The opportunities outlined below and are also on the Smart Museum’s student opportunities and employment webpages. Application deadline is Sunday September 12 at 11:59pm Central Time for all opportunities listed below.
CIJCW/ACE Metcalf Internships
Presented in partnership with UChicago College Career Advancement’s Arts, Culture, and Entertainment Program, CIJCW/ACE Metcalf internships are open to all UChicago undergraduate students. Full-time over the summer and part-time during the academic year, Metcalf interns are paid a $1,000 quarterly stipend for working 8–10 hours per week.
Collections Data & Photography Internship
This position works with the Assistant Registrar to assist in collection documentation and photography, 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 Collections Data & Photography Intern will gain experience in object photography and rights and reproductions, and will learn how museum staff use digital resources to manage and provide access to the collection. Application deadline: Sunday, September 12 at 11:59 pm Central. Get additional information and apply »
Registration Internship
This position works with the Head and Assistant Registrar to assist in all aspects of museum registration, with special focus on the return to on-site museum work with our collections and the record systems that catalog, document, and report on both the permanent collection and loans to the Smart Museum. The Registration Intern will learn about the systems the museum uses to archive and provide access to information about the collection and will develop skills in collections management and documentation. In addition, the Registration Intern will assist with routine collections management duties in the Registration office including pulling artwork for class use, monthly inventory checks, and integrated pest management. Application deadline: Sunday, September 12 at 11:59 pm Central. Get additional information and apply »
Smart Undergraduate Research Associates
Presented in partnership with the College Center for Research and Fellowships, Undergraduate Research Associates work closely with a mentor—Smart Museum curators, educators, registrars, or conservators—to provide art-related research for specific Museum projects that are already in the planning stages and are scheduled to take place during the term of the student’s position, such as exhibitions or related programming.
Archives Research URA
The Smart Museum of Art seeks a research associate who will review, digitize, and organize the museum’s historical archives in the University of Chicago’s Special Collections. Reporting to the Assistant Curator of Academic Initiatives and the Associate Director of Communications, this position aims to make the museum’s institutional history more accessible and provides essential support in anticipation of the Smart’s 50th anniversary in 2024. This Archives Research URA will provide an in-depth and hands-on experience with broad types of archival information. In addition to digitizing materials, the archives intern will work with Smart staff to build an organizational system to allow future ease of access. Quarterly stipend of $1,500 per quarter for 8-10 hours per week. Application deadline: Sunday, September 12 at 11:59 pm Central. Get additional information and apply »
Curatorial Collections Research URAs (2 positions)
Reporting to the Curator of Global Contemporary Art, the Curatorial Collections Research Associates will research museum practices for permanent collections. Beginning in the fall quarter, Research Associates will survey various art museums (from encyclopedic to specialized and teaching museums) as well as build a bibliography of articles in order to understand the gamut of approaches art museums take to narrating and presenting their collections. This research will include close consideration of museums’ presentations of permanent collections on their websites and online exhibitions, in order to propose and develop a thematic object collection to be presented on the Smart Museum’s Collection Homepage. In the process, Research Associates will take stock of different methodologies (e.g. geographic, thematic, chronological, or medium-specific) for museums’ organizations of their permanent collections and pay special attention to presentations of artworks from historically marginalized areas (by non-Western, transnational, BIPOC and/or non-male artists). Bibliography materials will include different curatorial theories and museum studies articles on curating collections and/or exhibitions of artworks spanning a breadth of historical and geographic areas. In the spring, Research Associates will present their findings to the curatorial and registration staff and collectively discuss strategies for presenting the Smart’s collection on its website. Quarterly stipend of $1,500 per quarter for 8-10 hours per week for each URA (2 positions). Application deadline: Sunday, September 12 at 11:59 pm Central. Get additional information and apply »