2022 IDEAL Internship Grants Awarded to Four Institutions

The Decorative Arts Trust announces that four organizations will receive IDEAL Internship Grants for 2022: Drexel’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships/Atwater Kent Collection, the Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses, the High Museum of Art, and the Museum of the American Revolution. 

The primary objective of the IDEAL Internship Program is to improve access to curatorial careers and mentorship for students of color as a path toward achieving comprehensive change in the museum field. The partners were selected based on the likely impact of the internships, which offer students consequential experience and stipends while providing the host organizations valuable contributions to curatorial projects and to meaningful discussions about inclusion, diversity, and equity. 

Drexel’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships will receive a second year of internship funding to hire an undergraduate student to assist with the development of two exhibitions highlighting objects from the Atwater Kent Collection. 

The Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses in New Orleans is creating a year-long internship for a local college student that will focus on the collection at the 1831 Hermann-Grima House, seeking narratives of invisible labor in fine and decorative arts as well as architectural elements to enhance the organization’s successful Urban Enslavement Tours.

The High Museum in Atlanta will hire a summer intern to develop a gallery rotation after researching objects, rethinking narratives, and drafting labels while also generating a public outreach initiative through a gallery tour, social media campaign, or hosted event. 

The Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia aims to hire a summer intern to increase awareness of the diverse communities that contributed to the Revolution through research into the permanent collection. 

Visit the institutions’ websites and follow them on social media for updates about internship opportunities. 

The Trust is committed to offering IDEAL Internship funding in the coming years. Please check the IDEAL Grants webpage for information about upcoming application deadlines.

Thank you to the many members and donors whose support of the Decorative Arts Trust’s Emerging Scholars Program makes the IDEAL Internship Program possible.