Peter A. Krueger Internships | Summer 2025
PETER A. KRUEGER SUMMER INTERNSHIPS
The Peter A. Krueger Summer Internship Program offers undergraduate students the unique opportunity to develop professional skills and learn about museum practices at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Interns will gain in-depth knowledge and an enriched understanding of how the museum fulfills its mission to educate, inspire, and empower people through design. Explore the 2025 Peter A. Krueger Internship details and offerings below.
2025 Peter A. Krueger Summer Internship Overview
- Dates: June 9–August 15, 2025 (10 weeks, 35 hours/week)
- Stipend: $6,000
- Format: Hybrid
- Location: Onsite at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City (minimum 3 days a week depending on internship placement)
- Eligibility: Applicants must be enrolled in an undergraduate program at the time of application. All individuals participating in a Smithsonian internship must be eligible to work in the United States.
- Questions? Please email chinternships@si.edu.
How to apply
Submit your application materials through the SOLAA portal. Once you create an account, select “Start Your Application” at the top of the page and search for “Peter A. Krueger Summer Internship” in the program name field.
Application deadline: Monday, February 10, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. ET (Eastern Time)
Notification: By mid-April 2025
Required application materials:
- Resume
- 3 short essay responses
- Please explain why you are interested in an internship at Cooper Hewitt. Include your preferred placement, relevant past experiences, what you hope to accomplish during the internship, and/or your future academic and career goals. (500 words max)
- How would you describe the difference between art and design to a museum visitor? (200 words max)
- Explore Cooper Hewitt’s collection online (https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/). Find an object that interests or inspires you and tell us why. You can select from the featured objects or one of your choosing. (200 words max)
- 1 letter of recommendation
- Unofficial transcript
Application notes:
- Late applications, including recommendation letters, will not be accepted.
- Short essay responses: Upload as a single PDF, including a copy of each prompt before your response.
- Letter of recommendation: You will provide contact information for your recommender in the application portal. Your recommender will receive email instructions on how to submit their recommendation letter through the portal. Recommendation letters must be submitted directly by the recommender by the application deadline. We suggest notifying your recommender and completing this step as soon as possible. You will be able to log in and check the status of whether your recommendation letter has been submitted, even after you’ve submitted your application. We suggest following up with your recommender as needed.
- Remove any passwords or other protections from your files before uploading.
- Skills and qualifications noted are encouraged but not required. We welcome your application even if you don’t meet all the qualifications.
The Smithsonian Institution does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability, genetic information, parental status, or military service.
Digital Media Intern
Cross-Platform Content Department
The Cross-Platform Content Department is involved in the content development and workflow for books (print and digital), video (web, gallery, and social media), exhibition didactics, digital interactions, website, and museum interpretation.
The intern will contribute and assist in capturing captivating visuals as a camera person during events and exhibitions. They will also use editing skills to craft engaging content that enhances our digital presence. This internship provides a unique opportunity to blend technical skills with creative storytelling, contributing to the museum’s mission of delivering compelling and immersive experiences. The intern will have first-hand experience in creating accessible content across all platforms, ensuring audiences of all abilities can engage and interact with the museum’s video offerings.
Skills and qualifications:
- Interest in digital media and museums.
- Basic familiarity with camera operation.
- Some experience with video editing.
- Interest or some experience in asset and project management.
Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Curatorial Intern
Curatorial Department
Housed within the Curatorial Department, the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design (DPGD) Department is among the world’s foremost repositories of European and American works on paper, holding over 147,000 drawings and prints dating from the Renaissance to the present. Included are designs for architecture, decorative arts, interiors, ornament, jewelry, textiles, graphic and industrial design, and the fine arts. The Department’s collection is a vital resource for study, actively supports original research and scholarship, and fosters greater understanding and appreciation of the integral role of works on paper in the history of design and decorative arts up to the present day.
The intern will learn the daily functions of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design Department, including museum cataloguing practices and The Museum System (TMS) database. They will gain insight into exhibition planning, collections management, and preparation for acquisitions, loans, and publications. The intern will also learn about the history of European and American art and design, including its principles, traditions, historical contexts, and research methods. They will conduct primary and secondary research on objects and artists in the museum’s collection and have the opportunity to publish writing reflecting original research on the museum’s blog. The intern will contribute research to the development of several future exhibitions and forthcoming acquisitions.
Skills and qualifications:
- Interest in art history, design history, or material culture.
- Strong attention to detail.
- Ability to follow directions well.
- Coursework in the history of art or related field.
- Some experience conducting primary and secondary research through coursework or work experience.
- Familiarity working with, or willingness to learn, databases, such as The Museum System (TMS) or FileMaker.
- Reading knowledge of French and/or Italian (optional).
Finance Intern
Finance and Operations Department
The Finance and Operations Department provides essential administrative and technical support to museum operations and cross-departmental needs.
This internship offers a professional learning experience to develop the skills needed in the finance and procurement field within a museum setting. The intern will learn how to navigate the federal procurement process from start to finish and see how it applies to museum events, exhibitions, and operations. Projects will include initializing a digital filing system for procurement materials and performing introductory administrative tasks that do not require prior experience. The intern will communicate and collaborate directly with other departments to assist and facilitate their requests.
Skills and qualifications:
- Interest in museum financial operations.
- Strong attention to detail.
- Strong communication skills.
Product Design and Decorative Arts Curatorial Intern
Curatorial Department
Housed within the Curatorial Department, the Department of Product Design and Decorative Arts (PDDA) holds around 30,000 three-dimensional objects from antiquity to the 21st century. Predominantly American and European, the collection features diverse objects from various historical styles, design movements, and techniques. It includes Greek amphora, Roman glass, Soviet propaganda porcelain, and Chinese export porcelain to buttons, birdcages, cutlery, and consumer electronics. Categories include ceramics, furniture, metalwork, lighting, glass, jewelry, models, architectural elements, appliances, and industrial design. PDDA cares for and physically manages the collection, researches and catalogues the objects, and develops and mounts exhibitions.
This internship will support the curatorial team’s research around the development of modern networked communication technologies, providing historical context for current discussions. Additional research will explore this history from the telegraph to today’s robots and AI, and include speculative prototypes from the 1990s, personal computers, smart devices, and recent digital platforms and interactive works. The intern will assist with related tasks, including researching and writing to improve object information in the museum’s collections database, as well as creating online content.
Skills and qualifications:
- Curiosity and interest in researching and learning about the history of industrial design and digital technologies.
- Knowledge of art history, cultural history, and social history.
- Strong sense of organization, accuracy, and thoroughness.
- Excellent communication and writing skills.
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Teams).
- Willingness to learn the museum’s collections database, The Museum System (TMS).
- Care and willingness to learn museum-level object handling skills.
Featured Image: Aerial view of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum located in the former residence of Andrew Carnegie
