2026
IDEAL Decorative Arts Internship
Salary Range: $15.00/hour
Time commitment: 10-15 hours/week
Application Deadline: August 31, 2026
Internship Dates: September 14 –December 11, 2026
The IDEAL Decorative Arts Internship is a paid semester-long, part‐time internship in the curatorial department. This internship can be on-site, remote, or hybrid.
Internship Description and Outcomes:
In partnership with The Decorative Arts Trust, the Chrysler Museum of Art is offering an IDEAL Decorative Arts Internship to help advance inclusivity, diversity, equity, access, and leadership within the museum field. The Decorative Arts Trust, recognizing long-standing barriers to entering curatorial and other museum careers, seeks to expand access for students from disadvantaged and underserved backgrounds as part of a broader effort to foster systemic change.
The IDEAL Decorative Arts Internship is a mentored, professional experience for an undergraduate from an underrepresented community who has a career interest in the curatorial field. Centered on the Museum’s distinguished Art Nouveau collection, the internship will focus on object-based research, exhibition planning, and public engagement, giving the student practical experience in curatorial practice and museum interpretation.
The intern will research objects in the Museum’s Art Nouveau collection, which includes decorative art by leading artists of the movement. By verifying titles, dates, and publication histories, and updating the TMS collections database accordingly, the intern will develop curatorial skills while producing original research that is accurate and publicly accessible through the Museum’s website.
The intern’s research will also help refine the checklist for the exhibition The Triumph of Nature: Art Nouveau from the Chrysler Museum of Art, which will be on view in 2028. This exhibition brings together approximately 120 works from one of the nation’s most significant Art Nouveau collections, drawn primarily from the gifts of Walter and Jean Chrysler. Featuring glass, furniture, paintings, sculpture, and decorative objects, The Triumph of Nature demonstrates the international scope of the movement with works by Louis Comfort Tiffany and Tiffany & Co., Gustav Klimt, Louis Majorelle, Alphonse Mucha, and Émile Gallé.
The internship will culminate in a capstone project tailored to the intern’s interests and career goals. Potential formats include writing interpretive object labels, creating social media content, or presenting research through the Goode Works on Paper Center’s Out of the Vault program.
Eligibility:
Candidates must:
- be currently enrolled in an undergraduate program
- have strong research and writing skills
- have a background in history, cultural history, or art history
- be eligible to work in the U.S.
Please submit a résumé, cover letter, and the name and contact information for two references by August 31, 2026, to Mia Laufer, Irene Leache Curator of European Art, at mlaufer@chrysler.org. No phone calls please.