Internship Term: Spring Quarter 2025
Application Deadline: Monday, December 16th, 2024, 5pm PST

• For Master’s and PhD students enrolled at University of Washington
• Fields of study include East Asian art and Chinese, Japanese, or Korean art history
• Quarterly stipend estimated at $2,863
• 20 hours per week, for 12 weeks during Spring 2025 Academic Quarter

OVERVIEW

Seattle Art Museum is committed to offering meaningful career development opportunities to graduate and advanced undergraduate students at the University of Washington. The Blakemore Foundation supports our goal of furthering scholarship in Asian art and culture by generously sponsoring the Frances Blakemore & Griffith Way Internship Program. These internships enable students at the University of Washington to gain professional research experience, work directly with SAM’s East Asian art collection, and participate in major exhibition and publication projects.

The unwavering goal of this program is to provide promising students of Asian art and Asian studies with outstanding opportunities to intern at a top ranked Asian art museum. The internship program furthers the Blakemore Foundation’s mission of advancing the study of Asian art and culture by fostering new scholarship in the field.

Under the mentorship of SAM’s Asian art curators, interns will gain intimate knowledge about the day-to-day responsibilities of a curator, enhance their knowledge of Asian art, and gain practical experience in an area directly related to their studies. All interns in this program will have opportunities to work with the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas (CAAI) and network internationally with top scholars in their field, to plan and implement scholarly programs and symposia, and to engage the public through gallery talks and docent training presentations.

Frances Blakemore & Griffith Way Intern for Japanese & Korean Art

This intern will work closely with Dr. Aaron Rio, Tateuchi Foundation Curator for Japanese & Korean Art, to complete detailed cataloging for the Japanese and Korean art collections at Seattle Asian Art Museum. This intern will primarily focus on cataloging a small subset of the collection which relates to their own specific academic interests.

Please note: The scope of this project may adjust based on intern’s academic interests and skill set, and a strong knowledge of Japanese or Korean art history is required. No prior experience with museum collections or databases is required.

EXPECTED TIME COMMITMENT

The internship period is for the Spring quarter of the 2024-2025 academic year. The expectation is that this intern will work 20 hours per week.

COMPENSATION

Interns will receive a quarterly stipend through the University of Washington equivalent to a Level 2 UW graduate teaching assistant rate, estimated at $8,589 ($2,863 per month for pay periods running through Autumn 2024, Winter 2025, or Spring 2025).

Each internship will include a waiver of tuition and most fees for the quarter, including the resident operating fee, the building fee, and the technology fee.

ELIGIBILITY

All candidates are required to be active students at University of Washington during the full term of their internship, and must have completed at least two art history classes in Chinese, Japanese, or Korean art prior to applying.

Graduate students currently enrolled at University of Washington in the Art History or Henry M. Jackson School’s Asian Studies departments are preferred.

Students enrolled in other UW programs will also be considered, including those skilled in East Asian languages or experienced with the study of material culture.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

1. Accurately classify, describe, and catalog a selection Japanese or Korean art objects from SAAM’s permanent collection, following provided standards.
2. Research provenance, exhibition history, and related data for individual art objects. This may include accessing internal object files or translating artist names, labels, and seals from physical objects.
3. Review established standards for descriptive cataloging and apply those standards to new records in SAM’s collections management database (TMS).
4. Complete a one-page reflection, blog post, or interview about your internship experience.
5. Attend Enrichment Sessions, informational interviews, and check-ins as available.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES REQUIRED

1. Strong knowledge of Japanese or Korean art and art history is required.
2. Ability to accurately classify, describe, and record information about a work of art to a high level of detail.
3. Some familiarity with descriptive cataloging best practices or museum collections databases is preferred, but not required. Training with SAM’s collection management system (TMS) will be provided.
4. Knowledge of Japanese or Korean language is preferred. Alternative skills include proficiency in Classical Japanese or Chinese, experience with seal scripts, or experience translating from Classical Chinese, Kanbun, or Classical Japanese into English.
5. Demonstrated proficiency in general computer use, including Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint) and the internet.
6. Ability to ask for help and accept supervision and evaluation of your work.
7. Ability to work with others professionally and tactfully.
8. Ability to adhere to museum policies and support management decisions in a positive, professional manner.

APPLICATION PROCESS

All application materials are due by Monday, December 16, 2024, 5pm PST. This includes:

• Blakemore internship application (attached below, or submitted online)
• Resume
• Personal statement explaining your reasons for applying for the Blakemore Internship. Statement should include:
  • What you feel you can contribute to the department in which you are applying
  • What you hope to gain from the experience
• Writing sample (10 pages max)
• Current transcript (Unofficial transcripts are allowed)

Please note: Letters of Recommendation are NOT required for the Frances Blakemore and Griffith Way Internships Program, but are welcome.

Online applications are only accepted through the SAM Careers page at https://seattleartmuseum.applytojob.com/apply or by email to internships@seattleartmuseum.org

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Come as you are. At Seattle Art Museum (SAM), our members, visitors, and local community come from all walks of life, and so do our employees, volunteers, and interns. The plurality of our identities and experiences make us stronger, and better able to further our mission: connecting art to life. Our mission and vision call upon us to be responsive to a wide swath of cultural contexts and lived experiences, and as such, our 2024 - 2029 Strategic Plan directly addresses the role art plays in empowering and elevating social justice movements, and promoting structural change towards greater equity in our society. SAM is particularly dedicated to racial equity in the workplace, because we know that people of color are the most impacted when it comes to both historical and present inequities. As we strive to be a more inclusive and equitable workplace, we are particularly interested in engaging with folx who hold an identity that has been historically underrepresented in the museum field.

SAM is an equal opportunity employer. We are an equal opportunity employer, and consider qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, age, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions), marital status, ancestry, sensory, physical, or mental disability, genetic information, military or veteran status, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, citizenship or immigration status, or other applicable legally protected characteristic. SAM is committed to providing reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities and disabled veterans in our job application procedures, and will consider candidates for employment who may need a reasonable accommodation to perform the essential duties of the job. Please contact the Human Resources Department at HR@seattleartmuseum.org for additional information, or to request reasonable accommodations for the application or interview process.

We encourage you to apply. We are dedicated to building a diverse workplace, and a sense of belonging for each and every employee, because we know our organization is at its best when we include, celebrate and embrace difference. We encourage you to submit an application, even if your experience doesn’t feel like a 100% match with the position. We know applying for a job can be intimidating, and research tells us that womxn and folks of color are less likely to apply if they don't see themselves meeting or exceeding every single qualification listed. We encourage you to apply, even if you feel unsure about whether you meet every requirement in this job post. You could very well be a great fit for this role or others.

Want to learn more? If you haven't already, check out our Careers page for more on working at SAM.

Though we'd love to be able to reply to every question that crosses our desk, due to the high volume of applications we receive, our HR team is unfortunately unable to offer a response to inquiries requesting search status updates, inquiries about hiring timeline, or requests to be put in touch with directly with the Hiring Team. If your experiences and capabilities are well suited to an open role, our Recruiter or the Hiring Manager will reach out directly to schedule an interview. Thanks for your understanding!

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Last updated on Oct 11, 2024