Art & Art History Internship Opportunities

Designed for undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in the arts.

Students work with art professionals for one semester. Internships may include assisting the Times Union photography department, the Center for Photography at Woodstock, the New York State Museum and several local galleries, or assisting professional artists.  

Students complete an academic component consisting of required meetings with the faculty supervisor in the area of focus and may involve a journal and portfolio.

Art majors may use three credits toward course requirements above the 300 level. Internships are open only to qualified juniors and seniors who have an overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.50 or higher.  

Consent for the internship must be obtained in the preceding semester by submission of a plan of intent and a signed contract with a professional organization or individual artist.  

Prerequisite(s): Junior or senior standing, 2.50 or higher GPA, and permission of instructor.

Potential internship sponsors or hosts include:

• Individual artists’ studios: Contact your faculty advisor.
• Collar Works (Troy, N.Y.): Contact Elizabeth Dubbin at [email protected].
• The Art Center of the Capitol Region (Troy, N.Y.): Contact Alicia Barton at [email protected].
• Albany Center Gallery (Albany, N.Y.): Contact Tony Iadiccio at [email protected].
• Albany International Airport Gallery (Albany, N.Y.): Contact Kathy Greenwood at [email protected].

Designed for undergraduate students interested in pursuing a career in Arts Management or the Gallery/Museum administrative field.  

Projects may include computer database, archival records retrieval and storage, media relations skills, collections management, and exhibition organization and documentation.  

A final project will be assigned. Internships are open only to qualified juniors and seniors who have an overall grade point average (GPA) of 2.50 or higher.  

Prerequisite(s): Interview by gallery administrative staff and permission of Art Department Chair. S/U graded.

Potential internship sponsors or hosts include:  

• University at Albany Art Museum (Albany, N.Y.): Contact Darcie Abbatiello at [email protected].
• The Albany Institute of History and Art (Albany, N.Y.): Contact W. Douglas McCombs at [email protected].
• The New York State Museum (Albany, N.Y.): Contact Jennifer Saunders at [email protected].

Please visit the Undergraduate Bulletin’s Art History Courses page for the AARH 490 course description and prerequisites.

Internship Advisor (Supervising Faculty): Dr. Amy Bloch, [email protected] 

The Internship in Art History is designed to help students gain professional work experience in a visual arts institution.  

Students pursuing one-semester internships in art history spend approximately nine hours per week working in an institution such as a museum, art gallery or conservation lab. Note: Some of this work may take place off-site.

Students are responsible for finding and applying to an internship program of their choosing.  

Duties carried out during the period of the internship may include:

• Curatorial research
• Assisting in the researching and writing of materials distributed to the public
• Conducting tours and classes
• Assisting in the installation of exhibitions
• Working with objects in art conservation

The student’s specific tasks will be established by their immediate supervisor in the institution, in consultation with the UAlbany internship advisor if necessary.  

It is expected that, while completing the internship, the student will make use of their academic skills in research, writing and visual analysis, namely those skills learned in lecture courses and seminars at UAlbany.  

• Students with an art history major: The internship counts towards the upper-division elective requirement. If you are considering graduate school, there is also the possibility of teaching internships. Please contact the internship advisor to explore this option. 
• Students with other majors: Please consult with your advisor to determine how the course fulfills your major requirements.

The internship is normally done during the fall or spring semester. A student who wants to do the internship during the summer should see the internship advisor to obtain special permission.

At the end of the semester, students must submit to the internship advisor a written report of their activities during the internship, together with documentation of the research and/or writing completed for the internship.  

The written submission should comprise at least 15 pages (double-spaced, 12-point font and one-inch margins). The submission should have two primary parts, and each should be approximately half of the final report:

1. A description, in either prose form or presented as a log, of what was done over the course of the semester. Students should describe in detail their responsibilities, accomplishments and the challenges they faced during the internship period.
2. Material that represents the work accomplished over the course of the semester. Students do not need to produce new material for this section; they should simply include examples of representative work from the internship. For example: If students wrote up wall text (the labels placed next to works of art in museums), they can include the wall text and any reports compiled to write them. If they cataloged images, they can include lists of images compiled.

It is recommended that students keep an ongoing diary of their internship activities to provide the core material for the final report.

Potential internship sponsors or hosts include:

• Albany Institute of History and Art (Albany, N.Y.)
• Empire State Plaza Art Collection (Albany, N.Y.)
• Albany Center Gallery (Albany, N.Y.)
• New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation’s Bureau of Historic Sites and Parks (Peebles Island State Park, Cohoes, N.Y., and Troy, N.Y.)
• The Hyde Collection (Glens Falls, N.Y.): Call 518-792-1761 ext. 310 to inquire about internships).
• University at Albany Art Museum (Albany, N.Y.): Contact Director/Chief Curator Corinna Ripps Schaming at [email protected].
• Albany International Airport Gallery (Colonie, N.Y.)
• Olana State Historic Site (Hudson, N.Y.)
• Thomas Cole National Historic Site (Catskill, N.Y.): Contact Director of Community Engagement Heather Palmer at [email protected].
• Collar Works (Troy, N.Y.)
• The Arts Center of the Capital Region (Troy, N.Y.)
• New York State Museum (Albany, N.Y.)

Note: This list is meant to supply some ideas about possible internships but is not exhaustive. Many other opportunities exist in and around Albany. For updated information, please see the institutions’ websites.

Please visit the Undergraduate Bulletin’s Art History Courses page for the AARH 490 course description and prerequisites.

Internship Advisor (Supervising Faculty): Dr. Eli Boonin-Vail, [email protected] 

Potential internship sponsors or hosts include:

• Albany Film Commission: Contact Debby Goedeke at [email protected].
• Youth FX: Contact UAlbany alum and founder Bhawin Suchak at [email protected].
• Media Stream: Contact [email protected].
• Media 1 Productions: Contact [email protected].