Employment
Information on job, internship, and other opportunities to work at the University of Chicago’s Smart Museum of Art.
Staff positions
There are no open staff positions at this time. Please check back again later.
Curatorial Intern for Theaster Gates: Unto Thee
The Curatorial Intern will collaborate with the Smart Museum of Art’s curatorial and education team and be a thought-partner on the upcoming exhibition Theaster Gates: Unto Thee (Fall 2025). The first solo museum show of Gates’s work in his hometown of Chicago, the exhibition aspires to capture the bold ideas in Gates’s artistic practice and neighborhood collaborations, spotlighting the transformative role of art in the social and cultural life of our communities. The Curatorial Intern will provide key research into Gates’s archive and on artworks in the exhibition, will contribute writing for the exhibition’s interpretation, and will assist with helping develop public-facing educational components. The Curatorial Intern will also assist on the exhibition’s publication.
Eligibility
Open to PhD students of any discipline, with particular emphasis in Art History or a related academic field, such as visual studies, area studies, history, or museum studies.
Principal Responsibilities
- Researches artworks in support of the Theaster Gates: Unto Thee exhibition and publication. Organizes research assets so that they are accessible for the artist and for the Museum staff, archiving new findings to be retrievable in the future.
- Contributes to ongoing research on Theaster Gates’s projects and archives. Collaborates with the Museum staff to consider how these histories are shared within the exhibition.
- Collaborates on overall exhibition interpretation, including contributing to the exhibition’s core texts, writing interpretive label texts for individual objects, and assisting outside stakeholders with their label writing.
- Collaborates on exhibition catalogue, assisting with coordination of external authors, communicating deadlines, organizing image files, editing text, among other related responsibilities.
- Improves the exhibition’s overall accessibility by supporting efforts to generate image descriptions and alternative text for the artworks on view. Provides feedback on and helps set accessibility benchmarks.
- Contributes to public-facing educational pieces connected to the exhibition.
Preferred Candidate Skills
An accomplished researcher who is creatively and intellectually curious. Skilled writer who is comfortable writing for public audiences. Highly organized. Excellent communication and active listening skills. Highly organized. Must be self-directed with the ability to proactively take initiative and anticipate needs. Past experience working in museums, public arts institutions, or archives preferred. All academic specializations are welcome to apply; background in modern and contemporary art preferred.
Compensation and hours
$6,000 stipend, 30-35 hours a week during the summer, with an estimated start date of June 24, 2024 and end date of August 16, 2024. Opportunity to extend the position into the 2024–2025 academic year, as the candidate is able, with an additional stipend.
Application Materials
Please email a letter of interest, your CV, and the names of two professional references (all combined in one document) to gmardilovich@uchicago.edu.
Questions can be directed to Aneesah Veatch, Academic Engagement Coordinator at ettress@uchicago.edu. Cover letters can be addressed to Galina Mardilovich, Curator.
Application Deadline Thursday, May 30 at 11:59 pm Central Time
Not sure you meet 100% of our qualifications? Research shows that women and individuals from underrepresented backgrounds often apply to jobs only if they believe they meet all criteria. We recognize that it is highly unlikely that any applicant meets every single qualification for a given position. We encourage you to apply if you think you could excel in or benefit from this role. We are dedicated to considering a wide range of candidates, including those with diverse interests, experiences, and backgrounds.
University of Chicago student positions
The following jobs and internships are only available to University of Chicago students.
Undergraduate Internships
The Smart Museum of Art supports undergraduate internships across museum departments. Over the summer interns support the critical work of stewarding the Smart Museum’s collections, exhibitions, and programs. In addition to gaining valuable experience, interns have the opportunity to build community with museum professionals throughout Chicago through outings, brown-bag job talks, and professional development workshops.
There are no internship opportunities posted at this time. Please check back again later.
Smart Scholars
Each year, the Feitler Center for Academic Inquiry at the Smart Museum of Art welcomes proposals from University of Chicago undergraduates in any field of study for research projects resulting in an original creative work (of visual art, music, dance, writing), program, or scholarly essay. Students propose their own projects grounded in academic research into one or more objects in the Smart Museum’s collection.
Browse the archive of Smart Scholars projects »
Smart Undergraduate Research Associates
Presented in partnership with the College Center for Research and Fellowships, Undergraduate Research Associates work closely with a mentor—Smart Museum curators, educators, registrars, or conservators—to provide art-related research for specific Museum projects that are already in the planning stages and are scheduled to take place during the term of the student’s position, such as exhibitions or related programming.
The University of Chicago is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity/Disabled/Veterans Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, status as an individual with a disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or other protected classes under the law. For additional information, please see the University’s Notice of Nondiscrimination. Academic job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773.702.5671 or email ACOppAdministrator@uchicago.edu with their request. Staff job seekers in need of a reasonable accommodation to complete the application process should call 773.834.1841 or email talentacquisition@uchicago.edu with their request.