Following on the success of the “What is Art Conservation?” workshops for the City University of New York students, the Museum of Modern Art has partnered with CUNY to offer four students an eight-week full-time paid training internship in the conservation department in Summer 2024. This offering is open to students who have previously applied for the “What is Art Conservation” workshops. This program, funded by the Mellon Foundation, is designed to raise awareness of the conservation of cultural heritage, explore museum careers, and to gain professional experience during the summer break.

This opportunity offers students training and development through immersion with conservators across different media specialties, including the conservation of sculpture, paintings, works on paper, photographs, media-based works, and conservation science. Through these hands-on experiences, participants will develop an understanding of museum conservation practices and gain experience in the storage and housing of works of art, writing conservation reports, carry out treatment, and participate in the use of analytical equipment. With the support of MoMA’s dedicated conservation staff, participants will also gain a greater understanding of the broader profession of caring for cultural heritage. Each intern will be based in one conservation specialty: media art, objects & sculpture, paintings, or conservation science.

The Museum of Modern Art is committed to connecting people from around the world to the art of our time, and being a catalyst for experimentation, learning, and creativity, a gathering place for all, and a home for artists and their ideas. The collection constitutes one of the most comprehensive views into modern & contemporary art with a collection of 200,000 spanning paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, media and performance artworks, architectural and design objects, and films. The conservation department is key to the care of the collection, meeting the stewardship questions posed by diverse materials.

Overview:

• This internship will run from June 10 - August 1 2024
• This internship requires full-time, in-person commitment (Monday-Friday, 9:30am to 4:00pm).

Eligibility:

The internship application is open to CUNY undergraduate students who have previously participated in or applied to participate in MoMA’s introductory 2-day workshop for CUNY students, “What is Art Conservation?”, and are enrolled full-time at a CUNY college, or graduated from CUNY in Spring 2022 or after. We strongly encourage students who identify as Black, LatinX, Asian, Middle Eastern, Indigenous, and/or Pacific Islander to apply.

Stipend: Compensation: $5,250 stipend, $20 per day for meals, MTA card.

How to Apply:

• Application deadline: April 7, 2024
• Notification: end of April, 2024
• Click here to apply.

Application Requirements:

• Submission of the online application form.
• Please submit as an attachment your Resume to the online application.
• Please submit as an attachment to the online application, an unofficial transcript listing courses taken (decisions will not be based on GPA or course grades).
• The application form includes three short essay responses. Please submit these as an attachment to the online application.

1. Please describe any experience you might have with arts, crafts, or other activities requiring precision and manual dexterity that may not be reflected in your coursework above. This experience can be in any context in or outside of school. These may include any forms of art making, for example, acrylic nails, bookbinding, ceramics, graffiti, illustration, painting, printmaking, sewing, and tattoos. (300 words maximum)
2. Please describe how your intersectional identities play into your journey. (300 words maximum)
3. Why are you interested in being a Conservation intern at MoMA in summer 2024? (300 words maximum)

All applicants will be notified of the status of their application and finalists will be invited to interview. If you are selected for an interview, we will contact you directly to schedule an interview by phone or video conference.

Please email any questions to: conservation@moma.org.