Art Interns Ignite YCBA With Skill, Passion

Charlee Ferguson’s internship at the Yale Center for British Art (YCBA) this summer sent her on one scholarly quest after another.

Ferguson, an undergraduate at the University of Bridgeport, worked in the YCBA’s reference library, where she performed background research on artworks in museum’s collection. For each assigned object, she would identify books and journal articles that mentioned it. Any sources she discovered were added to an online bibliography that the museum maintains to assist scholars in their research.

“I enjoy the research process. It’s like going on a scavenger hunt,” said Ferguson, whose internship was arranged through New Haven Promise, a program that provides college scholarships and career development support to graduates of the city’s public schools. “Searching for clues is a lot of fun.”

Each year the YCBA, the Yale University Art Gallery, and Yale Peabody Museum provide paid internships to young people from the greater New Haven area and Yale College students to introduce them to the many complementary facets of the museum profession.