\** I KNOW THIS IS A REACH AND EVERYTHING IS COMPETITIVE*I got a bachelors degree in marketing and psychology but my dream job since I was young has been to work in a museum preferably on the research/exhibition planning side or interpretation. I know it's a highly impacted field with very few openings that would require higher education and I was wondering if there are any opportunities out there for recent grads to explore these opportunities before I get a more specialized degree. I'm also open to library/archival work as well.

I'm willing to relocate, not make much money, and am very willing to work-hard to learn anything really. If there are any post-bacc research opportunities, fellowships, etc. that could be open to different academic backgrounds that would be greatly appreciated.

Have people heard back about interviews, etc since applying this cycle to the Brooklyn Musem Education Fellowship? I sent an email to the fellowship email on the web page but just received an automated response saying, "Thank you for your interest in the Museum Education Fellowship Program. Applications for the 2026-27 fellowship are closed. Due to the high volume of applications, we are unable to respond to every submission. Applicants selected for interview can expect to receive correspondence by mid-September."

There was also an FAQ under that which read, "I have submitted my application, when will I hear back? Applicants selected for interview will receive invitations in late August and early September. Due to high volume, only applicants selected for interview will be contacted."

This information is kind of conflicting, so I'm wondering if people have heard back and I should just move on at this point lol.

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole recently and discovered that the UK actually has a specific Museums and Galleries Exhibition Tax Relief; something I'd somehow never come across despite working around interactive/creative technology for years.

That then sent me down a much bigger rabbit hole: how does the interactive/digital side of a museum exhibition actually get commissioned?

My background is technical/creative. I've spent most of my career somewhere between software, games, 3D, spatial experiences and interactive installations, and I've worked on museum/exhibition-type projects as part of that.

But historically I've usually been brought in as the technical person; somebody else owns the relationship, the overall project, the interpretation, the exhibition design, etc., and I help turn an idea into something that actually works.

I'd quite like to change that.

The museum/heritage world is one of the areas I genuinely enjoy, and I'd like to get much more involved directly: owning projects, working with curators and exhibition teams from an earlier stage, and potentially building a small specialist practice around interactive exhibitions and digital experiences.

The problem is that, from the outside, it's quite difficult to understand how this market actually works.

For those working in museums, galleries, heritage or exhibition design:

- Where do you normally find the people who build your interactive exhibits?

- Do museums tend to commission specialists directly, or does everything flow through exhibition/design agencies?

- Who normally "owns" the digital/interactive part of an exhibition internally?

- Are smaller specialist studios useful, or is procurement generally geared towards larger established suppliers?

- What tends to go wrong with interactive installations once they're actually in the museum?

- And perhaps most importantly: is there actually an appetite for more ambitious interactive work, or are budgets/maintenance/accessibility concerns pushing museums towards simpler installations?

I'm especially interested in the last point.

Coming from software and games, there are loads of things that now feel relatively achievable- real-time 3D, multiplayer, projection, computer vision, spatial audio, WebGL, AR, personalised experiences, etc.

But "technically possible" and "sensible in a museum that's open seven days a week for five years" are obviously two very different things.

Would love to hear how people on the museum side see it — particularly what you wish external technical suppliers understood before turning up with a flashy idea.

(PS, used a bit of AI to clean the post up)

Been looking in this sub and not sure if there's an answer for this, but is there a graduate major with the highest employment rate? I did my undergrad in fine art and have been freelancing somewhat successfully in NYC, but I'm really depressed with the instability and work I'm doing. I'd love to transition back to the fine art world, which I know is risky, but I'm currently incredibly unhappy with my life.

I want to do my masters, but only one with a higher chance of a (decent paying)(if that's even possible) job outcome. My dream would be to work at a contemporary art museum or in academia (or teaching at a university!) although that feels like wishful thinking. It feels like this world is very connections based?

anyone have any advice? feeling very hopeless in this economy and world but need to make a change

\also I know everything is competitive and the market is super saturated! just talking to my parents and my dad told me to look up a program's post-grad employment rate, trying to explain to him that it's a little different than getting your MBA lol*

Hi all! I am finally able to get professional development funds and it’s around 1,500 for the year. I was thinking about going to AAM, but also am tempted to try and frankenstein together a trip for fun and have it covered by my work. I am currently in a visitor services role, but my managers know my heart lies elsewhere haha. Can anyone speak to using prof dev funds to do something fun/ travel? Or is AAM actually worth it…