McMullan Family Foundation Summer Intensive Participant

Position: McMullan Family Foundation Summer Intensive -- Participant
The Art Institute of Chicago shares its singular collections with our city and the world. We collect, care for, and interpret works of art across time, cultures, geographies, and identities. We are a place of gathering and learning, committed to fostering an inclusive understanding of human creativity.

Position Summary

The Art Institute of Chicago is excited to invite current undergraduate students to apply to our McMullan Family Foundation Summer Intensive program. The McMullan Family Foundation's primary objective is to support students who will encounter economic challenges if they consider a career in the arts. Aligned with this goal, we aim to help shape a diverse group of leaders whose actions are informed by a wide range of perspectives, varying career paths, and values inspired by their own lived experiences.

The McMullan Family Foundation Summer Intensive is a weeklong immersive program introducing undergraduate students to museum professions through workshops, behind-the-scenes tours, field trips, and networking events.

The 2026 program considers the theme of "Context." The term "context" is often used to describe the kinds of information that museums provide about art, such as the historical and social conditions in which an artwork was made, or the process of its making. But there are a wide range of approaches to offering context and determining what kinds of information and how much of it is needed.

Moreover, artists and artworks might resist certain forms of description. Do we need context? And if so, what kinds?

Through conversations with museum staff, we will see how the engagements, spaces, and narratives that museums offer can shape a person's perspective on an artwork. We will ask ourselves:
What do we need around us to understand what art is doing? What do we need to be told? How do museums negotiate the tension between an artwork's original setting and our present moment? What assumptions do we make about an individual's experience with art? And what other possibilities can we consider?

Students have the opportunity to meet with and learn from multiple museum departments and staff as well as develop a robust peer cohort. Summer Intensive participants also receive writing resources, training on presentation skills, and ongoing career advice and mentorship.

Alumni of our Summer Intensive stay connected with the museum through free events and receive guidance from the museum's Academic Engagement and Research staff on emerging professional opportunities at the Art Institute and beyond.

Goals of the McMullan Family Foundation

The McMullan Family Foundation's primary objective is to support students who will encounter economic challenges if considering a career in the arts. Aligned with this goal, we aim to help shape a diverse group of leaders whose actions are informed by a wide range of perspectives, varying career paths, and values inspired by their own lived experiences.

Duration and Format of the Program

Dates:
Monday, June 8-Saturday, June 13, 2026

Times: 9:00am-5:00pm each day

Location:

The Art Institute of Chicago

Format:
In-Person

Responsibilities

* Learn from museum staff about their roles as well as those of a diverse range of other art professionals.

* Investigate conceptual questions that currently face the collecting, research, and art museum field more broadly.

* Experience a behind-the-scenes look at hands-on museum work.

* Explore different museum career paths.

* Exercise research, writing, and presentation skills centered on art museum work.

* Become part of a growing network of emerging scholars and professionals.

Qualifications

Undergraduates who are currently enrolled at a university, college, or community college in the United States.

* Students who are able to attend the weeklong event in its entirety, from June 8-June 13, 2026.

* Students who are eligible to work in the United States (including individuals currently on student visas) and able to physically access the museum for the duration of the program.

* Students who are based or attending school in the greater Chicagoland area and the Midwest are prioritized.

* Students who have an interest in learning more about museums and how museums work, art and art history, and the wide range of career paths in the museum field. Previous coursework or job experience in these fields is not required.

* Applicants who aim to support the goal of promoting inclusive museums that highlight a multiplicity of voices, perspectives, and identities, and who would benefit from the unique support and access that this opportunity provides.

Compensation and Benefits

Program stipend - $700 for the week

This position is not benefits eligible.

All participants must stay in SAIC housing provided as part of the program. Each participant will be given a single-person room. Student housing is walking distance to the museum. Check in for SAIC student housing is on the Sunday before the program begins, while check out is the Sunday after the program concludes.

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