Archives and Art Resources: Intellectual Property, Rights Intern

Schedule: Full Time, 35 hours/week, Monday, June 15 - Friday, August 14, at least three days working onsite

Department Description

Archives and Art Resources (AAR) upholds SFMOMA’s promise to provide generous access to and inspiring experiences with modern and contemporary art by working cross-departmentally to develop and steward the museum’s digital records related to art and artists. AAR manages SFMOMA’s collections and digital asset management systems; photographs artworks, exhibitions, and activities; institutional archives; and manages rights around making and using digital content about art and artists – all towards maximizing art access for the museum’s audiences and staff. 

Position Description

The Intellectual Property, Rights Intern will focus on assessing works by artist Henri Matisse in the museum’s collection for public domain status. The intern will be jointly mentored by staff in both the Archives and Art Resources and Legal teams. Specifically, the intern will be responsible for researching, writing, and tracking information related to public domain assessment for a selection of works.

Research is a collaborative endeavor, amongst and across multiple teams in the museum, and happens in conversation or involvement with artists, rights holders or their representatives. The intern will work throughout the project with staff in Archives and Art Resources, Legal and will be in dialogue with colleagues across the museum. 

Project Plan

Over the 9-week program the AAR Intern will: 

· Research and familiarize themselves with SFMOMA’s collection 

· Select approximately five (5) artworks to focus public domain research

Bonus priorities:  

· Provide feedback on how we can improve our processes related to assessing works in the collection for public

domain status. 

The Project Milestones for the intern are: 

· Locate publications for artworks by week 7

· Research + written summary for five (5) artworks and their rights status to be provided by week 9 

Educational Objectives

The intern will gain practical experience with: 

· Gaining knowledge about rules and legal doctrines governing copyright and public domain in the U.S.

· Research and writing skills needed to evaluate copyright assessment

· Working across departments at a large museum. 

· Museum collections management, digital asset management, and rights administration. 

· Seeking and documenting rights-related information about art. 

Additional Internship Programming

The Summer 2026 Internship will offer 9-weeks of hands-on experience and mentorship along with weekly presentations and discussions with various departments in the museum, off-site educational visits within the Bay Area community, and access to various tours and events within the museum.

Requirements 

· Applicants must be currently enrolled in school or a recent graduate. The SFMOMA recognizes a graduation date

within 6 months of the internship start date as a recent graduate.  

· If you are a current employee of the SFMOMA applying for an internship, you must be a current student or a

recent graduate, within 6 months of the internship start date.