Music and Performing Arts Curatorial Internship (Undergraduate)

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Music and Performing Arts Curatorial Internship (Undergraduate)

Part-Time Hybrid Internship

$425/week

September 21– December 18, 2026

Desired Majors and Areas of Study: African American Studies, History, Music, Museum Studies, Performing Arts

The Office of Curatorial Affairs (OCA), including the Centers, facilitates the intellectual work of the Museum by collecting artifacts, ensuring collection preservation and stewardship, conducting research and scholarship, and sharing the rich history and culture of African Americans and all people of African descent with a diverse public in accessible, multifaceted ways including exhibition, digitization, and publication. 

The Culture division of OCA documents, collects and preserves information and materials related to the cultural heritage of African Americans and other select groups, whose actions have influenced and/or contributed to the African American experience, including those associated with the African Diaspora. Specific areas of focus include: sports, music, the performing arts, oral history, literary arts, dress and textiles, decorative arts, foodways and folklife in their many diverse forms. 

This internship is an opportunity to do meaningful curatorial work at one of the most prominent cultural institutions in the country building advanced skills in African American collecting and cultural preservation while expanding professional networks. As part of NMAAHC’s commitment to strengthening the museum talent pipeline, this position is designed to support graduate students in deepening the knowledge and experience that advance careers in African American history and culture. The skills developed through this internship (research, writing, critical analysis, project management, and professional communication) directly support careers across a wide range of museum positions, including curatorial, collections, education, public programs, and outreach, as well as related fields such as publishing, journalism, archival work, cultural policy, and the broader nonprofit and public humanities sectors.

The NMAAHC Music & Performing Arts Collection includes over 5,000 objects from celebrated artists, institutions, and historical events, as well as artifacts that reflect the role of creative expression in the everyday lives of individuals in their homes, churches, schools, and local communities. The Music and Performing Arts Curator contributes to this mission by stewarding a collection that spans the full breadth of African American creative expression including music, television, film, theater, dance, comedy, and popular culture from everyday creative life to landmark performances, recordings, and cultural movements. As the Music & Performing Arts Curatorial Intern, you will assist the curator with collections acquisition and processing, object documentation, research, and writing, supporting an active list of ongoing projects throughout the internship. Before your start date, you will be given a list of Music and Performing Arts collections to select which collection(s) you want to focus on, allowing you to align the experience with your academic interests and professional goals. This internship will strengthen your research and writing skills, expand your professional network across the museum, and give you a clearer sense of the many directions a career in curatorial work can take. The candidate can expect to learn to:

• Navigate and use of the TMS (The Museum System) collection information database to locate and support documentation of collection records.
• Handling and processing of objects and archival materials following professional conservation and preservation standards.
• Creation and review of collection inventories, contributing to the Museum’s collections stewardship goals.
• Object research and assist with producing accurate collection documentation as directed by the curator.
• Research and prepare donor briefs and profiles that support the curator’s donor cultivation and community stewardship efforts.
• Draft and edit collection and exhibition texts.
• Draft object acquisition proposals using curatorial criteria and an understanding of the museum’s collecting priorities.
• Develop an understanding of museums as institutions of cultural stewardship and gain insight into the importance of collecting and preservation through direct engagement with the collection and curatorial practice.

This hybrid internship will combine remote work with scheduled onsite days at NMAAHC in Washington, DC, and a storage facility in Maryland. 

The ideal candidate is an undergraduate student with coursework or a demonstrated interest in African American history and culture, with a focus on music, performing arts, popular culture, or museum studies. A genuine curiosity about Black history and culture and its relationship to music and the performing arts is essential. An interest in developing research and writing skills in a museum setting is important. Prior experience with curatorial or archival work is a plus but not required. Comfort with word processing and spreadsheet software is expected; experience with collection management systems is welcome but not necessary. The internship includes two projects developed with curatorial guidance:

1. A proposed exhibition of your choice drawn from the NMAAHC Music & Performing Arts Collection. With support from the curator, you will select objects and images, conduct research, develop an exhibition narrative, and write interpretive labels resulting in a portfolio piece and writing sample that reflects the full arc of your internship experience.
2. An acquisition proposal: with guidance from the curator, you will research and write a proposal for an object or collection of your choice which may include contemporary materials that document living artists, emerging genres, or current cultural events and present it to the NMAAHC Collections Committee.

Duties Include (but are not limited to):

• Attend curatorial team meetings to observe institutional processes and build familiarity with museum operations
• Develop familiarity with the TMS (The Museum System) collection information database to locate documentation of collection
• records
• Assist with the handling and documentation of objects and archival materials following professional conservation and
• preservation standards
• Assist with the creation and review of collection inventories
• Support object research and assist with producing accurate collection documentation as directed by the curator
• Research and prepare briefs and profiles for the curator’s visits with potential donors
• Assist with drafting and editing collection and exhibition texts
• Assist with drafting object acquisition proposals in support of ongoing collections work
• Write interpretive labels and supporting materials for the exhibition project
• Research and write an acquisition proposal with curatorial guidance and present it to the NMAAHC Collections Committee