Internships, volunteering and the problems of free labour in the arts:
Before I start, I have to acknowledge that there are many positives to volunteering, obviously! It can be an incredible contribution to society with numerous rewards for the individual. What I would like to talk about here is volunteering in the arts as a replacement for employment.
During my BA I volunteered at a number of galleries and, with the exception of one, I found I was generally clicking people in, making tea and cleaning the kitchen. No points for valuable experience at all, although I should point out it was a while ago now! They never worked out very well either as I was doing a degree, working up to 30 hours a week in two part time jobs, and they wanted people to work every Saturday and who would be at each opening. Not really possible for me! Since then I have been quite suspicious of and annoyed by volunteers being used as staff, not to mention the fact that I have never been in a position (financially) to take advantage of such things.
During the CCS meeting at Manchester I was very interested to hear what others had to say when it came to this point in the document. It confirmed my fears when the Curator from Manchester Art Gallery said she saw many problems in the system, but that their gallery would use free labour, beacause it could. She was quite sympathetic with the plight of people trying to find careers in the arts and said that they observed mainly middle-class white, female graduates volunteering – the people that (in Museums at least) end up forming the main part of the staff. She also said that because of the sheer number and quality of applicants for jobs at the gallery, people they employed for entry-level jobs were actually on their second or third job. This seems to suggest that there are not only too many artists, but perhaps also too many curators, administrators and managers for the work available.
I am not questioning the quality of internships that already exist out there – I already commented on Andrew Bryant's very positive experience at Tate and I also remember being very taken by the programme at Collective when I was graduating – but I am saying that they are simply impossible for lots of people. There also seems to be an unspoken tradition that it is difficult to get employment in institutions without putting in the free hours first.
An alternative to volunteering? It will always exist, but how about properly organised, valuable and PAID internships that are similar to apprenticeships or CPD training. Perhaps museums and galleries could also agree to abide by certain terms? There has to be enough provision for people to live and not get into debt by taking part, and previous experience volunteering should not be a significant factor in choosing from applicants.
