KAM curatorial internships are offered during the fall and spring semesters, as well as during the summer. They are compensated with academic credit hours and are not hourly positions. Applicants do not need a background in art history to apply.
Internships require a commitment of at least 6 hours a week, and reference from the student’s advisor or other faculty member. Applicants should have excellent communication and writing skills, computer proficiency, and research skills.
Availability is dependent upon curatorial needs. Interns are assigned to work with an individual curator, based on the student’s educational background, experience, and interests. The goal of KAM internships is to help individuals interested in museum careers or related fields gain significant experience in one or more areas of museum practice, including work with the collection, exhibitions, publications, and programs, and to encourage critical engagement with the history and changing roles of museums in our communities today.
PLEASE NOTE: Students must have 30 credit hours completed to be eligible to apply.
How to Apply
For the application, you will need to prepare the following materials and submit them to Senior Curator Allyson Purpura at purpura@illinois.edu. Deadline to apply: January 5 2024
Cover Letter: Along with your mailing address, email, and telephone information, include a personal statement of no more than 500 words, which explains how an internship at KAM would fit with your background and career goals. If possible, mention specific subjects, resources, or parts of the collections that are of particular interest. Describe what you hope to learn from the internship.
Resume/Curriculum Vitae: Please limit resumes to three pages or less.
Faculty Member Reference: Please provide name and email/contact information.
A curator will contact you to indicate if your internship is approved. At that time, KAM curatorial interns should register for independent study using the instructions below.
Course Registration Instructions
Option 1: Independent Study through Home Department
The student’s advisor or faculty member will authorize and assist the student in enrolling in an independent study (or similar course) in their own department as credit for either 2 or 3 credit hours, in exchange for their work. A KAM curator will assume responsibility for overseeing and evaluating the student’s work at the museum, while the advisor will ensure the student receives proper credit in return. The curator will assign a letter grade at the end of the internship.
Computing Academic Credit Hours:
2 credit hours = 6 hours of work per week, 90 hours total
3 credit hours = 9 hours of work per week, 135 hours total
Option 2: Independent Study through the Art History Department
Register for ARTH 391 – that is an Independent Study in the department of Art History. The online form for registration is here: https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/6082512
Once you click on the link, then click on “undergraduate independent study form” and fill in the boxes. For box #5 “Proposal and Objectives,” insert the following text: “To gain curatorial experience by working with a museum collection, conducting object research, developing object record files, and planning exhibition-related programming.”
Be sure to fill in the hours of work/credit according to the table above. Once you click on the online submission, it will go directly to Michael Foellmer (foellme1@illinois.edu), who oversees registration in Art History. He will forward it on to the faculty indicated on the form for approval and will then send you the instructor CRN to register.
