SHI offering museum, art internships in Alaska, New Mexico

(Apply museum) (Apply art) 

Sealaska Heritage Institute (SHI) is recruiting undergraduate and graduate students for paid museum and art internships. Students may apply for positions at SHI in Juneau, Alaska, or at the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) in New Mexico. The internships are offered for academic credit through the University of Alaska Southeast and IAIA.

Museum Internships

Students may apply for either a position at SHI in Juneau, Alaska, or for an opportunity at IAIA’s Museum of Contemporary Native Arts (MoCNA) in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The SHI-based internship will start June 1, 2026, and last for 9 weeks (ends July 31, 2026). The Intern will work with SHI’s collection of Northwest Coast objects and work alongside SHI staff in collections management (inventory, cataloging objects, condition reports, storage trays, etc.). Interns will also work on special projects, to be determined in person. 

The IAIA internship begins on June 29, 2026, and lasts for 8 weeks (ends August 21, 2026). MoCNA holds the National Collection of Contemporary Native American Arts, with close to 9,000 artworks including paintings, works on paper, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, photography, contemporary apparel, textiles, cultural arts, new media, and installations. The Intern will work with incoming art loans (unpacking, condition reporting), gain hands-on experience in the exhibit galleries with installation and de-installation of exhibits, and assist with research on an upcoming exhibit on Alaska Native and Canadian First Nation art.

Art Internships

The SHI-based art internships, also based in Juneau, will start June 1, 2026, and last for nine weeks (ends July 31, 2026). At the conclusion of the program interns will have a broader practical understanding of what is expected from an artist when engaging in a variety of income-generating activities; increased artistic knowledge and skills; a practical understanding of how to plan and operate special arts events, summer programs and arts learning opportunities; experience with operations of a nonprofit organization; and knowledge of reporting requirements for operating community activities.

The selected interns will prepare and implement in-person and online arts events and activities, plan and implement online and/or in-person summer camps for youth, participate as an SHI “artist in residence” focusing on developing skills in Northwest Coast art forms and provide general assistance to the art department team.

All internships are available to undergraduate students who have completed two years of college and to graduate students majoring in museum and art studies or a related field. Preference will be given to applicants with a 2.5 GPA or higher. 

The programs are part of a larger effort to support an Alaska Native arts associate degree or certificate at UAS and a studio arts and museum studies degree at IAIA.

More information regarding compensation, housing and logistics is available on the application. The positions pay $26 per hour. The application deadline is Jan. 31, 2026.

If you have any questions regarding the museum internship, please contact Amberley Wallace at amberley.wallace@sealaska.com. If you have any questions regarding the art internship, please contact Kari Groven at kari.groven@sealaska.com.

Sealaska Heritage Institute is a non-profit tribal organization founded in 1980 to perpetuate and enhance Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian cultures of Southeast Alaska. SHI also conducts scientific and public policy research that promotes Alaska Native arts, cultures, history and education statewide. The institute is governed by a Board of Trustees and guided by a Council of Traditional Scholars, a Native Artist Committee, a Southeast Regional Language Committee and a newly formed Education Committee.

CONTACT: Therese Pokorney, SHI Communications Officer, therese.pokorney@sealaska.com

Caption: SHI 2023 museum intern Jordan Martinez near one of the institute’s exhibits. Photo by Kaila Cogdill, courtesy of SHI. Note: news outlets are welcome to use this photo for coverage of this story. For a higher-res version, contact therese.pokorney@sealaska.com