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Academic Programs

Academic Programs associated with the Art Museum at the University of Toronto

The Art Museum directly supports several academic programs at the University of Toronto. These include the MVS Curatorial Studies and MVS Studio programs at the John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design; and the Master of Museum Studies Program in the Faculty of Information, as well as Art History, Arts Management at University of Toronto Scarborough, and Visual Culture, among others. Students interested in these and other areas are invited to apply for volunteer positions, work-study positions, as well as Internships.

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MVS Curatorial Studies

Since the founding of the MVS Curatorial Studies Program in 2008, the galleries of the Art Museum have offered professional opportunities for MVS student curators that include work-study placements, research support, and the opportunity to produce their graduating exhibition projects within the professional settings of the Art Museum, or in partnership with other cultural organizations in Toronto and beyond.

Mentored by the Art Museum team of staff to mount a graduating exhibition, MVS Curatorial Studies students gain valuable experience within all aspects of exhibition planning, including: curatorial research and exhibition logistics, installation design and coordination, critical writing in the form of a curatorial essay, exhibition promotion, and programming development.

Graduate students within the MVS Curatorial Studies Program also have the opportunity to participate in courses and internships with the Art Museum staff, including Barbara Fischer, the Art Museum’s Executive Director/Chief Curator, who is cross-appointed as Associate Professor Teaching Stream within MVS Curatorial Studies.


Learn more about the MVS Curatorial Studies Program:

MVS Studio

At the end of the winter semester, each graduating MVS Studio student presents a body of work developed over the course of their study in the final exhibition hosted by the Art Museum. Students are given the opportunity to present their work in a nationally and internationally renowned gallery context, mentored by professional gallery staff to develop installation plans (and concurrent programming.)


Learn more about the MVS Studio Program:

Master of Museum Studies (MMSt)

MMSt graduate students with specializations in contemporary or historical art, collections management, or exhibition practice can participate at the Art Museum through a variety of opportunities. MMSt students enrolled in MSL4000Y (Exhibition Project) work collaboratively to stage an exhibition at the Art Museum’s galleries, including the annual University of Toronto Shelley Peterson Student Art Exhibition.


Learn more about the MMSt Program:

Internships and Independent Studies

Do you have a specific research project that could benefit from intensive study at the Art Museum? The Art Museum offers undergraduate and graduate Internships and Special Studies opportunities related to various academic fields. While special emphasis is placed on students enrolled in Graduate Studies, especially in MVS Curatorial Studies, Museum Studies, and Art History, the museum offers also learning opportunities for students enrolled in undergraduate programs in Art History and Arts Management and others.

Independent Study courses can be completed at the Art Museum in a variety of subject areas: projects can range from programming development to archival research and beyond. Students should be registered at the University of Toronto. Undergraduate and Graduate Students interested in an internship or special studies course at the Art Museum must consult with their respective faculty on eligibility criteria as well as with Art Museum staff concerning available positions.


The following represents a sample of Art Museum relevant Internships:

Student Alumni of the Art Museum

The growing community of student alumni who are working in the arts and culture sectors in Canada and internationally today, reflect the benefits and relevance of the many learning opportunities offered by the Art Museum’s past and current programs—from volunteering for the Hart House Art Committee to working in the diverse array of Work-Study positions, and participating in Academic undergraduate and Graduate programs associated with the Art Museum.


Here are profiles of some of our most recent Art Museum graduates:

  • Wanda Nanibush, (MVS Curatorial Studies 2012) became the Justina M. Barnicke Gallery’s Aboriginal Curator-in-Residence from 2012-2014. Her graduating exhibition Sovereign Acts toured to Western Canada. She recently curated the exhibition Fifth World at the Mendel Gallery in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and, in 2016, was hired by the Art Gallery of Ontario as Assistant Curator of Canadian and Indigenous Art.
  • Adam Welch, volunteer for the Hart House Art Committee while studying in the undergraduate program of Art History at UofT, is currently undertaking his Ph.D. at the University of Toronto and working as Associate Curator of Modern Art at the National Gallery of Canada.
  • Haleigh Fox (MMSt 2015), former Collections Assistant work-study student at the University of Toronto Art Centre, is currently working as the Cultural Event Coordinator for the City of Orillia.
  • John G. Hampton (MVS Curatorial Studies 2014), whose graduating exhibition Why Can’t Minimal continues to travel across Canada, became the Art Museum’s Aboriginal Curator in Residence (2014-16), while also working as Artistic Director of Trinity Square Video in Toronto. He recently was appointed Director of the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba and is the Art Museum’s first Adjunct Curator.
  • In 2014, cheyanne turions, (MVS Curatorial Studies 2016) work-study student at the Art Museum, received the prestigious Hnatyshyn Foundation and TD Bank Group Emerging Curator of Contemporary Canadian Art Award. turions was selected for the award of $10,000 by a jury of arts professionals. cheyanne turions is currently the Artist Director of Trinity Square Video as well as Curator in Residence at the Art Museum.
  • Amy Luo, (Art History. 2015), former work-study student and Young Canada Works Summer Exhibition assistant, won the Canadian Art Foundation Writing Prize in 2014 and began her graduate degree at University College London in the fall of 2015.
  • Former Collections Assistant work-study student Stephanie Nemcsok (MMSt, 2008) is currently a Professional Learning Specialist, Education at the TELUS Spark Science Centre in Calgary, AB.

Learn of other students here:  Renée van der Avoird (MMSt 2014);  Nam-In Kim (MVS Curatorial Studies 2015).