The New Zealand Portrait Gallery Te Pūkenga Whakaata is calling for applications for the 2025 Liz Stringer Curatorial Internship.

The New Zealand Portrait Gallery enables audiences to encounter portraits of New Zealanders who, in all their diversity, have shaped our country’s development or influenced the way we think about ourselves. Through portraiture, we offer perspectives on ourselves, our history, our creativity, and our place in the world.

This paid internship will be an opportunity for you to:

• Develop hands-on curatorial, collection and project management skills
• Develop your skills and experience across the wide range of activities that take place in a busy public art gallery
• Curate one exhibition featuring works from the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Collection, developing curatorial skills including exhibition, research, artwork selection, interpretation and public programme development
• Contribute new perspectives, connections and appreciation of portraiture to the NZPG team

We anticipate the internship to be part-time (approx. 8 hours a week) for 7 months starting in June through to the exhibition opening in December, with additional minimal commitments through January and February while the exhibition is open. The successful applicant will work mostly onsite at the NZPG, flexible working conditions can be negotiated.

Applicants must have a tertiary qualification in art history, museum studies, fine arts or a related subject, or have relevant equal experience.

How to apply

Applicants must submit a proposal for an exhibition in the NZPG Front Gallery space with a 200 word concept. The concept should recontextualise items from the portrait gallery’s collection with a fresh perspective.  Proposals should include a list of 10-15 proposed artworks featuring works selected from the New Zealand Portrait Gallery Collection and other local public and private collections (ie. Victoria University, Wellington City Council Collection, The Dowse, regional gallery collections, institutional collections, as well as Artists and Dealers’ Private collections).

A job description or a plan of the Gallery can be downloaded from our website here 

To apply send your exhibition proposal, cover letter and CV with the subject line “Curatorial Internship application” to: admin@nzportraitgallery.org.nz  by 5pm Wednesday 23 April 2025.