2015 Fall and 2016 Spring Internship Opportunity
Curatorial Department, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
Fall: September – December 2015; Spring: January/February – May 2016, 16 hr/week minimum

Description:

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. CHNDM is finishing research for the third exhibition in the Design with the Other 90% series, which will open in New York in late Spring 2016. In 2007, the Design for the Other 90% exhibition opened at the Museum displaying design solutions that address the most basic needs for 90% of the world’s population not traditionally served by professional designers, and demonstrated how design can be a dynamic force in transforming and, in many cases, saving lives. The next exhibition in the series, Design with the Other 90%: CITIES, opened at the UN Headquarters and examined design solutions which are responding to the unprecedented growth of informal settlements in emerging and developing economies. This third exhibition will focus primarily on socially responsible design in the United States.

In addition, Cooper Hewitt is interested in broadening their outreach and will travel the DWO90% exhibition. We are making every effort to find numerous venues for display of this 6,000 sq. ft. exhibition.

Roles & Responsibilities:

Intern will be responsible for assisting the Curator (and Curatorial Assistant) with the preparation of labels, images, digital and web content, blog posts, and other Departmental tasks related to the upcoming “Design with the Other 90%” exhibition, scheduled to open in 2016. In addition, the intern will be expected to assist with inputting of information into the museum’s database, fact check, prepare for internal presentations and additional research as needed, and author digital profiles of supplementary design projects.

Learning Objectives:

•   Intern will learn what the daily functions of the curatorial department are within the museum
•   Intern will gain knowledge of museum cataloguing practices and become proficient in TMS (The Museum

  System) database

•   Intern will learn how Cooper Hewitt’s curatorial department works and gain insight into the procedures

  and processes involved in planning for an exhibition, corresponding publication and interactive and digital media

  Skills and Qualifications:

  Seeking a flexible individual with a strong interest in design, the built environment and museum work along with good research, writing, organizational, and communication skills. Additional skills include professional phone manner, attention to detail, strong organizational skills, and the ability to work independently and cooperatively. The candidate must have working knowledge of Microsoft Word and Excel. Those who have previous museum or gallery experience, and/or knowledge of contemporary or historical design and art are encouraged to apply. Recent graduates or graduate students preferred.

  Contact:

  Cynthia E Smith, Curator of Socially Responsible Design, smithcynthia@si.edu CC: Julia Pastor, pastorj@si.edu