IDEAL Internships advance inclusivity, diversity, equity, access, and leadership within the museum field. The Decorative Arts Trust, recognizing long-standing barriers to entering curatorial and other museum careers, seeks to expand access for students from disadvantaged and underserved backgrounds as part of a broader effort to foster systemic change. 

Through new collaborations and educational opportunities, the Trust aims to encourage a wider range of perspectives, narratives, and voices within museums, historic sites, and other cultural organizations stewarding and promoting the decorative arts. Funded internships should be open to all eligible applicants and are intended to broaden the participation of traditionally disadvantaged students. 

The Trust seeks to support summer and academic-year internships that focus on the decorative arts, material culture, and object-based research, exhibitions, communications, and educational programming. There is an opportunity for a second year of funding if the grantee institution can demonstrate sufficient impact.

Up to $5,000 to support paid internships.

Please review these specifications before applying:

• The Trust seeks partner institutions—including art museums, history museums, and historic sites—with a demonstrated commitment to serving the breadth of their local community. Potential partners should also have a proven record of hosting successful internships.

• Interns will work toward a defined end goal or capstone project that supports their academic and professional growth, with their individual goals incorporated into the assigned work whenever possible. The Trust expects partners to provide opportunities for broader professional development, peer-to-peer networking, and public outreach through tours and presentations. The Trust also requires partners to evaluate and report on the success of the internships.

• The format and duration are to be determined by the prospective host institutions (e.g. full-time summer internship, part-time semester-long placement, or a part-time academic-year model). This flexibility allows partners to select the structure best suited to their needs and capacity.

• As part of our funding guidelines, institutions that receive grant support are expected to have at least one staff member maintain a Trust membership for the duration of the project. Our website outlines the various membership levels. We are happy to answer any questions you may have about this requirement.

• All IDEAL Internship Grants and funded internships are administered in a manner consistent with applicable federal and state nondiscrimination laws, including 42 U.S.C. § 1981, and are open to all qualified applicants without regard to race.

Please prepare the application in this format, combine into a single PDF file, and email to grants@decorativeartstrust.org