The Fan Museum
So, yesterday was my visit to the Fan Museum in Greenwich, to chat to them about volunteering there.
It was a fascinating place to visit. It is a very grand little museum - it feels a bit like a rather aristocratic home rather than a museum, with ornate brocade couches for visitors to sit on, and amazing regency style print wallpaper everywhere. The owner of the museum - Mrs Alexander - is a lovely, but grand lady with a grey beehive, and a terribly cut glass accent. It is also very smart - if I volunteer there I think I'm going to need some new clothes!
It went well - essentially they are interested in me working for them. Unfortunately they are closed on Mondays, and I am in college on Wednesday - Friday. They are, however, going to chat to the girl who volunteers on Tuesday to find out whether she can move to Thursday, at which point I can volunteer on Tuesdays in her place. It would be mostly front of house museum work - greeting visitors, doing occasional tours - and it would be unpaid, but it would be museum work. More importantly, they are also looking for someone to work occasional weekends, which they do pay for, and they are interested in my working as an assistant to their conservator on any commissions they get in (they apparently do a lot of fan conservation and restoration for individuals and other institutions) and they will pay me for that.
So, potentially yay! We'll see how the scheduling works for both of the latter jobs, and I've still got to wait and see whether the current Tuesday volunteer is able to switch days. I've got my fingers crossed.
It was a fascinating place to visit. It is a very grand little museum - it feels a bit like a rather aristocratic home rather than a museum, with ornate brocade couches for visitors to sit on, and amazing regency style print wallpaper everywhere. The owner of the museum - Mrs Alexander - is a lovely, but grand lady with a grey beehive, and a terribly cut glass accent. It is also very smart - if I volunteer there I think I'm going to need some new clothes!
It went well - essentially they are interested in me working for them. Unfortunately they are closed on Mondays, and I am in college on Wednesday - Friday. They are, however, going to chat to the girl who volunteers on Tuesday to find out whether she can move to Thursday, at which point I can volunteer on Tuesdays in her place. It would be mostly front of house museum work - greeting visitors, doing occasional tours - and it would be unpaid, but it would be museum work. More importantly, they are also looking for someone to work occasional weekends, which they do pay for, and they are interested in my working as an assistant to their conservator on any commissions they get in (they apparently do a lot of fan conservation and restoration for individuals and other institutions) and they will pay me for that.
So, potentially yay! We'll see how the scheduling works for both of the latter jobs, and I've still got to wait and see whether the current Tuesday volunteer is able to switch days. I've got my fingers crossed.