Graduate Internships
Gain enriching hands-on experiences in museum studies through a summer internship with NMWA.
The National Museum of Wildlife Art Education Department offers a museum internship for individuals interested in gaining better knowledge and hands-on experience in museum studies.
Graduate Curatorial Internship
Overview:
The Graduate Curatorial Internship of the National Museum of Wildlife Art offers hands-on training to graduate students interested in pursuing a career in museum work. This is an intensive, focused internship, one in which the intern will gain meaningful experience in preparation for a future career in art museums or another art-related field.
During their time at the Museum, the intern will be an active member of the curatorial department. They will work alongside the curator, registrar, and preparator to become familiar with all of the routine tasks involved in collection care, such as inventories, object cataloguing, gallery maintenance, condition reports, and the upkeep of archival records. The intern will also attend team and inter-departmental meetings, Museum events, and special programs throughout the summer. Based on their existing expertise and interests, they will also develop special projects in consultation with the curators to aid or augment upcoming exhibitions. In the past such projects have included researching and writing content for audio tours, creating interactive soundscapes, and drafting exhibition labels.
This year, one of the intern’s major projects will be assisting the curatorial team with an ongoing digitization project, which is supported by the Bloomberg Digital Accelerator Program. They will aid the Curatorial team in archiving new images and uploading them to The Museum System (TMS), gaining experience with one of the database systems most commonly used by art museums globally.
View Full Internship Description
Applications will be accepted until midnight on March 13, 2026, after which time select candidates will be contacted for an interview.
Applications are now closed for our NMWA Education Internship for Summer 2026. Stay tuned for Summer 2027 details!
Education Internship
$7,680 stipend for a 12-week internship, plus up to $4,500 for housing assistance for out-of-town candidates to offset Jackson’s high rental costs. Please note that taxes will be deducted from both the internship stipend and housing allowance.
This is a challenging internship for a graduate-level student interested in the field of museum education. The internship includes:
• Managing Open Studio sessions
• Developing educational programming
• Engaging diverse audiences
• Facilitating program assessments
• Completing a self-selected project
Applicants with experience in informal teaching, public programming, film, or design are encouraged to apply. Exhibition assessment experience is a plus.
To Apply for the Graduate Curatorial Internship – Summer 2026:
Application materials should be e-mailed to the contact information below. No phone calls please.
Kennis Forte, Ph.D.
Curator of Art kforte@wildlifeart.org
Please submit the following documents. Incomplete applications will not be considered.
- Cover letter of five hundred words or less describing the applicant’s career goals, interest in museum work, specific areas of interest within the Museum, reason for applying to the Internship Program, and how applicant’s background and experience will benefit the Museum through this internship.
- Current resume of education and/or employment, including a list of art history, museum studies, and other relevant courses taken, as well as any foreign languages spoken or written.
- College or university transcripts (unofficial copies accepted).
- Two letters of recommendation from professors, employers, or supervisors.
Applications will be accepted until midnight on March 13, 2026, after which time select candidates will be contacted for an interview.