Contemporary Asian Photography Curatorial Intern Peabody Essex Museum

In 2019, PEM received a transformational gift of over 1600 photographs from the Joy of Giving Something Foundation (JGS). The JGS gift features work produced between 1930 to the present by 123 artists, primarily those of East Asian descent or working in East Asia. From January to April 2027, PEM’s curatorial department will host a graduate-level intern to work closely with the JGS Collection.

The intern will assist in the inventorying, cataloguing and rehousing of a selection of this massive collection stored at PEM’s James

B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Collections Center in Rowley, Massachusetts.

The intern will enter basic catalog information on works into PEM’s collections management database, Museum Plus (M+), and conduct biographical information on the artists. Works by a number of artists in the JGS collection will be featured in PEM’s 2028 exhibition Radiant:
Photography and Asian America. Tasks will involve data management including photocopying, scanning, collating, organizing, filing, and managing paper and digital files. The intern will be trained to work with PEM’s collections management database (M+) and may additionally work on data projects related to other aspects of PEM’s collection.

Lydia Peabody, Curator-at-Large at PEM, will be the primary supervisor for the intern. Work will take place in both PEM’s Salem and Rowley campuses. The former location is accessible by public transportation, but accessing the Rowley campus will require a car.

Stipend: $2,000

Duration:12 weeks (January 21 – April 26, 2027)

Schedule:15 hours/week (180 hours total)