Internships, Fellowships, and Volunteer Opportunities

Get involved with the Archives.

Be part of the Archives' team by working alongside our staff and more than 20 million archival items.

Interns in front of Archives of American Art entrance

The Archives of American Art offers internships year-round to students enrolled in undergraduate or graduate programs who wish to learn and gain professional experience in various fields including archival science, information management, museum studies, art administration, art history, and cultural studies. 

Internship Projects

Internships are offered in the spring, summer, and fall terms to students who have not yet completed their degrees, or who have graduated within the past six months. Summer internships are accompanied by a $6,500 stipend, based on a full-time, ten-week schedule. Pro-rated stipends may be available for part-time internships, which are available during the academic year and, in some cases, during the summer. 

Please note that most projects are only available to graduate students. 

Questions about internships may be directed to AAAInterns@si.edu.

Archival Collections Processing (Graduate)

  • A professional and focused experience in archival work structured around processing and preservation of archival collections, cataloging and archival descriptive practices and standards including EAD (Encoded Archival Description). Graduate interns work under the supervision and guidance of senior archivists in Collections Processing.  

Archives of American Art Journal (Advanced undergraduate or Graduate)

  • Supports the work of the Archives' managing editor. Projects include fact-checking and proofreading articles, conducting image research, and producing social media content for the Archives' peer-reviewed scholarly Archives of American Art Journal (https://www.aaa.si.edu/publications/journal). 

Audiovisual Archives (Graduate)

  • A professional and focused experience in collection management and processing tasks associated with archival sound and moving image materials found throughout the Archives’ collections. Tasks may include digital reference copy production, surveying audiovisual media in new accessions, improving housing and storage, metadata maintenance and improvement, and arrangement and description of AV-rich archival collections. Interns may be trained in media inspection, handling, using obsolete playback equipment, and archival arrangement and description, and software systems such as ArchivesSpace, audio and video digitization software, collection information systems used at AAA and SI, and standalone media survey and assessment tools. Applicants with a demonstrated interest in working with archival audiovisual media will be given preference. See full posting for details. 

Curatorial (Graduate)

  • Supports the work of the curatorial department. Past intern projects have included exhibitions research and writing; exhibition installation; and research for upcoming publications. 

Oral History Management (Graduate)

  • In this Oral History Management internship, you will be immersed in what goes into the management of a longstanding and ongoing oral history program. This internship is offered in the Archives’ Washington, DC office could be offered remotely. See full posting for details. 

 

Application Deadlines

Semester of Internship Application Deadline
Spring preceding October 15
Summer  February 25
Fall June 25
 

Requirements

Applicants must submit the following materials through the Smithsonian’s online internship application system (SOLAA, opens in new window), and choose the name of the specific internship program to which they are applying. 

General internships:

  1. Cover letter
  2. Résumé detailing your educational background and work/volunteer experience
  3. Unofficial academic transcript
  4. One reference
    Names and email addresses of a reference whom we will contact for letters of recommendation. References should be able to speak to the applicant’s academic abilities, but personal recommendations will also be considered. Please note that the SOLAA system will ask for two references but you only need to submit one.

Graduate Internships:

  1. Cover letter
  2. Résumé detailing your educational background and work/volunteer experience
  3. One reference
    Name and email address of one reference whom we will contact for a letter of recommendation. Reference should be able to speak to the applicant’s academic abilities, but personal recommendations will also be considered.

All internship application packages must be submitted through Smithsonian’s online internship application system (SOLAA, opens in new window).

Graduate student, predoctoral, postdoctoral, and senior research fellowships at the Archives of American Art (AAA) are offered through the Smithsonian Office of Academic Appointments and Internships. These in-residence appointments for independent research and study using the facilities, collections, and staff resources of the AAA are awarded for periods of 3 to 12 months. Stipends are available.  

Fellowship applicants must identify a member or members of the AAA’s research staff to serve as primary advisor to hold a residency at the AAA. They are strongly encouraged to notify the potential advisor(s) in advance of their application. To find a potential advisor whose research interests match yours, please consult the AAA’s staff listings in the  Smithsonian Opportunities for Research and Study guide.

For more information on the Smithsonian’s Central Fellowship Programs and how to apply, see https://fellowships.si.edu/fellowship-programs. The AAA hosts fellows for the Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP) and Big Ten Academic Alliance Fellowship Program. Applications are reviewed annually and due by October 15.

The AAA also participates in the Smithsonian Artist Research Fellowship program (SARF), which has its own application process and timetable.

For more information on fellowship opportunities at the AAA, contact AAAFellowships@si.edu.

Volunteers should have an interest in American history, art history, or archival and information science, and should be able to spend at least four hours a week on assigned tasks. Both in-person and digital volunteer opportunities are available.

In-person volunteers at the Archives of American Art are part of the Behind-the-Scenes Volunteer Program of the Smithsonian Institution.

Digital volunteers may not be required to officially register with the Smithsonian’s Volunteer Program, depending on the nature and duration of their project.

For a full listing of volunteer opportunities throughout the Smithsonian, visit http://www.si.edu/volunteer.

Transcription of Documents

Position: Transcribers and Reviewers
Project: Digital volunteers will transcribe and review digitized historical documents to make the documents full-text searchable, with the purpose of improving intellectual access to information contained within collections. Access Archives of American Art projects in the Smithsonian Transcription Center now (link opens in new window)
Location: Online only
Dates: Ongoing
How to participate: Register for an account at Smithsonian Digital Volunteers: Transcription Center (link opens in new window)

Photograph of an artist's easel side table with paints and other materials
Donating Papers

The Archives of American Art collects primary source materials—original letters, writings, preliminary sketches, scrapbooks, photographs, financial records and the like—that have significant research value for the study of art in America.

 

Find out how to give your papers, records, recordings, or other primary source material to the Archives of American Art.

Karen Maynor, Photograph of Andy Warhol writing a note on vacuum cleaner at “Art in Process V” exhibition, 1972.
Support the Archives

Your support of the Archives of American Art helps us achieve our mission to collect, preserve, and provide access to primary sources that document the history of the visual arts in America.