Intern, Contemporary Collections and Curatorial Management
The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s Department of Contemporary Art is responsible for the acquisition, study, and display of art created from 1955 to today. Contemporary art at the MFA encompasses many media including film and video art, sculpture, installation, photography, paintings, design, craft, decorative arts, and performance. In September 2011, the Museum opened its renovated Linde Family Wing as a space dedicated to contemporary art, vastly expanding the department’s capacity for exhibition.
The Department of Contemporary Art is actively looking to hire a talented current junior or senior undergraduate with interest in a museum career in Collections and Curatorial Research.
The intern, supervised by the Wornick Curator of Contemporary Decorative Arts, will conduct research, support special projects and events within the department, and assist with the administrative functioning of the department.
For this role, we encourage applications from candidates who are strongly interested in curatorial work in a museum setting, but who may not yet have had the opportunity to experience it much or at all. The internship will suit someone with a love of and true facility in reading, writing, and research, and who wants to learn how to direct these skills as part of museum work. Mentorship and professional development will be actualized through bi-weekly one-on-one meetings throughout the internship, as well as arrangements made for informational interviews with a range of museum and arts professionals inside and outside the Museum – all toward helping the successful applicant explore and refine their career path.
Interns must commit to a regular schedule of 16 hours per week onsite (though occasional remote work may be necessary), within the 9am-5pm, Monday through Friday parameters, from June 12 through August 25, 2023, including 2 hours on Thursdays to attend the Museum Pathways & Practices professional development course.
This internship pays $16.00 per hour
As we amplify our efforts toward becoming a truly inclusive institution, ensuring that diversity, equity, and access are lived values, we actively encourage candidates from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to apply to the program.
Essential Functions:
- Assist with the installation of the upcoming contemporary collection reinstallation
- Assist in curatorial research in conjunction with collection-related activities, exhibitions, and publications, including gathering library and archive materials to support initial research for an upcoming 2024 special exhibition
- Research possible incoming gifts to the department
- Secure image permissions for an upcoming publication
- Assist in researching collection objects for the purpose of writing web texts to enable the Contemporary collection to have a more visible and research-friendly public-facing digital platform
- Assist in the imaging of collection objects by helping to arrange for their transfer to the MFA Photo Studio
- Obtain permissions and copyright clearance for images and maintain accurate credit lines for newly-imaged works, and help to ensure accuracy of information on publications, in print and online
- Assist with the digital and physical maintenance of checklists, image files, lenders, and other logistical details related to the curatorial care of a museum collection
- Assist curators in working with artists, collectors, and other colleagues
- As/if needed, occasionally work with the Curator in conjunction with Learning and Community Engagement, Development, and Marketing and Communications staff to prepare programs and materials to promote, publicize, and interpret the collection and exhibitions
- Assist with coordination of logistical needs for artists/curators visits including arranging honoraria, travel, lodging, meals, and any event-related logistics
- Work with the Curator and Registrars in updating and maintaining exhibitions and loans database
Qualifications:
- Must be enrolled in and returning to an undergraduate program in art history, history of decorative arts, museum studies, arts administration or art program with an interest in museums
- Demonstrated strong written and verbal communication skills, and strong research skills
- Strong demonstrated interest in and basic knowledge of contemporary art
- Excellent organizational skills with keen attention to detail and ability to multitask
- Previous successful office experience, preferably in an arts organization
- Proficiency in Microsoft office; experience with art database programs such as The Museum System (TMS) a plus
- Ability to work onsite 16 hours per week, within 9am-5pm, Mon-Fri, parameters, from June 12 through Aug 25, including 2 hours per week on Thursdays to participate in the Museum Pathways & Practices professional development course
- Ability to attend orientation on Tues, June 13, 2023, 10am-3:30pm
How to Apply:
To apply, you must upload a single document (PDF or Word) containing your cover letter and resume the ADP portal Internships | Museum of Fine Arts Boston (mfa.org) ASAP, but no later than
Fri, Mar 24, 2023. (Applications not conforming to this instruction will not be considered.)