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30 October 2007 - 31 October 2009

The gallery launched its Painting Conservation Internship programme in 2007.  Each internship begins in October and runs for twelve months, providing recent graduates of recognised conservation programmes with an outstanding professional development opportunity.  Interns are assigned specific projects determined by the gallery’s objectives for a given year.  They also have opportunities to participate in the wide variety of conservation activities associated with the gallery’s ambitious loans and exhibitions programmes.

Most recently, interns have carried out a conservation audit of the Permanent Collection, assessing the media, techniques and condition of each painting.  They have also helped to design a conservation database, integrated with the gallery’s main collections management system in which to store data from the audit.  Interns have had the opportunity to carry out diverse conservation treatments and to gain experience of the preparations for artworks travelling abroad, including different methods of packing and transporting, and acting as a courier for artworks in transit.

Since the launch of the programme, the Heritage Council has assisted the gallery in funding the internships, and its support is gratefully acknowledged.  The gallery is delighted to announce that the 2008-2009 internship has been awarded to Sarah Maisey, a graduate of the University of Northumbria, UK.

Please note that advertisements for the 2009-2010 internship will be placed in the summer of 2009.