Curatorial Internship – African Arts

Position Summary

Join a community of interns to gain professional skills and learn about museum practice. The paid internships at the Saint Louis Art Museum offer opportunities to gain first-hand experience working in a major art museum. The Museum is home to a collection of over 38,000 works of art from six continents, dating from ancient times to the present. Over the course of the summer program, interns will have opportunities to learn more about the Museum’s collections through curatorial tours and participate in tours of local collections and institutions. In addition, they will participate in tours of the conservation facilities, weekly brownbag lunches with department and division heads, and a meeting with the Museum’s director. At the culmination of the internship term, interns will present on an aspect of their department’s project and/or their professional achievements.

To apply, candidates should prepare an application that includes the following documents:

• Upload two documents: (1) a PDF that combines the cover letter, resume/CV, transcripts, language skills, and reference list; (2) the writing sample.
• Deadline: 11:59 PM Central Standard Time on Sunday, March 1, 2026.

Please read the descriptions and application requirements. Applications will only be considered if all required documents are submitted by the deadline.

Curatorial Internship – African Art

African Art: work with the Curator to support research and development of an exhibition about textiles from central Africa.

Curatorial guides the growth and display of the Museum’s permanent collection and organizes and generates temporary exhibitions and installations. Interns participate in the daily work of the department, including:

• Assisting with research and development for future exhibitions and conducting research on works in the Museum’s collection.
• Developing research files, annotated bibliographies, and exhibition checklists.

Qualifications:

• Be an advanced undergraduate or graduate student
• Possess a demonstrated interest in art history and strong writing skills
• Have academic research experience related to one of the projects
• Reading knowledge of a language other than English is appreciated

To apply for the Curatorial Internship – African Arts, please submit:

1. Cover letter, indicating the candidate’s professional goals and reasons for seeking this internship. Please describe aspects of your past academic and/or job experience that you feel are most relevant to this application and how they have prepared you to undertake the tasks associated with a Curatorial internship.
2. Resumé or CV, indicating academic background and work experience (volunteer and paid work)
3. Transcripts (unofficial transcripts are acceptable)
4. 3 References: name, title, affiliation, and full contact information (letters of reference not required; at least 2 references must be a professor or academic advisor; 1 can be a personal or nonacademic professional reference)
5. Language skills list, specifying language(s) and reading, writing, speaking levels of fluency
6. Academic writing sample, such as a research paper (minimum 5 pages in length, with source citations and bibliography)

Internship Details & Schedule:

• Start date: June 8, 2026.
• Work schedule: Monday through Friday, 9 AM – 5 PM, averaging 37.5 hours per week.
• Internship length: concludes when intern completes 300 hours (not including holidays on June 19 and July 4); approximately 8 weeks.
• Compensation: Interns will be paid in a 3-part stipend: $1500 on the first day, $1500 at the midpoint, and $1500 at the conclusion of the program. Second and third payments will be prorated if the candidate does not complete the full 8-week program. This position is not eligible for benefits or holiday pay.
• Interns may work offsite some of the time with supervisor approval (not to exceed 40% of a given work week).

Please direct any questions to internships@slam.org.

The Museum is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to treating all applicants and employees fairly based on their abilities, achievements, and experience, without regard to sex, race, age, disability, religion, national origin, color, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other classification protected by law.