The Department of History of Art and Architecture is committed to supporting graduate student engagement in museum-related areas. A graduate seminar in Museum Studies is offered regularly and takes full advantage of the rich and varied collections in New England, allowing students to examine works in close detail.
In recent years, graduate students have completed internship programs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and other major museum institutions as well as area historic sites and houses including Historic Deerfield and the Mark Twain House and Museum.
Departmental funding is available for graduate students pursuing both unpaid and paid internships during the school year and especially in the summer months. Interested students should submit a description of the internship, an explanation of how it will benefit the student, and an overall budget with a specific request for funds.
The University Museum of Contemporary Art (UMCA), located on campus, houses a permanent collection that is especially strong in 20th- and 21st-century works on paper. The Museum mounts a number of significant exhibitions during the year, often focusing on site-specific works by visiting artists. M.A. candidates regularly curate their own exhibitions at UMCA through the annual UMCA Curatorial Fellowship exhibition.
2021
ATWOOD MUSEUM
CHATHAM, MA
Jackson Goode was an intern for the Atwood Museum where he aided in the preparation of the exhibition Weird, Wacky, and Wonderful. He also attended an intensive Latin course through the University of Arizona.
MEAD ART MUSEUM
AMHERST, MA
Yi-Lin Cheng was an intern in the European print collection department at the Mead Art Museum.
SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART
NORTHAMPTON, MA
Cecily Hughes was an intern at the Smith College Museum of Art, where she assisted in the creation of the SCMA’s Fall 2022 exhibition, Brought to Life: Polychrome Wooden Sculpture from Europe, 1300–1700.
PAST INTERNSHIPS
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, BOSTON
Emilela Thomas-Adams served as an Exhibition and Paintings Graduate Research Intern in the Art of Europe department, where she researched objects in the permanent collection, specifically 13th and 14th century Italian panel paintings. In addition to performing research and supplementing object files, Emilela worked on several current and upcoming exhibitions and their corresponding lecture series. Her work focused mostly on Casanova’s Europe: Art, Pleasure, and Power in the 18th Century and French Pastels: Treasures from the Vault. (Summer 2018)
Taylor Emmons worked as the Intern of Teen Programs and STEAM in the Department of Volunteer and Community Engagement. (Summer 2018)
Selena Shabot was the Paintings and Exhibitions Research Graduate Intern in the Art of Europe Department. (Summer 2017)
MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS, HOUSTON
Margaret Squires was a Graduate Fellow in the Art of the Islamic Worlds. (Summer 2017)
ALBRIGHT-KNOX GALLERY
BUFFALO, NY
As a summer graduate intern, Celia Rodriguez-Tejuca completed projects in the curatorial department as well as the education and community engagement department. Her work in curatorial included a literature review on Marisol Escobar for an upcoming exhibition that will articulate Marisol's place in feminist and international contexts, as well as explore her self-representation. In conjunction with the Education and Community Engagement Department, Rodriguez-Tejuca also researched and designed activities to engage refugee communities in the Buffalo area. (Summer 2018)
MARK TWAIN HOUSE & MUSEUM
HARTFORD, CT
As Curatorial Intern, Paige Moreau was cataloguing the museum's collection of letters to and from the Clemenses when she discovered correspondence between Mark Twain and Frederic Church. Through these letters, she explored the lives of Samuel Clemens and Frederic Church and their travels in 1867 to further understand how their lives influenced the architecture of their homes. Her findings can be found in her essay "Icons Abroad: Samuel Clemens and Frederick Church in the Holy Land and in their Homes." (Summer 2018)
SPRINGFIELD MUSEUMS
SPRINGFIELD, MA
As the Family Engagement intern at the Springfield Museums, Alison Ritacco worked with children in the Art Discovery Center, which tied art making to exhibitions in the museums. In addition, she also had a pop-up table in the D'Amour Museum of Fine Arts teaching children and adults about Impressionism. (Summer 2018)
In addition to working as an Education Intern at the Springfield museums, Sierra Conniff was the Graduate Fellow at the Institute for Curatorial Practice, Hampshire College and Arts Advocacy Intern at the Springfield Central Cultural District. (Summer 2017)
UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART
AMHERST, MA
In addition to interning at the Springfield Museums, Alison Ritacco worked in the UMCA collections cataloging and archiving information on several portfolios of work, creating descriptions for these works so they could be photographed, digitized, and then searchable with the online database. (Summer 2018)
SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART
NORTHAMPTON, MA
Caitlin Green was an intern at The Cunningham Center for Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. (Summer 2017)
Matthew Blanchard worked with Dr. Danielle Carrabino to write wall text for a 19th century American Art installation, as well working on a collection of Greek and South Italian vases. (Summer 2020)
Yonatan Levia worked with SCMA's Charlotte Feng Ford '83 Curator of Contemporary Art, Emma Chubb, on a variety of different projects, including researching an Alma Thomas painting, Morning in the Bowl of Night. (Summer 2020)
MOUNT VERNON HOTEL MUSEUM AND GARDEN
NY, NEW YORK
Brianna Lovensheimer was the William Randolph Hearst Fellow. (Summer 2017)
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ILLUSTRATION
NEWPORT, RI
Elizabeth White was an intern. (Summer 2017)
NEWPORT RESTORATION FOUNDATION
NEWPORT, RI
Ashley Williams was the Emily A. Laird Graduate Student Intern in Museum Studies. (Summer 2017)
CHARLESTON MUSEUM
CHARLESTON, SC
Minna Heaton served as a historic house interpreter at the Heyward-Washington House and assisted the Charleston Museum's education department in research on their ancient artifacts in order to better educate the public. (Summer 2020)
MEAD ART MUSEUM
AMHERST, MA
Samuel Nehila worked as a collections management intern, responsible for tagging keywords for prints from the International Graphic Arts Society Collection of Rowell Scheicher, as well as several works of John Singer Sargent. (Summer 2020)
RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN MUSEUM
PROVIDENCE, RI
Samuel Nehila was the Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Intern in Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. (Summer 2020)