Curatorial Affairs Intern

The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is one of the largest museums of modern and contemporary art in the United States and a thriving cultural center for the Bay Area. We cannot imagine life without art; it inspires and connects us every day. Now more than ever, these connections matter and are aligned with our values.

Inclusive: We strive to be a museum of many voices in dialogue.  

Passionate: We believe working with art is more than a job or trusteeship - it's a way of life.  

Brave: We are committed to approaching our work with courage and a sense of adventure, always ready to explore new perspectives.

Empathic: We aim to act like a person, not an institution. 

SFMOMA is a place for the infinitely curious to explore, support, and experience the art of our time. We believe that modern and contemporary art can influence the way we think, view the world, and embrace the many voices and perspectives around us. We aspire to foster an environment that elicits joy, nurtures a sense of belonging and purpose—where difference is seen as a strength, and every one is appreciated for their whole self.

SCHEDULE: Full Time, 35 hrs/week, June 16 - August 15, 2025, approximately 3 days working onsite

DEPARTMENT DESCRIPTION

The Curatorial Affairs department at SFMOMA represents the office of the Chief Curator, its division Project Managers, and administrative unit. The Curatorial Division holds primary responsibility for developing the museum’s program, including art exhibitions and acquisitions, and serves as the main hub for artist communication. As its own team, the Curatorial Affairs department centralizes programmatic services across all five Curatorial teams (Painting & Sculpture, Photography, Media Arts, Architecture + Design, and Contemporary Art) and plays a central role in reimagining cross-department systems to support these. The daily functions of the Curatorial Affairs office include, but are not limited to correspondence, data intake, and communication on behalf of curators and artists with all departments across the museum. 

POSITION DESCRIPTION

This internship will actively support the Lifetime Artist and On View Artist Membership programs managed by the Curatorial Affairs team. Launched in 2013, these artist membership programs ensure that all artists whose work is acquired into the SFMOMA’s collection or displayed in the galleries as part of an exhibition receive a membership to the museum that provides complimentary access to the museum program at the Supporter Level. As a key benefit to provide more access to art, the programs tie directly into the museums DEIA and strategic plan accountability.

Under the supervision of the Curatorial Project Manager, the summer intern will assist in an audit of all the artists in the collection and last two years of Exhibitions, to assess the museum’s progress towards providing all living artists with this benefit. The internship project will also require working directly with the Project Management team to propose new systems to facilitate the artist onboarding process.  

PROJECT PLAN

Over the 9-week program the Curatorial Affairs Intern will perform a quantitative analysis of the distribution of artist membership benefits across the collection and exhibition program, concluding in an internal dashboard and set of recommendations for improving the programs onboarding system.

Weeks 1-2: Orientation and Initial Process Audit

· Learn about the acquisition and exhibition making process across Curatorial teams

· Learn about current artist memberships activations sequence and on-site use of the benefits

· Receive training on how artist records managed across museum databases

Weeks 3-4: Data Collection

· Assist in the creation of a report of all artists in the collection and recent exhibition roster

· Perform basic biographical research to identify living artist who qualify for the membership

· Cross-reference SFMOMA systems to correlate qualifying artists and active memberships

Week 5: Data Analysis

· Using the data from above, build an internal dashboard summary illustrating the current state of active memberships in relation to the total number of artists represented in the collection or recent exhibition program

Weeks 6-7: Cross-Departmental Collaboration

· Interview staff in Collections and Exhibitions about their process for confirming artwork lists

· Interview staff in Customer Relationship Management Enterprise Services (CRMES) and Visitor Experience about their role in helping validate digital artist membership portals or on-site benefits.

Weeks 8-9: System Recommendation Development + Final Presentation

· Based on the learned knowledge of current systems for information tracking, develop a document with suggested guidelines to improve the membership onboarding and tracking process

· Present findings to a group of cross-departmental staff at the final internship PPT

EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

The role will provide a wholistic view of Curatorial artist liaison practices across all 5 collecting departments, with a strong focus on artist inclusivity. The project will offer an opportunity to learn more about how artworks enter the collection and how they get confirmed for exhibitions. Therefore, in addition to working with Curatorial, the project will provide a cross section of museum art-related activities. The intern will have a chance to engage with Collections, Exhibition, CRMES, Visitor Experience, and Information Technology staff to reflect the collaborative processes that support artist relations at the museum. Given the cross-disciplinary nature of this project, applicants should be interested in museum studies, data systems or user experience for artists.

ADDITIONAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAMMING

The Summer 2025 Internship will offer 9 weeks of hands-on experience and mentorship along with weekly presentations and discussions with various departments in the museum, off-site educational visits within the Bay Area community, and access to various tours and events within the museum.

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

· Applicants must be currently enrolled in school or a recent graduate. The SFMOMA recognizes a graduation date within 6 months of the internship start date as a recent graduate. 

· Interest, background, and knowledge of social media, marketing, public relations, journalism, art history, and/or museum operations

· Ability to accurately and effectively represent the SFMOMA brand as the broadcast voice of the institution over social media

· Knowledge of or interest in modern and contemporary art and the SFMOMA collection

· Ability to communicate with wit and humor

· Ability to capture visually-compelling video via phone

· Knowledge of PC-based applications (PowerPoint, Excel, Word), Adobe Creative Suite is a plus

· Expertise in social media platforms (TikTok, Instagram)

· Concern for detail and accuracy; excellent language, spelling, and grammar skills

· Excellent interpersonal skills, including the ability to deal effectively and courteously with the public, artists, vendors, and museum staff at all levels

· Ability to meet deadlines and maintain confidentiality

**Current SFMOMA employees are not eligible to apply for the Summer 2025 internship.**

APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS 

· Intern application via SFMOMA's job site 

· Resume 

· Cover letter stating the specific internship of interest. Describe the experience you bring, why you are interested in museum or nonprofit work, reasons for applying to the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and your goals for the internship. 

· Two letters of recommendation from either a college professor or former employer. 

· College transcript: Transcripts can be unofficial but need to be legible. 

Application Deadline: March 14, 2025

You do not need separate letters of recommendation for each intern application - please just let each of the recommenders know which internships (up to 3) you're applying to and we'll review those two letters across all of your internship applications. 

Location: San Francisco, 151 3rd Street. 

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records. 

SFMOMA is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. No person shall be discriminated against based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, age, genetic information, ancestry/national origin, marital status, disability, medical condition, HIV status, sexual orientation, veteran/military status, and any other category protected by federal of state law.

You may request reasonable accommodation if you are unable to or are limited in your ability to access job postings or provide additional information asked in the job posting.

You can request reasonable accommodation by contacting the People Team at talent@sfmoma.org.