February 27, 2023 
New Haven, CT 
Internship Bartels Art Museum Scholar Summer Internships
Through the generosity of Nancy Horton Bartels and her late husband, Henry E. Bartels, the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) offers summer internships to Yale undergraduates and to undergraduates from New Haven County now attending a historically Black college or university (HBCU). Projects are intended to introduce students to museum operations and best practices in administrative, conservation, curatorial, education, and research departments. The internships are named in honor of former YCBA directors. Internships run for eight weeks from June 12 to August 4, 2023. The stipend for Bartels Summer Internships is $5,000. This program provides opportunities for both Yale students and students from New Haven to become familiar with the various career opportunities at one of the museums in New Haven. This program aligns with Yale’s commitment to create a stronger and more inclusive community through partnerships with HBCUs.
About the YCBA
The Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) is the largest and most comprehensive collection of British art outside the United Kingdom. The YCBA’s collections of paintings, sculpture, and works on paper (which include archives, drawings, manuscripts, photographs, prints, and rare books) present the story of British art and culture, and its global contexts, from the fifteenth century to today. An extensive reference library is available to the staff and public to support research on British art, the collections, and their histories. The YCBA’s exhibition of the permanent collection provides an overview of British art, culture, and history over six centuries. It is the subject of research by graduate and undergraduate students, postdoctoral associates, and visiting scholars. Special exhibitions also take place on a rotating basis.
The Bartels Art Museum Scholar Summer Intern will work directly with staff in the department hosting their internship. Projects are designed to give the intern a full view of museum careers and opportunities while providing transferable skills such as administration, public programming, research, and visitor engagement.
Eligibility
Any current HBCU undergraduate who graduated from high school in New Haven County and has finished their first year is eligible to apply. Any current Yale undergraduate who has finished their first year is eligible to apply. Applicants do not need to be art history majors. Employment is contingent upon successful completion of background and credit check.
To be considered, HBCU undergraduates must have lived in and graduated from a high school in one of the following towns or cities: Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, Branford, Cheshire, Derby, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden, Madison, Meriden, Middlebury, Milford, Naugatuck, New Haven, North Branford, North Haven, Northford, Orange, Oxford, Prospect, Seymour, Southbury, Wallingford, Waterbury, West Haven, Wolcott, or Woodbridge.
Required Skills
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Excellent computer skills. Proficiency in MS Office programs, particularly Word and Excel, is preferred.
- High level of discretion and confidentiality in handling museum information.
To Apply
Please submit your application on this page. Applications are due Wednesday, March 15, 2023, at 11:59 pm ET.
Summer 2023 Bartels Internships
Archives
The YCBA Archives is the official repository for all historical documentation of the museum, recording its development from its inception in the mid-1960s to the present. The Chief Archivist seeks a summer intern with a background in architecture, art history, or the humanities to complete an independent, archives-based project working with the Paul Mellon Archive. The intern will survey, research, and correct descriptions of the collection. The internship provides a significant opportunity for a focused project and is ideal for students interested in the history of British art, museum studies, the history of cultural institutions, and archival research.
Reference Library and Photo Archives
The YCBA Reference Library and Photo Archive seeks a dedicated summer intern to conduct art-historical research and database formation to assist in the migration of the library’s Photo Archives images and data to The Museum System (TMS), a database that houses the YCBA’s collection information. The migration will allow the Photo Archives to be searched and retrieved in the digital environment of the online collection search. Tasks associated with the migration include data element research, data field creation, data harmonization, image management, and quality control. The Bartels Summer Intern will work closely with the staff of the Reference Library, the Collections Information and Access department, and the Imaging and Intellectual Property department. This internship is suitable for a student with a keen interest in art history, digitization and database creation, libraries, or museums. Due to building renovations at the YCBA (to begin spring 2023), some of the work on this project may have to be accomplished remotely.
Curatorial
The YCBA is planning an exhibition on the artist John Constable (1776–1837) that will situate his practice within the context of his contemporaries in England and France and describe his artistic legacy on both side of the English Channel. The Department of Paintings and Sculpture seeks a summer intern to help in the preparation of materials for this exhibition, including research on the selected artworks, managing the object list, and helping to write content such as prose labels and other interpretive materials. The role would be well suited to a student with an interest in art history, with excellent organizational, research, and writing skills.