internship is designed to introduce students to the different aspects of collections management, preservation, and inventory procedures. Responsibilities may include:
Archival organization
Cataloging of records and materials
Collections digitization
Inventory record creation
Collections preservation
Collections research
Students will work closely with the site director or director for the duration of their internship.
Digital History Internship
The Digital History internship is designed to introduce students to digital history, research, and content creation. Students will work on a project at one of the four Florence Arts and Museums’ sites to add to existing physical content or to increase accessibility. Responsibilities may include:
Archival research
Exhibit label writing
Transcribing
Translation
Digital tour creation
Students will work closely with a member of the FAM staff to develop their project.
Archaeology Internship
The Archaeology Internship is designed to introduce students to basic concepts of archaeology through hands-on experience. This internship will take place at Pope’s Tavern, and responsibilities may include:
Artifact cleaning and sorting
Artifact cataloging
Mapping
Sketching
Graphing
Assisting with excavations
Assisting with field trips and programs related to archaeology
Museum Administration Internship
The Museum Administration Internship is designed to introduce students to the basics of museum and historic site interpretation and management. It is offered at the Indian Mound Museum, the FLW Rosenbaum House, and Pope’s Tavern Museum. Responsibilities may include:
Leading tours of the site
Answering questions about the site
Taking admission and selling gift shop items
Working to fulfill the tasks on the site’s Integrated Management Plan
Assisting with field trips and program
Students will work closely with the site director during this internship.
Communications Internship
The Communications Internship is designed to introduce students to basic media creation, marketing, and promotion. It is offered at all four sites, and responsibilities include:
Social Media content creation
Website updates
Video updates
Graphic design
Photography
Data entry and analysis
Survey design
Program Assistant Internship
The Program Assistant internship will introduce students to museum and historic site education and programs. Students will work with the Museum Educator and Program Specialist to create and implement a variety of educational programs at one or more of the Florence Arts and Museums’ sites. Responsibilities include:
Field trip and program assistance
Lesson plan design and development
Activity design
Program design
Other
If you have an internship idea not listed here that fits the mission, vision, and operational capacity of Florence Arts and Museums, please discuss with the Director.
Scholarship Information
The Dick and Libby Jordan Scholarship Program
This scholarship was created to honor the legacy of William D. (Dick) and Libby Jordan, who dedicated much of their lives to supporting and advocating for arts and cultural institutions in the City of Florence, Alabama. Dick Jordan served as a member of the Florence City Council for over forty years and was a strong advocate for the creation of the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts. He worked to support the restoration and maintenance of many of the city’s cultural institutions, including the Florence-Lauderdale Public Library, the Rosenbaum House, the W.C. Handy Museum, and the Florence Indian Mound Museum. Libby Jordan, Dick’s wife, was instrumental in the restoration and early operation of the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Rosenbaum House. She helped to design the new Florence Indian Mound Museum, which opened in 2017, and also oversaw many renovations at Pope’s Tavern Museum, including the award-winning Slavery and Cotton in the Shoals exhibit. As Director of Arts and Museums, Libby paved the way for future generations of art and cultural enthusiasts.
The Dick and Libby Jordan Scholarship will be awarded annually to an eligible Florence Arts & Museums Internship applicant who best exemplifies their shared attributes of civic engagement and dedication.
Purpose:
The purpose of this scholarship is to provide compensation for an internship within one of Florence Arts and Museums’ four facilities. The purpose of the internship is to create opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students to gain meaningful work experience, develop new skills, and explore career options in a professional museum setting.
Eligibility:
This scholarship is available to eligible internship applicants who are enrolled as juniors or seniors in undergraduate programs, or graduate level classes at an accredited institution of higher learning.
Scope:
This scholarship will provide compensation for the duration of one internship, to last up to six months. Students are required to work 12 hours per week for the duration of the internship.
Internship options:
This scholarship may be applied to any currently available internship opportunity at Florence Arts and Museums.
Process:
Interested students must first fill out an Internship Application AND a Scholarship Application, both available on our website. Deadlines for both applications are: December 1 and July 1. Applications will be reviewed and applicants will be invited for interviews the week following the deadline.
Make an impact today
Help us continue to enrich education while honoring the lifetime of contributions made by both Dick and Libby Jordan. Support this Scholarship Program by donating today.