The Curatorial Internship program seeks to increase opportunities for minority art historians to become curators with major museums. Art museums have long been perceived as bastions of WASP culture and the preserve of the wealthy. The old saying goes that the first qualification to becoming a curator is an independent income. At City Art Museum, we believe this represents outmoded thinking that is out of step, not only with the times but also with the art we collect.

City Art Museum will recruit candidates for this program through outreach to universities with large minority student bodies and through referrals from a wide variety of galleries and alternative art spaces. Interns will work closely with a number of departments within the museum to gain practical experience in the range of activities in which professional curators must be proficient.

Learning by Observation

Interns will assist museum curators in mounting at least one major exhibition each year. The interns will be part of the entire process, from assembling the exhibition checklist to hanging the art works. In addition, they will be involved in the research that goes into planning exhibitions for future years. The research will encompass working with the development department to craft grant proposals, visiting private collections, and providing detailed research working with the museum’s registrar and librarian.

Learning by Teaching

Today’s curator must also be an educator. The modern museum expects curators to be able to communicate with a variety of audiences to engage them with the art on view. The interns will actively participate in the museum’s education program for young people and adults under the supervision of the curator for education. We believe the interns will be particularly effective in working with the preteens who form a large part of our arts-in-the-schools programming. Being nearer in age to the students than typical docents and in many cases more closely matching the ethnic makeup of the schools, the interns will have a unique opportunity to engage the students with the mostly Western art we collect. Interns will also lead some special tours for museum members.

Learning by Doing

All the preparation in the world will not build an intern’s resumé as much as credit for curating an exhibition. Using our new alternative space for twenty-first-century art, each intern will curate an exhibition at the end of his or her second year using works from the museum’s permanent collection along with contemporary works the intern has selected from artists in our studio program.

By thoroughly immersing the interns in the workings of the museum, we will help them build a resumé that will get the notice of any museum director to whom they apply for work. The curators for whom the interns work will serve as their mentors for at least two years after they leave our program to help them in their career development, offering advice and making personal connections when possible.

The Curatorial Internship program seeks to increase opportunities for minority art historians to become curators with major museums. Art museums have long been perceived as bastions of WASP culture and the preserve of the wealthy. The old saying goes that the first qualification to becoming a curator is an independent income. At City Art Museum, we believe this represents outmoded thinking that is out of step, not only with our times but also with the art we collect.

City Art Museum will recruit candidates for this program through outreach to universities with large minority student bodies and through referrals from a wide variety of galleries and alternative art spaces. We will choose three interns each year to work closely with a number of departments within the museum to gain practical experience in the range of activities in which professional curators must be proficient.

Interns will sharpen the research, communication, organization, and diplomacy skills needed to be a modern curator. Coming up with the concept for an exhibition can be the easy part. Curators must also be prepared to articulate the exhibition for use in grant proposals and press releases. The laborious process of piecing together works of art from many public and private sources requires in-depth knowledge of how to conduct scholarly research into the location of the works and their provenance. Curators also must exhibit diplomatic skills in working with the owners of the art works. Interns will make contacts through this process that will benefit them throughout their careers. Interns will assist curators as they go about these tasks and others in the mounting of one exhibition each year.

Interns will curate an exhibition at the museum’s alternative space for twenty-first-century art in their second year, gaining a major resumé credit and putting to use all they have learned by assisting. Until one has actually received credit for curating an exhibition, the only positions open will be those of assistants. When curating exhibitions, interns will have the full resources of the museum behind them, as well as their curator mentors to turn to for advice and assistance. The curators will, in fact, continue to mentor the interns for at least two years after they leave the program, providing advice and exposure in a wide variety of museum and gallery opportunities. The effect of this program will only be evident after a period of years. For this reason, we will maintain contact with the interns for at least five years to assess their professional success.

Interns will gain advanced skills in imparting their knowledge to a variety of audiences. Modern curators must be willing and able to engage a number of different audiences with the art they love. Interns will visit classes in the schools and guide the preteen students through exhibitions. Just as a curator must be prepared to cajole a reluctant art owner to part with a painting for an exhibition, a curator must also be skilled in speaking to groups of art collectors and museum donors. By giving exhibition tours to membership groups, interns will gain these skills as well.

Interns who complete this two-year program will gain significant experience that will make them more employable, as well as connections with curators and art collectors that will benefit them for years to come.