Application Deadline: Friday, February 13, 2026, at 11:59PM.

Bartels interns at the Yale Center for British Art are part of a dynamic, cohort-based learning experience that connects students across the museum and to other cultural institutions on campus. In addition to their departmental placements, interns meet colleagues across the YCBA, get behind the scenes access to many departments, and build a network with fellow YCBA interns through weekly meetings. They also participate in the Intern Enrichment Series with interns at the Yale University Art Gallery. Bartels interns are an integral part of the YCBA, and we are committed to fostering long-term mentoring relationships that support their growth during the summer and beyond. 

The YCBA internship programs take place from June 8 to July 31, 2026. Staff holidays are observed on Friday, June 19 and Friday, July 3. Interns work 35 hours per week, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Department Description: 

The Department of Prints and Drawings oversees the Yale Center for British Art’s collection of some 60,000 prints, drawings, and photographs. The curator/department head and assistant curator work closely with department colleagues, fellows, and interns to research, catalogue, and publish the collection; organize exhibitions; propose acquisitions of works of art through purchase and gift; and facilitate communication with colleagues at Yale, scholars and researchers, as well as the general public in order to share the collection with the YCBA’s many visitors both online and in-person. Upcoming shows featuring work from the P&D collection include an exhibition on landscape photography and on the modernist painter Gwen John. We work closely with YCBA colleagues in all departments, including the other curatorial departments, the Study Room for works on paper collections, Paper Conservation, Imaging, and Installations, among others.

Position Description:

The intern would work closely and collaboratively on the preparation of two future exhibitions: one on the history of mezzotint engraving scheduled for the fall of 2027, and the other focusing on the nineteenth-century Trinidadian artist Michel Jean Cazabon (date TBD). Mezzotint, a tonal printmaking technique ideally suited to the replication of painted tone, became closely associated with eighteenth-century British painting despite its international origins and use. Working closely with the Curator, the intern would provide vital research assistance in building a cross-disciplinary timeline to document and contextualize the mezzotint’s storied but still incompletely documented development. The YCBA holds the drawings for Cazabon’s set of prints depicting the island of Trinidad in the nineteenth century. The intern would contribute to research that would contextualize these print albums, working with the Assistant Curator to compile a checklist of related materials across Yale, focused on both artistic and historical links. This would be a chance to learn how to conduct original research in service of two exhibitions and their related catalogues, navigate institutional collections, and gain broader exposure to the day-to-day workings of a curatorial department.