Native American Artist-in-Residence Support Intern

Position Title

Native American Artist-in-Residence Support Intern

Department

Native American Initiatives/Collections

Supervisor 

Program and Outreach Manager

Coordinator

Program Specialist

Semester

Fall 2025 (September - December)

Hours Per Week

15

Status

Paid

# of Positions Available

1

Location

Minnesota History Center (345 W Kellogg Blvd, Saint Paul, MN 55102); other locations as needed

Project Summary

The Native American Initiatives (NAI) department assists in developing and

implementing a vision and strategy for Native American programs and services at MNHS.
 

The Native American Artist-in-Residence (NAAIR) program was created for the purpose of exposing Native American artists working within traditional art forms to Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) collections in order to: 1) advance their understanding of the traditional form of art and 2) bring this advanced understanding to their communities in a way designed by the artist.

The next call for artists for the NAAIR program will be after this internship finishes but there is a lot of prep work needed to have a successful launch. There also will be opportunities to work with current artists’ program needs to finish their residencies.

Responsibilities

• Review and update contact lists
• Assist in creating marketing plan for next call for artists and create marketing materials
• Support program planning for current artists
• Attend public programs with Artists-in-Residence and gather survey and other evaluation data at public programming events
• Support research with physical and digital access of collections for artists
• Plan and organize an artist gathering for past applicants
• Assist in program evaluation for current artists
• Update database records with information collected from artists’ research visits

Qualifications

• Experience planning or supporting programs
• Strong research and writing skills
• Experience with Google Workspace
• Ability to Work independently and take individual initiative while also being able to collaborate effectively and contribute positively in a team environment
• Knowledge of American Indian history, culture, and traditional art forms
• Interest in history and material culture
• Interest or experience in collections management
• Interest in community engagement and public programing at museum institutions
• Strong organizational skills
• Attention to detail
• Ability to attend meetings and complete tasks on a timely basis
• Ability to travel as necessary

Knowledge Intern is Expected to Gain

• Collections management and handling
• Marketing and social media management
• Public program event support and planning
• Experience with program implementation and evaluation
• Artist to museum relations
• Skills researching museum resources and collections

Additional Materials Required

None

How to Apply

Send a cover letter, resume, and any required additional materials to internships@mnhs.org. 

At MNHS, we don’t just accept difference--we celebrate it, we support it, and we thrive on diversity for the benefit of our volunteers, interns, employees, our products and services, and our community. The Minnesota Historical Society believes that an inclusive culture among our team members is critical to our success as a historical society, and we seek to recruit, develop, and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool. The Minnesota Historical Society is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace.