WashU Students
Overview
Art reflects and shapes our understanding of the world. We invite WashU students to expand their perspectives, reflect on contemporary issues, and connect academically, culturally, and socially through the resources of the Kemper Art Museum.
Students can serve as educators, help build campus involvement with the Museum, develop professional skills, and contribute to scholarship on the collection. Learn about opportunities for Washington University students to engage with the Kemper Art Museum through professional development and student-centered events and programs.
Internship and Research Opportunities
Paid internships support student research and professional training in the museum field. Students contribute to scholarship on the collection and learning and engagement for museum visitors.
Arthur Greenberg Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship
The Arthur Greenberg Undergraduate Fellowship is a competitive program open to sophomore and junior art history majors and minors interested in curating an exhibition at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in the Teaching Gallery. The Fellowship provides hands-on experience for a team of two or three students to curate a thematic exhibition based on original research, to produce an exhibition brochure, and to give a public gallery talk. The exhibition draws from artworks in the Museum’s permanent collection. Exhibition proposals organized around specific chronological, geographic, or sharply focused thematic topics are strongly encouraged. The exhibition should reflect the team members’ areas of interest and experience in art history, theory, visual culture, or related fields of study. Sample brochures from past Greenberg exhibitions are available for consultation in the offices of the Department of Art History & Archaeology and the Kemper Art Museum. Fellows will earn five course credits over three semesters and one summer.
This Fellowship requires a significant commitment of time and physical presence in St. Louis. All team members must be available to work on campus for the entire duration of the Fellowship (spring 2024 through spring 2025). Neither the independent studies nor the internship may be completed remotely or while studying abroad.
The Fellowship will be awarded based on the team members’ prior academic achievement, the merit of the proposed exhibition, its relevance to the team members’ interests and academic experience, and the team members’ plan for expanding their knowledge of the topic during the independent study courses.
Sophomores and juniors who are current art history majors or minors are eligible to apply as a team. Each team must consist of two or three students and a faculty advisor. Each application requires the endorsement of a faculty member from the Department of Art History & Archaeology, who will oversee the project in coordination with Museum staff and will lead the spring 2024 independent study. Students are advised to contact potential faculty advisors as early as possible in order to obtain input on developing the proposal. Students may count the five-credit Greenberg Fellowship as the equivalent of one 400-level seminar.
Students are advised to contact Museum staff and Art History & Archaeology faculty to determine availability of artworks and feasibility of the proposal.
Please direct questions to:
Dana Ostrander, Assistant Curator, Kemper Art Museum, at danao@wustl.edu
Kristina Kleutghen, Director of Undergraduate Studies, Art History & Archaeology, at kleutghen@wustl.edu
"Killing the Buddha": Reconstructing Zen
April 27–July 24, 2023
Women's Work
April 23–August 1, 2021
The Modern Meal: Sustenance Through Ritual
April 7–August 6, 2017
Neither Here Nor There: Borders and Mobility in Contemporary Art
April 10–August 2, 2015
Wǒmen (我们): Contemporary Chinese Art
January 25–May 26, 2013
Arthur Greenberg, an alumnus of the art history program at Washington University, was director of the St. Louis office of AMS, an arts management consulting firm. Greenberg, who passed away in 2010, was known for his commitment to innovative community and neighborhood-based arts and cultural planning and had strong ties to Washington University.
Curatorial Research Internship
The Curatorial Research Internship is a paid, semester-long internship through the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum in partnership with the Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity. The purpose of the internship is to provide opportunities to Washington University undergraduate and graduate students to research the Museum’s collection by focusing on a research project related to the study of race and ethnicity, and/or the WashU & Slavery Project. Projects may focus on the Museum’s institutional history and artwork-based primary and secondary research that illuminates ties to the history of racism in the United States. The selected research-based project will advance the development of interpretive materials including primary sources and digital learning resources. The candidate is expected to work independently and collaboratively to identify and analyze archival materials and to present their research in the WashU & Slavery Project workshop and/or at a public talk. The intern, based in the Curatorial Department, is part of an interdisciplinary intellectual environment, collaborating across departments as well as participating in a professional development series that gives exposure to the Museum’s departments, including Education, Publications, and Registration. The selected student attends staff meetings and public programs as their schedule allows.
The selected student will receive a $2,500 stipend.
The internship is open to all students at Washington University in St. Louis. Students in the Association of Black Students, Asian American Association, Association of Latin American Students, PRIDE, and multicultural student groups, as well as Enterprise, TRIO, Rodriguez, Ervin scholar groups, former Chancellor Career Fellows, Bouchet Society Fellows, Chancellor’s Graduate Fellows, and Spencer T. and Ann. W. Olin Fellows are strongly encouraged to apply.
Applicants should be in good standing at Washington University, making satisfactory progress toward their degree. Students must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA for the duration of the internship and will need the approval of their academic advisor.
Application instructions will be posted here on October 15, 2024.
Please direct questions to:
Meredith Malone, Curator, at meredith_malone@wustl.edu or 314.935.7281
This program is funded in part by Washington University’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity & Equity.
Museum Education Internship
The Museum Education Internship is a paid, semester-long internship program in the Education Department of the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. The purpose of the internship is to provide opportunities to explore the arts, museum education, and the museum field more broadly for Washington University undergraduate and graduate students from historically underrepresented groups. The intern contributes to the Kemper Art Museum’s educational programs by researching, designing, teaching, and evaluating gallery lessons, digital learning resources, and arts-based programs. The candidate helps develop learning initiatives for a core audience area: PreK–12, youth and family, or university.
The internship culminates in a special project that supports the Museum’s mission of providing innovative, participatory object-based learning and that complements the intern’s academic and professional interests. Past projects have included designing and leading class tours, creating virtual tours and educational videos on artworks, researching and leading public talks on the collection, and researching and designing programs for intergenerational audiences.
The candidate is an active part of an interdisciplinary intellectual environment, collaborating across departments as well as participating in a professional development series that gives exposure to the Museum’s curatorial research, scholarly publications program, marketing and visitor services, and behind-the-scenes operations with registration, security, visitor services, and art handling and installation. The selected student attends staff meetings and public programs as their schedule allows.
The selected student will receive a $2,500 stipend.
The internship is open to all undergraduate and graduate students at Washington University in St. Louis with an interest in the arts. Students in the Association of Black Students, Asian American Association, Association of Latin American Students, PRIDE, and multicultural student groups, as well as Enterprise, TRIO, Rodriguez, Ervin scholar groups, and former Chancellor Career Fellows are strongly encouraged to apply.
Applicants should be in good standing at Washington University, making satisfactory progress toward their degree. Students must maintain at least a 3.0 GPA for the duration of the internship and will need the approval of their academic advisor.
Application instructions will be posted here on October 15, 2024.
Please direct questions to:
Meredith Lehman, Head of Museum Education, at lehman.meredith@wustl.edu or 314.935.7918
This program is funded by the Trio Foundation.
New Perspective Talks
New Perspectives talks are opportunities to learn more about the Museum’s collection from emerging scholars. The talks are given by graduate students in Arts & Sciences and the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts and focus on one or more works from the collection, often aligning with the students’ own expertise and scholarly interests.
Students may choose any group of objects (ideally one to five artworks) from the permanent collection about which to prepare a focused and interactive 45-minute gallery talk. This will allow students to research objects that support disciplinary and/or cross-disciplinary connections with aesthetics, art history, material culture, and the humanities more broadly. These one-time gallery talks will take place in the Museum galleries, with the possibility of bringing additional artworks out of storage to put on easels. The public talks are designed to be informal and to engage both specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Selected applicants will receive a $175 stipend.
New Perspectives talks are offered once per semester. Proposals are open to postdoctoral fellows, but graduate students will have priority. New Perspectives talks have been given by graduate students in architecture, art history, Hispanic studies, and social work, among other disciplines. Proposals should list very specifically the works in the Museum’s collection that will be addressed and outline how the talk engages with the student’s academic research.
Application instructions will be posted here at a later date.
Please direct questions to:
Elizabeth Mangone, Curatorial Research Assistant, at e.mangone@wustl.edu or 314.935.6920
Student Educator Program
The Student Educator program is a paid gallery teaching opportunity for Washington University students. Student Educators design and lead public tours on the Museum’s collection and exhibitions that invite visitors from all backgrounds to engage with art, express ideas, and raise questions. As a public face of the Museum, Student Educators gain experience with visual analysis, critical thinking, public speaking, and audience engagement.
Student Educators participate in trainings and ongoing monthly professional development sessions with Museum staff and invited speakers to learn about the collection, special exhibitions, and current museum education practices, including object-based learning strategies, critical pedagogy, and creative response gallery activities. Students lead at least two tours per semester for the general public, PreK–12, higher education, and community audiences and complete post-tour reflections. In addition to trainings, students work closely with education staff and their peers and are provided interpretive materials in support of developing tours.
Student Educators receive a $60 stipend per tour.
The Student Educator program seeks students who are passionate about connecting with people around art and who value curiosity. We welcome applicants with diverse interests and perspectives from a range of academic backgrounds. To be eligible for the Student Educator program, students will be at least a sophomore at the time of training, which occurs at the start of the fall semester. All majors and students with experience in art, art history, media studies, visual culture studies, and education are encouraged to apply.
Students Educators are required to attend an onboarding training series and monthly professional development sessions and observe at least one tour prior to teaching. Student Educators receive a $100 honorarium for the onboarding training and a $60 honorarium for each tour given.
Application instructions will be posted here on February 15, 2025.
Please direct questions to:
Meredith Lehman, Head of Museum Education, at lehman.meredith@wustl.edu or 314.935.7918
This program is funded in part by the Ken and Nancy Kranzberg Fund, the Trio Foundation, and a grant from the Women’s Society of Washington University.
Membership & Campus Engagement
Student Membership
Current WashU students can become members of the Museum for FREE and take advantage of invitations to members-only events.
- Email updates for exhibition openings and public events
- Invitations to members-only events and exhibition previews
Some additional member benefits, including free admission to over three dozen art museums through the College and University Art Museum Reciprocal Program, are available with paid memberships. Students receive all the benefits of an Associate membership for just $35!
Questions? Email kempermembership@wustl.edu.
Art History Majors and Graduate Students
Additional opportunities are available for undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Art History & Archaeology. For more information, please contact Bradley Parton, academic & administrative coordinator, at parton@wustl.edu.