The Difficulties of Becoming an Adult

Interior of the British Museum

For the past five years, my career dream has been to work in a museum or some kind of arts center, cultural institution, etc. I was inspired by the British Museum in London and the rest of the cultural gems I experienced during my month-long European travels the summer after high school graduation.  I graduated with my BA in Art (Art History) this past May and have been sending out cover letters and resumes left and right. But of course, in this economy, jobs aren't the easiest to come by, especially in museums and non-profit institutions since museum-going is an "extra", a luxury that easily slips by the wayside in tough times. While I know I'm very lucky to even have my part time job that supports me well enough, I want to start in on my career. Unfortunately, living in a place with a more dismal museum scene (the Met being closed, the local art museum with no curatorial staff, art galleries open only 4-5 hours on weekends only, etc) hasn't afforded me much opportunity in the way of experience.

I figured this out a long time ago so I do have a back up plan: if I am unable to start my career in a museum in the next ten months, year or so, I will enter a graduate program next Fall 2011 in museum studies. I already have my research and spreadsheets all set up, with University of Washington-Seattle's two year museum studies MA program and John F. Kennedy University's three year joint museum studies MA/Masters of Business Administration program being my top choices. (On a related note, if I do end up getting a job, I'd probably still enroll part time in a museum studies graduate program, with several schools like the University of Leicester and John Hopkins University offering online graduate programs.)

The Crocker Art Museum and its new addition designed by HMR Architects, Inc.

Even having a back up plan doesn't soften the blow too much when your heart is really set on something. I sent out a bunch of resumes and wonderful cover letters and got nothing back. I mostly expected it but I started to really hope for an assistant position at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento. It would've been perfect - it's a fabulous museum in a wonderful smaller town (I'm not a big city girl...I like the suburbs lol) very similar to home; it's only a 2-3 hour drive from home; the weather is beautiful; it'd be a great place to raise a family, etc, etc. But of course, I didn't get the position, which has landed me in the funk I'm in tonight. It just frustrates me to no end that even entry level jobs want you to have 3-5 years of experience - very difficult. But I'll be back on the positive train again soon enough - despite these rejections, 2010 is still the fantastic year I expected it to be and it'll only get better with the wedding and honeymoon in 6 weeks =). I do love my life and I hope to find a job that I can love just as much.