McMullan Arts Leadership Internship — Interpretation, Creative Programs (Summer 2025)

McMullan Arts Leadership Internship — Interpretation, Creative Programs (Summer 2025)

 

The Art Institute of Chicago shares its singular collections with our city and the world. We collect, care for, and interpret works of art across time, cultures, geographies, and identities, centering the vision of artists and makers. We recognize that all art is made in a particular context, demanding continual, dynamic reconsideration in the present. We are a place of gathering; we foster the exchange of ideas and inspire an expansive, inclusive understanding of human creativity.

• Expected Range: $16.73 per hour

• Job Classification: Intern

• Grade Level: Not Applicable

This role is not eligible for benefits or PTO. 

 

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Art Institute of Chicago’s Interpretation department is excited to offer a McMullan Arts Leadership intern position to work on creative programs with their Gallery Activation team.

Gallery Activation is the programming team within the department of Interpretation. Programs include tours, artmaking workshops, conversations, and more, designed primarily for adult audiences. They are welcoming, dynamic, and memorable experiences connecting people with art, each other, and themselves. They provide accessible strategies for interpreting artwork that are fun, challenging, and relevant to engaging with art in museums, galleries, academic settings, studios, and in one’s own community. To the extent possible, activations are responsive to participant needs and interests, respecting questions and comments as opportunities to enrich the discussion and invite individuals into a dialogue.

The intern will support Gallery Activation’s public programs for adults, with a focus on art making experiences inspired by what’s on view at the museum. Existing art making programs that invite participants to engage in creative activity include Drop-In Sketching, Saturday Studio, and Writing in the Galleries. The intern will assist with the presentation of these programs at the museum as well as in selected off-site locations around the city of Chicago (for example, at Chicago Public Library branches). Additionally, the intern will have the opportunity to lead museum tours with self-designed itineraries, highlighting the diverse range of the museum’s collection.

The intern will join a museum-wide intern cohort and have access to a range of programs to support their development in addition to their placement in Interpretation. Mentorship is provided throughout the experience and connections with an intern alumni network will be established.

 

Goals of the McMullan Arts Leadership Internship Program

The McMullan Arts Leadership internship program is part of a museum-wide effort to provide students the opportunity to gain experience, career awareness, networks, and skills that will position them to thrive as future art museum leaders.

 

The primary objective of this internship is to support students who will encounter economic challenges if considering a career in the arts. Aligned with this goal, we aim to shape a diverse group of leaders whose actions are informed by a wide range of perspectives, varying career paths, and values inspired by their own lived experiences.

 

INTERNSHIP OUTCOMES:

In this position, the intern will:

• Gain hands-on experience developing and facilitating museum artmaking programs;
• Research, plan, and develop gallery tours and conversations;
• Contribute to the development and implementation of museum Interpretation and programming strategy;
• Develop mentor relationships with field practitioners;
• Build peer-to-peer relationships with other interns through museum-wide internship activities.

 

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

With guidance from the position’s mentors, the intern will be responsible for:

• Supporting art making experiences in the galleries, primarily for adults;
• Supporting off-site art making programs, organized in collaboration with the museum’s civic partners (e.g. at Chicago Public Library branches);
• Planning and leading gallery tours using socially relevant storylines and highlighting the diverse range of the museum’s collection;
• Participating in Gallery Activation team discussions that assess an