The National Gallery Curatorial Traineeship Programme: Call for Museum Partners

The National Gallery is looking for regional partners to help train the next generation of curators, with a particular commitment to increasing diversity of the museum workforce.

Since 2013, the National Gallery has offered a training programme for future curators in partnership with regional museums and galleries. Previous Trainees are well established in the sector in roles ranging from Assistant Curator to Assistant Keeper.

With support from Art Fund and the assistance of the Vivmar Foundation, the National Gallery is able to offer two further fully funded Curatorial Traineeships. These will run for 22 months from autumn 2019 to summer 2021. Supported by the National Gallery, two partner museums will each provide one Curatorial Trainee with the opportunity to be based at their site for 16 months. During this time, each Trainee will work on a project that sheds new light on the paintings within the partner museum’s collection.

Objectives

The Curatorial Traineeship Programme aims to develop a range of skills expected from the curatorial workforce today and forms part of the National Gallery’s commitment to nationwide engagement as formulated in the Strategic Plan 2018-2023 (IV: ‘A National Gallery for All’). These aims are:

To collaborate nationally;
To share expertise as widely as possible;
To enhance the curatorial capacity for the future and
To contribute to the diversity of the UK museum workforce.

The partner museums

Applications are now invited from regional museums and galleries in the UK to partner with the National Gallery in delivering the Curatorial Traineeship Programme. The Programme intends to create new pathways into a curatorial career for those currently underrepresented in the museum workforce. We are therefore seeking partners who will actively support our efforts to promote the Programme to the widest possible range of applicants.

Museum applicants will propose a project based around European paintings (before 1900) in their collections. Projects must have one or more clearly defined public outcomes. This may include new interpretation, a (re-)display or exhibition, a publication, digital content, a public programme, a new event, a workshop with a particular community group, or a combination of some or all of these activities. Proposals linking historic and contemporary art are also welcome. The National Gallery is open to working more closely with partners to develop outcomes together, should this be desired.

How to apply

See further information, including the envisaged delivery time scale

Download The Museum Partner Application Form

Deadline

The Museum Partner Application Form should be submitted by 5pm on Tuesday 7 May 2019.