Metropolitan Museum receives $23m to endow internship programme

On 30 April, the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced a $23m pledge from the Rubio Butterfield Foundation, led by trustee Jennifer Rubio and her husband Stewart Butterfield, to permanently endow its internship programme. The Met has offered internships for nearly 30 years, hosting 100 undergraduate and graduate students annually in conservation, curation, and digital imaging. Internships have only been paid since 2021. Director Max Hollein emphasized that the donors prioritized access and opportunity. The article also discusses broader museum philanthropy, citing examples from other institutions: Gary Vikan, former director of the Walters Art Museum, noted that endowing curatorial positions was often more needed than art acquisitions, increasing endowed curatorships from 3 to 18 during his tenure. Gary Tinterow of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston mentioned 140 separate funds totaling $1.9bn, including a $2m endowment from J. Venn Leeds for the Grand Gala Ball. Maxwell Anderson, former director of the Indianapolis Museum of Art and Whitney Museum, recounted guiding Melva Bucksbaum to endow a $100,000 prize for the Whitney Biennial. At Indianapolis, he suggested trustee Bren Simon donate $10m to endow the director's position, now the Melvin and Bren Simon Director. William Griswold of the Cleveland Museum of Art noted that impactful gifts align donor passion with museum purpose, often guided by the institution's strategic plan.