Museum Career Internship Program

The Museum Career Internship Program is a partnership that provides paid internships to LaGuardia Community College students interested in pursuing museum careers. The program was created to foster diversity and inclusion in the museum field and combines instruction in the field of folk and self-taught art with project-based professional experience in a range of museum departments such as Curatorial, Library and Archives, Learning and Engagement, and Collections.

In this year-long program, students participate in an Introduction to Folk and Self-Taught Art course involving close looking and discussion of artworks, reading and writing assignments, hands-on art workshops, excursions in the field, guest presentations by professionals in the arts, and a final independent project presentation. Students are then matched with a museum department for their internship while continuing to participate in group meetings, off-site trips, and workshops, all designed to create opportunities for professional development and in-depth museum experience.

Eight LaGuardia students participate in the program each year and meet twice per week at the Museum’s Collections and Education Center. Students receive school credit and a grade in addition to being paid for their time.

Want to learn more about the program? Read first-hand perspectives from current and former AFAM interns on our blog: https://mcip.home.blog/

To learn more, contact Natalie Beall, Senior Educator and Manager of Student Engagement, at nbeall@folkartmuseum.org.

Support for this program is provided by Richard and Laura Parsons, the Schaffner Family Foundation, Jane and Gerald Katcher, and Donald and Rachel Strauber.