Music and Performing Arts Curatorial Internship (Graduate)

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Music and Performing Arts Curatorial Internship (Graduate)

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 work directly with the curator on collections acquisition and processing, object documentation, research, and writing, contributing to an active list of ongoing projects throughout the internship. Before your start date, you will be given a list of the Music and Performing Arts collections to select which collection(s) you want to focus on, allowing you to align the experience with your academic research and professional goals. This internship will strengthen your research and writing portfolio, expand your professional network across the museum, and deepen your expertise in African American curatorial practice.

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

During the internship, you will develop hands-on expertise across a range of curatorial responsibilities, including conducting object research, assisting with acquisition proposals and exhibition texts, and handling and documenting objects and archival materials. You will also research and prepare donor briefs and profiles in support of the curator’s work with potential donors. In addition, you will engage with staff across the Office of Curatorial Affairs and other departments. The ideal candidate is a graduate student with coursework or a research focus in African American history and culture, specializing in music, performing arts, popular culture, or museum studies. A genuine curiosity about Black history and culture, and their relationship to music and the performing arts, is essential. An interest in developing advanced 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 culminates in three final projects:

1. A fully developed proposed exhibition of your choice drawn from the NMAAHC Music & Performing Arts Collection. You will curate a selection of objects and images, conduct in-depth original research, produce a comprehensive exhibition narrative, and write interpretive labels — resulting in a substantial piece of work that can serve as a signature work and a writing sample.
2. A formal acquisition justification: you will research and write a proposal for an object or collection of your choice and present it to the NMAAHC Collections Committee.
3. A writing project of your own design, developed in consultation with the curator, that reflects your specific areas of interest and aligns with your educational and professional goals.

Duties Include (but are not limited to):

• Conduct research needed to enhance collection records
• Draft object acquisition proposals
• Create collection inventories
• Draft and edit texts relating to collections and exhibitions
• Update content for exhibition digital interactive
• Write photo captions, collection stories or blog posts
• Attend team meetings