Internships

See the impressive work of the Spring 2016 Intern Cohort here

Several HAA majors undertake at least one internship in an arts-related organization to develop their resumes and gain important experience that will be professionally valuable. In the local Pittsburgh area, our students routinely find positions at the Carnegie Museum of Art, the Andy Warhol Museum, the Mattress Factory, the Society for Contemporary Craft, the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, and the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, among others.

Our students have also been competitive, securing appointments at national internship programs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Guggenheim, the Smithsonian Institutions, and elsewhere. A listing of where our students have interned can be found here.

Museum Studies Minors are required to complete an internship. Students should contact the Academic Curator who directs the Museum Studies internship program. Students will enroll in three credits when they are undertaking the internship and these must occur during the academic year. The Academic Curator will assist in placing students in these positions.   

HAA majors who wish to earn academic credit for an internship must participate in the Museum Studies internship program. Internships must take place during the academic year. Students are encouraged to pursue internship opportunities to develop their resumes and do not need to enroll in academic credit to do this.

 The HAA department, through generous support from The Fine Foundation, and the Mellon Foundation, is able to provide four museum profession fellowships each academic year to qualified HAA majors and Museum Studies Minors. Each recipient is supported with a stipend of $3500 which enables them to devote full attention to an intensive internship, working directly with a local arts professional who serves as a mentor. Fellowships usually take place each summer, but on occasion, a student may hold this position over the course of an academic year. Each year, the call for applications is announced early in the spring semester for the upcoming summer/academic year. In the past, Fellows have worked for the curators of the Department of Contemporary Art, Decorative Art, and Education at the Carnegie Museum of Art, at the archives of the Andy Warhol Museum, at the office of the curator and acting director of the Andy Warhol Museum, for the Rivers of Steel foundation, and for the director of the Society for Contemporary Craft. 

ANY STUDENT WHO IS CONSIDERING UNDERTAKING AN INTERNSHIP SHOULD VISIT THE HAA DEPARTMENTAL ADVISING ORGANIZATION SITE ON COURSEWEB.PITT.EDU.