2019-2020 Burish Undergraduate Fellowship: Museum Education Internship

Internships, Promo

Visitors attend an art event at the Chazen Museum of Art.

The Chazen Museum of Art seeks 2 excellent museum education interns for 2019-2020 to:

  1. participate in a museum education bootcamp
  2. collaborate with museum and art education staff to co-develop workshops related to Chazen exhibitions/collections
  3. facilitate presentations and teach workshops for various museum populations

Interns are expected to work up to 200 hours over the course of 1 semester, either fall or spring (approximately 10-14 hours per week), and in return gain valuable on-the-job, museum education experience, course credit, a $4000 stipend, and cost of tuition (in-state) for 1 full academic year (maximum of $11,000)!

Eligibility

Students applying for the internship must:

  • Be enrolled full time at UW-Madison
  • Be a declared undergraduate art major (BS Art, BFA Art, or BS Art Education)
  • Complete at least 60 course credits by the start of their internship semester
  • Demonstrate outstanding academic and professional leadership qualities

Wisconsin residents, out-of-state, and international art majors are all eligible to apply. Students selected for this award will not be eligible for additional Art Department scholarships.

Application (Deadline March 15, 2019)

To apply for the Chazen internship, go to the Wisconsin Scholarship Hub (WiSH) wisc.academicworks.com and sign in with your NetID to complete the General Application.

Based on your answers in the General Application, you will be directed to fill out more specific information tied to the internship if you are eligible. Be prepared to:

  • Respond to questions regarding financial need, volunteer and work experience (basically, resume info).
  • Provide a letter of  intent (PDF). In one or two single-spaced pages, write a persuasive statement explaining 1) why you are interested in this opportunity, and how you will benefit from the internship, 2) how the Chazen will benefit from your personal, academic and professional strengths, service and/or expertise.
  • Upload one letter of reference (PDF) from a professor, employer or other professional contact who can speak to your work ethic, character, collaboration/interpersonal skills, organization and time management — any qualities necessary that will help you thrive as a museum education intern.
  • Submit 6 – 8 digital images of your best artwork, including captions.

Timeline

  • March 15: Application deadline
  • March 16 – 26: Review of applications
  • March 26: Final candidates contacted for interviews
  • April 1 – 3: Interviews
  • April 5: Announcement of awards sent to the top two candidates

Interns will enroll in ART ED 699 Independent Study for three credits during their internship semester.

Internship Dates:

  • Fall semester internship: September 4 – December 15, 2019
  • Spring semester internship: January 28 – May 3, 2020

Students should have availability between the hours of 10:00am – 5:00pm, Monday – Friday, with an occasional required Thursday evening or Saturday afternoon depending on the intern’s course schedule.

For questions, contact Dr. Mary Hoefferle at hoefferle@wisc.edu.

Sponsored by

Chazen Museum of Art Logo UW-Madison Art Department Logo

More Details

Interns will engage in a Museum Education “boot camp” facilitated by Chazen and Art Department staff and instructors. The boot camp involves short, intensive training modules throughout the semester that may include but are not limited to:

  • Touring the Chazen facilities, including behind-the-scenes areas that are off limits to the public.
  • Identifying the Chazen’s mission, history, educational goals, programs and resources.
  • Interviewing museum staff regarding their careers.
  • Job shadowing one museum staff member for a day.
  • Observing a docent at work with various groups of museum visitors.
  • Practicing instructional strategies for engaging visitors in experiencing, interpreting and discussing works of art.
  • Utilizing various methods and resources for museum programming (lesson planning) and co-developing workshop content with museum staff.
  • Conducting in-depth research to become a “Resident Expert” on one work of art or artist in the Chazen collection and teaching this information to museum docents.
  • Taking field trips to other museums for inquiry, interviewing, and comparison, such as MMoCA, Madison Children’s Museum, Kohler Art Museum in Sheboygan or Milwaukee Art Museum.
  • Reading books, articles and online resources pertaining to art museum education and education practices.
  • Writing reflections on your observations, readings and internship experiences, synthesizing your museum education research and practice in relation to your own career path and/or academic interests.

While serving at the Chazen, interns assist and co-facilitate current museum education activities and programming, and co-develop new programs. These are just a few possibilities:

  • Lead Art Spin on second Saturdays of the month
  • Co-facilitate Thursday evening programs for the community
  • Co-teach PLATO, a course for 55+ senior citizens (once a week for six weeks)
  • Practice docent skills with small groups of k-12 children on museum field trips
  • With the Curator of Education and Assistant Curator of Education, co-create new> programs for specific populations like homeschoolers, high school students interested in art and art history degrees, or college students in specific majors.
  • Brainstorm ideas for and develop summer camp projects and programming.
  • Partner with Madison Public Library Bubbler, Boys and Girls Club, Bayview Community Center and any number of other local organizations who serve youth in the Madison area to develop new programs to meet student needs and the Chazen’s educational mission.
  • Co-create instructional materials such as multimedia presentations, education kits, teacher guides, games, and props for educating visitors to the museum.

 

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