Pathway Programs

Pathway Programs at LACMA support the career development and training of future museum leaders. The diversification of our programming, collection, audience, staff, and leadership is a major priority for the museum. Through paid fellowships, internships, and apprenticeships for museum roles in all departments, LACMA is dedicated to fostering inclusive cultures that reflect the communities we serve. 

Pathway Programs at LACMA support the career development and training of future museum leaders. The diversification of our programming, collection, audience, staff, and leadership is a major priority for the museum. Through paid fellowships, internships, and apprenticeships for museum roles in all departments, LACMA is dedicated to fostering inclusive cultures that reflect the communities we serve. 

LACMA has partnered with Fisk University to develop the ART-CC (Assessment Recruitment and Training in Collections and Conservation) Fellowship Program to offer students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) two-year fellowships in Registration and Collections Management. This program is designed to nurture museum professionals, build institutional capacity, increase access to museum and archival collections at HBCUs, and help diversify the fields of Registration and Collections Management. Fellows complete one year of training at LACMA, then spend one year in Nashville at the Fisk University Galleries. In their second year, Fellows complete a collections assessment alongside Fisk University staff and with continued mentorship from LACMA staff. Fellows also participate as mentors in LACMA and Fisk’s ongoing FLICCR program (Fisk LACMA Introduction to Conservation, Collections Management, and Registration), which is part of Fisk University's Museum Leadership Program.

ART-CC is funded by an Institute for Museums and Libraries Museum Grant for African American History and Culture. 

ASU-LACMA Master's Fellowship in Art History

While graduate training in art history remains a requirement in the museum field, it is one of the most significant barriers to equitable advancement as employees must choose between continuing to work and graduate training. Launched in 2018, the ASU-LACMA Master's Fellowship in Art History was designed to address this issue.

The ASU-LACMA Master's Fellowship in Art History is a three-year program, pairing rigorous academic instruction through traditional master’s-level coursework and thesis with on-the-job work experience. Fellows, who are current LACMA, ASU Art Museum, Pérez Art Museum Miami, or Heard Museum employees with a specific interest in making museums more inclusive and equitable, enroll in two courses per semester remotely, and fulfill language, professional development, and research requirements during the summer, while continuing in their current role at their museum. Fellows also participate in convenings focused on current issues in museum practice and institutional leadership and a customized externship, all under guidance from an outside museum professional mentor. Upon completion of the program, Fellows receive a master’s degree in Art History from ASU.

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LACMA is a key partner of the Diversity Apprenticeship Program (DAP), an initiative by The Broad to create career opportunities for people from underrepresented communities in the museum field broadly and the art handling and preparations world specifically. By underrepresented, we mean people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color; women; immigrants; LGBTQIA+; people who were formerly incarcerated; and foster youth.

The DAP provides nine-month, full-time paid apprenticeships in art handling and preparations. Apprentices receive one month of training and then rotate to at least three of 19 partner sites for hands-on experience in art handling and preparations. LACMA hosts apprentices, serves on the DAP Advisory Committee, and provides support during the initial month of training. Through the DAP, we help create tangible changes for apprentices and the communities they represent. The DAP approach, while representing new directions in the field, serves as a real-time springboard for the museum field to move toward more equitable workforce strategies.

LACMA is a key partner of the Diversity Apprenticeship Program (DAP), an initiative by The Broad to create career opportunities for people from underrepresented communities in the museum field broadly and the art handling and preparations world specifically. By underrepresented, we mean people who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color; women; immigrants; LGBTQIA+; people who were formerly incarcerated; and foster youth.

The DAP provides nine-month, full-time paid apprenticeships in art handling and preparations. Apprentices receive one month of training and then rotate to at least three of 19 partner sites for hands-on experience in art handling and preparations. LACMA hosts apprentices, serves on the DAP Advisory Committee, and provides support during the initial month of training. Through the DAP, we help create tangible changes for apprentices and the communities they represent. The DAP approach, while representing new directions in the field, serves as a real-time springboard for the museum field to move toward more equitable workforce strategies.

• Program Overview
• DAP Application

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Mellon Summer Academy and Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship Program (Paused)

Program Overview

Over the last decade, the Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship (MUCF) program has sought to diversify curatorial cohorts in American art museums, supporting the work that foregrounds the growth of strong and diverse curatorial ranks into robust and distinct art museum leadership. Following the current class of 2021-22 fellows, the MUCF will pause in order to conduct a thorough evaluation and assessment of program goals and strategies. During this process, the Foundation will analyze the program’s achievements, identify opportunities for improvement, and strengthen best practices for revitalized programming that is equal to the challenges and opportunities of our current moment. We anticipate that the program will resume in late 2023 or early 2024, ready to continue the critical work that creates a coherent web of opportunities that lead from undergraduate through graduate work to curatorial positions in our nation’s cultural institutions.

For more information please reference the FAQs pdf.

Mellon Summer Academy and Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship Program (Paused)

Program Overview

Over the last decade, the Andrew W. Mellon Undergraduate Curatorial Fellowship (MUCF) program has sought to diversify curatorial cohorts in American art museums, supporting the work that foregrounds the growth of strong and diverse curatorial ranks into robust and distinct art museum leadership. Following the current class of 2021-22 fellows, the MUCF will pause in order to conduct a thorough evaluation and assessment of program goals and strategies. During this process, the Foundation will analyze the program’s achievements, identify opportunities for improvement, and strengthen best practices for revitalized programming that is equal to the challenges and opportunities of our current moment. We anticipate that the program will resume in late 2023 or early 2024, ready to continue the critical work that creates a coherent web of opportunities that lead from undergraduate through graduate work to curatorial positions in our nation’s cultural institutions.

For more information please reference the FAQs pdf.

• FAQs

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