Internships
University of Chicago undergraduate and graduate students gain direct experience in museum work through year- and summer-long internships in a variety of areas, including our curatorial, registration, education, marketing, and business offices. Qualifications vary by department; all positions are paid and require approximately 10–19 hours of work each week during the academic year with full-time positions often available during the summer.
CURATORIAL INTERN
This position will be focused on curatorial research supporting the Associate Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art and the Assistant Curator for Academic Initiatives in preparation for two exhibitions opening this Fall 2020: Claudia Wieser: Generations and a Permanent Collection Exhibition (title tbd). Duties will include, but are not limited to, managing exhibition checklists, timelines, floorplans, and interpretive materials, while conducting research into objects in the Smart Museum’s permanent collection as well as into the artistic practice of Claudia Wieser.
SMART MUSEUM DEVELOPMENT INTERN
Working with the Smart Museum’s Grant Writer, the Development Intern would help support the Museum’s fundraising and stewardship activities.
PUBLIC ART INTERN
Working closely with the Curator of Public Art, the intern will focus on three core projects: a research project, an exhibition project, and a revamp of the public art website. Art historical research will begin this summer on a major Ruth Duckworth book and exhibition. (Duckworth taught at UC during the late 1960s and 1970s and made a prominent public art work on campus in 1968.) A temporary exhibition project planned for December 2020 – January 2021 will be in a lively phase of production. And, finally, the website will receive a thorough going-over, its content updated and edited for consistency.
PUBLIC PRACTICE INTERN
The student intern will be a vital member of the Public Practice team to support projects across the museum, focusing intensively to support teen engagement. Teen programming at the Smart Museum provides multivalent opportunities for South Side youth to access their lived experience, step into their creative brilliance, and contribute to civic dialogue through artful expression. The intern will support our flagship program, produced in partnership with Chicago Housing Authority, where teen participants pursue ambitious real-world, human-centered design projects that will impact the larger community. The work will span sites across campus and the South Side, working on an ambitious multi-year project centered within Washington Park.
SMART MUSEUM REGISTRATION & COLLECTIONS DATA INTERN
This position works with the Head and Assistant Registrar to assist in all aspects of museum registration including database and collection documentation, working directly with the electronic and paper systems that catalog, document, and report on both the permanent collection and loans to the Smart Museum. The Registration and Collections Data Intern will learn how museum staff use digital resources to archive and provide access to information about the collection and will develop skills in collections management and documentation. In addition the Registration and Collections Data Intern will assist with routine collections management duties in the Registration office including monthly inventories and integrated pest management.
GALLERY ATTENDANTS
The Smart Museum of Art’s Gallery Attendants are responsible for maintaining security within the Smart Museum gallery and lobby areas during public hours. Within this role, the Gallery Attendant acts as a public representative of the Museum and the University by greeting patrons and providing information as needed. Work schedules are flexible quarterly and can be designed to fit around a student’s class schedule.
