HOST an ArtS INTERN this summer

 Bring New Voices to the Arts and Cultural Field in Your City

Background | Details | Apply

Background

Arts Intern connects skilled college students from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds with career opportunities at leading arts and cultural organizations.

Arts Interns earn a competitive wage and gain professional development vital to advance their career paths. In addition to fully funding students’ stipends, the program provides face time with professionals across the field, increasing student knowledge of, connection with, and investment in museums and cultural institutions.

Arts Interns dive into meaningful projects that showcase their unique perspectives—not just observe from the sidelines. Arts Intern places them at the heart of a cultural institution's daily operations, as their supervisors mentor them through concrete, deliverables while encouraging their creative input. Working alongside experienced arts professionals, they get involved in all facets of an institution’s functions while building their portfolios and professional networks. Arts Intern also enables interns to interact with program peers. Through required special events and seminars at participating institutions, interns meet, compare notes, and learn from each other’s insights. 

Studio Institute Arts Interns at a gallery in New York City learning about and discussing art.

Since 1999, Arts Intern has placed undergraduate students with demonstrated financial need and diverse backgrounds in paid internships that can impact career paths in profound and lasting ways.


Details

  • Timeframe

    • 252 total hours over 9 weeks

    • 5-day commitment, 28 hours per week: 4 days on-site; 1 day
      of cohort meetings

  • Program Dates

    • Baltimore: June 13 – August 15

    • Boston: June 9 – August 8

    • Chicago: June 4 – August 7

    • Cleveland: June 16 – August 18

    • Memphis: June 13 – August 15

    • Newark: June 3 – August 5

    • New York City: June 2 – August 4

    • Philadelphia: June 11 – August 13

Program Structure

Ready to host an intern? Watch our info session to discover the benefits and how to apply!

fully funded arts internships

Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Memphis, Philadelphia: $5,790
$5040 for $20/hr x 252 hours intern compensation awarded at the program start plus
$750 for associated administrative costs (awarded to host upon completion)

Boston, Newark, New York City: $6420
$5670 for $22.50/hr x 252 hours intern compensation awarded at the program start plus $750 for associated administrative costs (awarded to host upon completion)

Intern Compensation*

  • Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Memphis, Philadelphia: $20/hour

  • Boston, Newark, New York City: $22.50/hour

  • Final Stipend: $500 from Studio Institue upon completion of Arts Intern’s educational components

    *Intern compensation based on the MIT Living Wage Calculator. 

Cultural Worksite Requirements

  • Detailed, department-specific, 9-week project plan for the role

  • Candidate interviews and hiring (March – April 2025)

  • Full Onsite Participation: In addition to hosting the intern, organizations must participate in program-related events

  • Direct supervision with mid-term and final evaluations 

  • Weekly timesheet submission and approval 

Employment Structure

Learn about Arts Intern eligibility requirements for college students.

  • Cultural worksites hire interns as temporary part-time employees who are paid on the same schedule as other employees.

  • As internships progress, interns take on greater responsibility and agency, completing meaningful projects that the organization uses.

Grants to Cultural Worksites

APPLY

Invitation to Nonprofit Arts & Cultural Organizations to Host an Arts Intern | Summer 2025

Questions?

Contact Sophia Domeville, Senior Manager, Arts Intern College Program: artsintern@studioinstitute.org

Worksite Hosts That Made a Difference:
2024 Program Participants

Baltimore: Art with a Heart, Baltimore Museum of Industry
Boston: Boston Children’s Chorus, Celebrity Series of Boston, EdVestors,
Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston, Spoke Art, Inc., WBUR (Boston University)
Chicago: ART WORKS Projects, Bronzeville Historical Society, Chicago History Museum, Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, Haitian American Museum of Chicago, Media Burn Archive, National Public Housing Museum, The Polish Museum of America, Smart Museum, Swedish American Museum
Cleveland: Art House, Inc., Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland Public Library, Cleveland Public Theatre, Inlet Dance Theater, Julia De Burgos Cultural Art Center, Roots of American Music
Memphis: Art Museum of the University of Memphis, Memphis Botanic Garden, Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, Metal Museum, Soulsville Foundation
New Jersey: GlassRoots, Newark Arts Council, Newark Public Library, Newark School of the Arts
New York: A.I.R. Gallery, Artists for Humanity, Brooklyn Children’s Museum, Brooklyn Museum, Harpo Foundation*, The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation*, The Juilliard School, Madison Square Park Conservancy, El Museo del Barrio, Museum of Chinese in America, National Dance Institute, New-York Historical Society, New York Transit Museum, The Noguchi Museum, Poster House, Renee & Chaim Gross Foundation*, Rubin Museum of Art, Signature Theatre Company, Staten Island Museum, Studio Museum in Harlem, Tenement Museum, Theatre for a New Audience, Woodman Family Foundation*
Philadelphia: Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Collection, Temple University Libraries; The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Founder’s Hall Museum at Girard College, Free Library of Philadelphia, InLiquid, Ministry of Awe, Mural Arts Philadelphia, The Rosenbach, Tiny WPA, Women’s Coalition for Empowerment, Woodmere Art Museum
Providence: RISD Museum

* This organization is a member of the Artist-Endowed Foundations Consortium Advancing Next-Gen Leaders in the Visual Arts, a project of the Aspen Institute Artist-Endowed Foundations Initiative | AEFI.


I like to let students make mistakes and then provide feedback. I let them succeed by empowering them to make mistakes. They struggle, I provide feedback, and they learn from the experience.

David Piurek, Conservation Technician of Paintings and Frames, Cleveland Museum of Art;
Arts Intern Supervisor and Mentor