MoMA and/or Whitney internships

[GeneralistAdventurist]

I'd advise against calling. Email, maybe. I work at a few museums going through the internship game, and calls generally get irritable answers in return.

Are you all applying for the unpaid MoMA internship? Or the year long? Anyone know when the year long positions get posted?

[whiskers1992]

unpaid MoMA internship. I was informed a week ago that notifications would go out the week of the 28th possibly....I don't know. Maybe they are still very behind.

[Orlando]

I've also applied for the unpaid internship. I believe that the yearlong positions were posted at this time last year, so maybe they are just a bit behind and will be posted sometime soon.

whiskers1992, have you already done an interview with MoMA for this application cycle?

Edited March 27, 2012 by Orlando

[whiskers1992]

Hi Orlando, this is my first time applying for the MoMA internship. I haven't heard back yet

[mooncake88]

Got an interview invitation today for the MoMA summer internship, so it looks like they are starting to go out. Good luck everyone!

[elizabeth.w]

Got an interview invitation today for the MoMA summer internship, so it looks like they are starting to go out. Good luck everyone!

Congrats and thanks for the update!!

I also applied for summer internship at MoMA. Would you like to give us a little more detail about the email?

When are they going to start to have interviews?

[whiskers1992]

did they send out mass emails or are they contacting people one by one??

[elizabeth.w]

eeek!!

Did they mention about how long the interview is going to be? 20min or more than 40min?

[mooncake88]

They said around 30 min.

[elizabeth.w]

Thanks,mooncake88 !! Wish you luck! Wish me luck too!

[mooncake88]

Thanks! Best of luck to you (and all the other applicants).

[whiskers1992]

Congrats to Mooncake! GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY!

[ceeeees]

I had an interview for the curatorial department at the Whitney last month. Anyone hear back from them?

[Edgeoftheocean8]

Has anyone else heard back? I'm trying to decide between a development internship at MoMA or a curatorial one at the Whitney...I think I'd prefer to work at MoMA, but how much does it matter what the exact position is? Any thoughts? Anyone else hear back good news?

Good luck everyone!!

[Swagato]

Just a quick question here. I currently have an MA (Cinema and Media Studies--UChicago) and a BA in English, but I don't really have internship experience at galleries or museums. I do have substantial professional experience in PR, but again, no museum/gallery experience. I've applied to a couple of jobs at MoMA (Assistant Archivist and Assistant to Dir. of Comms.--you can find the postings easily on their jobs site). Should I expect an interview, or am I just not even going to be considered because I don't have specific museum experience?

[mooncake88]

Has anyone else heard back? I'm trying to decide between a development internship at MoMA or a curatorial one at the Whitney...I think I'd prefer to work at MoMA, but how much does it matter what the exact position is? Any thoughts? Anyone else hear back good news?

Good luck everyone!!

I think this depends on what you want to do! If you are looking into academica or curatorial work the program at the Whitney is very strong and I honestly don't think you can go wrong with choosing it, if that is your end goal. But if you are looking into other aspects of museum work a development internship is a great way to get a diversified experience.

[ArtHistoryandMuseum]

Just a quick question here. I currently have an MA (Cinema and Media Studies--UChicago) and a BA in English, but I don't really have internship experience at galleries or museums. I do have substantial professional experience in PR, but again, no museum/gallery experience. I've applied to a couple of jobs at MoMA (Assistant Archivist and Assistant to Dir. of Comms.--you can find the postings easily on their jobs site). Should I expect an interview, or am I just not even going to be considered because I don't have specific museum experience?

While I do not know your employment history, and whether or not you live in New York, I do have extensive museum experience and a MA in Museum Studies.

Skill-wise:

Do you have all or many of the professional skills listed in the job description? (Be honest with yourself!)

That said, sometimes if you apply for a museum position, you get a chance even if you are not highly or totally qualified; you may bring something else to the table attractive to the employer. With the MoMA, however, I expect there are lots of professionals applying who do have the qualifications.

Location:

Do you live in NYC? Unless you bring all the qualifications MoMA seeks, I would think that professionals with residential addresses in proximity to the City would be preferred. That said, I have never worked for a NY museum, and I could be wrong on this; also, funds may not be an issue for you and you can provide in your applications your plans to move to NY.

Advanced degrees:

My MA has helped me land museum interviews. Yours might too. However, if you ever go more curatorial, and "assistant archivist" tends that way a little, I have to say the more prestigious the museum, the more there is the desire for MA in Art History, generally speaking. (Unless, of course, the degree relates to emerging media, and the professional job involves a new media installation, or something; for there are definitely exceptions to the rules. Every employer is different, too.)

I have also heard that the more business the job is, or the more data entry it is (e.g. Collections Management), there is a discrimination against those with upper-level degrees, like PhDs. The advanced degree says so much: "that the candidate is clearly over-qualified, and they may leave us for something better." For curatorial positions in prestigious museums, all the more publishing, exhibiting, and research the better; MA, ABD, PhD is all sought.

Your situation (my guess of it, anyway):

For the MoMA, I think you would have a greater shot at Assistant to the Dir. of Comms, especially with your English background and extensive transferrable PR experience, than Assistant Archivist -- the Archivist position job description indicates MoMA desires a professional with an Art History background. You don't have that. The job's tasks may appear easy, but it may be actually a stepping stone job to a curatorial post. Which is strange in a way, because archives are more tending to those with history and library science backgrounds, but not so strange, because the museum professional sought may need to draw on a 20th century art, from a background in Art History, to do the position well.

Final notes --

If you have time, sure, apply. You never know what could happen out of it.

That said...

Unless you have many of the qualifications, I think you are better off finding museum roles which more closely relate to your skill-set. Second, I would recommend volunteering or interning in a museum first, even just to get a museum on your resume/cv, to start building experience to be competitive. Museums are extremely competitive.

While I do not have proof of this, but it would be reasonable to say: the more skilled the museum position (e.g. job requires reading in German, seven years of experience in management, desires a ABD) there are likely fewer applicants; the more entry-level it is, the more applicants.

Lastly, for public relations, grants, and other business-like roles in a museum, museums are open to "outsiders", with extensive backgrounds in the qualifications sought. (I would say you would have to build up more experience in museums for roles like archives, curatorial, and collections management, which "show" you can do the job. This is not as true for PR, et al. because you are bringing something museums don't teach.)

These suggestions, you can take it or leave it, but hope these thoughts help a little with your processing!

Edited April 24, 2012 by ArtHistoryandMuseum

[cocochanel]

Has anyone heard back from the MoMA about 2014 summer internships?

[ColetteX]

Has anyone heard back from the MoMA about 2014 summer internships?

Nothing from MoMA! Anyone heard back by now??

[caro803]

Applications are up for MoMa's 12 month internships! Anyone else thinking of applying for the Department of Architecture and Design Internship? I was initially thinking of the R&D internship but after looking over the requirements for Arch. & Design, I think I'm better suited for that. it's a new addition to last years options 

[d_al]

Hi everyone!
I was wondering if there was anyone on here applying for the 12 month MoMA internship who could answer some questions:

 

1)  What do you define as a recent graduate? (aka have you all graduated in the past year?  I graduated 2.5 years ago and I still consider myself a recent grad, but I'm wondering how MoMA approaches it)

2)  They accept international applicants, but is it a pro or con to be located in Europe aka not anywhere near New York?  I live in Paris, France (originally I'm from Toronto, Canada).

 

3)  What kind of experience do you guys have?  I consider myself an emerging contemporary arts curator, with experience curating and organizing shows.  I'm almost afraid I have TOO much experience....do you think that's possible?

 

Thanks so much to those who answer!!
Cheers and good luck to all those who applied.

[andrea_x]

Applications are up for MoMa's 12 month internships! Anyone else thinking of applying for the Department of Architecture and Design Internship? I was initially thinking of the R&D internship but after looking over the requirements for Arch. & Design, I think I'm better suited for that. it's a new addition to last years options 

 

I also applied to the Department of Architecture and Design. Let's keep our fingers crossed while we attend a response. Please let me know if you hear anything from them! 

 

Hi everyone!

I was wondering if there was anyone on here applying for the 12 month MoMA internship who could answer some questions:

 

1)  What do you define as a recent graduate? (aka have you all graduated in the past year?  I graduated 2.5 years ago and I still consider myself a recent grad, but I'm wondering how MoMA approaches it)

2)  They accept international applicants, but is it a pro or con to be located in Europe aka not anywhere near New York?  I live in Paris, France (originally I'm from Toronto, Canada).

 

3)  What kind of experience do you guys have?  I consider myself an emerging contemporary arts curator, with experience curating and organizing shows.  I'm almost afraid I have TOO much experience....do you think that's possible?

 

Thanks so much to those who answer!!

Cheers and good luck to all those who applied.

 

1) I would think recent graduate would be a bit more close to the 1 year or less period, but I seriously doubt that 2.5 years will hurt your application.

2) They do, the website says that international applicants are welcome and they offer J-1 visa sponsorship, plus 1500 dlls for travel expenses if your selected.

3) I just graduated some 5 months ago, and have brief experience in curatorial assistance, but my most recent being very valuable as I was working in a leading private collection in Latin America, where I was put in charge of a very important traveling exhibition project. 

 

Sorry if it's a little late for a response.  Did you apply? 

Edited June 16, 2014 by andrea_x

[caro803]

I haven't heard from them either. Let me know if you hear anything back as well andrea_x!

[caro803]

1) I also graduated 2 years ago but I've been teaching English in South Korea so I'm hoping that doesn't put me at a disadvantage.

 

2) And yes they accept international students and pay for travel expenses. So you should be fine!

 

3) As for experience, I have a wide range of curatorial internships on my resume as well as in other departments (Development and Education) and I graduated with a degree in Art History. But since I'm fluent in Spanish (which is preferred for the internship I applied), I'm hoping that will make up for my lack of involvement in the art world these past two years...we'll see 

[avalong]

Did anyone apply for the Photography Dept 12 Month Internship?