2023 IDEAL Internship Grants Awarded to Four Institutions
The Decorative Arts Trust is pleased to announce the four institutions that will receive IDEAL Internship Grants in 2023. The DAR Museum and North Bennet Street School will receive grants for the first time, and the Committee has decided to award grants for a second year to the Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses and the High Museum.
The primary objective of the IDEAL Internship Initiative 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.
The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) Museum in Washington, D.C., will welcome an intern to conduct historical and decorative arts research to undergird the re-interpretation of the Museum’s Louisiana Gallery. Previous interpretations in the gallery have narrowly focused on elite New Orleanians or women in Louisiana. These interpretations also neglected the contributions of women of color to Louisiana’s rich history. This internship will focus on identifying the various cultures and ethnic groups that contributed to present-day Louisiana and the material culture associated with these groups.
The DAR Museum’s Louisiana room, also called the Louisiana Gallery, is arranged as an exhibition displaying art and objects that reflect the cultural history of the state. Photo courtesy of the DAR Museum.
The intern at North Bennet Street School (NBSS) in Boston, MA, will assist in planning, researching, curating, and installing the School’s upcoming In the Making exhibition. The exhibition will feature a diverse group of makers who have been featured in NBSS’s In the Making virtual series of public programs and will run from September through December of 2023 in the Windgate Gallery.
North Bennet Street School’s 2022 “Making Matters” exhibition featured a deconstructed piano, hand carved brackets, jewelers’ tools, and finely bound books.
Given the success of internships currently underway at two institutions that received funding in 2022, the committee opted to extend those programs through additional funding. The Hermann-Grima + Gallier Historic Houses in New Orleans began a year-long internship for a local college student in September who is seeking narratives of invisible labor in fine and decorative arts as well as architectural elements at the 1831 Hermann-Grima House. The High Museum in Atlanta hired an intern for the academic year 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.
Visit the institutions’ websites and follow them on social media for updates about applying for internship opportunities.
The Trust is committed to offering IDEAL Internship funding in the coming years. We encourage institutions interested in applying for grant funding to check the IDEAL webpage for information about upcoming grant 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.
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Formerly known as the "blog,” the Bulletin features new research and scholarship, travelogues, book reviews, and museum and gallery exhibitions. The Bulletin complements The Magazine of the Decorative Arts Trust, our biannual members publication.
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