At The Gund, student engagement is not an auxiliary feature of the museum—it is foundational to our identity and operations. Central to this commitment is the Gund Associates Program, one of the most ambitious and fully integrated models of undergraduate museum work at Kenyon. Each academic year, between forty and fifty students from across the College join the museum as paid collaborators. They come from art history and studio art, certainly, but also from environmental studies, sociology, biology, history, political science, and other fields. What unites them is intellectual curiosity and a willingness to take on real responsibility.

Gund Associates work across the institution’s core areas: curatorial research, collections management, education and public programs, visitor experience, communications, and administrative planning. Rather than shadowing staff or completing isolated tasks, students participate in the daily and long-term work of the museum. They assist in researching exhibitions, contribute to interpretive materials, support collections care, engage visitors in conversation, and help shape the public-facing life of our galleries. Their labor is substantive, and their ideas matter.

This model reflects a belief that museums are not static repositories but dynamic sites of inquiry. Within the Gund Associates Program, students encounter the museum as a place where scholarship is translated into experience—where research becomes interpretation, and interpretation becomes public dialogue. They learn how exhibitions are conceived and realized; how works of art are stewarded and contextualized; and how institutional decisions are shaped by ethics, logistics, budgets, and community relationships.

The skills developed through this work are rigorous and transferable. Associates learn to collaborate across differences, to articulate arguments with clarity, to manage projects with accountability, and to move between intellectual analysis and practical implementation. They gain firsthand experience in how creative thinking operates within institutional frameworks—how ideas are tested, debated, refined, and ultimately presented to diverse audiences. For students considering careers in museums or the broader arts ecosystem, the program offers meaningful preparation. For those pursuing other paths, it cultivates leadership, critical thinking, and problem-solving capacities that extend well beyond the cultural sector.

What distinguishes the Gund Associates Program is its scale and integration. With dozens of students involved each academic year, the program is not peripheral; it is woven into the fabric of the museum’s daily life and long-term vision. Associates do not simply learn about the institution—they actively shape it. Their questions, research, and perspectives inform exhibitions and programming, contributing to a museum culture that remains responsive, interdisciplinary, and forward-looking.

In this way, The Gund functions as a learning laboratory within the liberal arts environment. It offers students the opportunity to engage primary works of art while participating in the professional and intellectual processes that bring those works into public conversation. The Gund Associates Program exemplifies Kenyon’s commitment to experiential learning and interdisciplinary collaboration, demonstrating how a museum can serve as both classroom and catalyst—preparing students to think critically, act collaboratively, and engage the world with imagination and rigor.

All Kenyon students are welcome to apply. We release information about the annual application and interview process in the early fall. For current openings, see Kenyon Handshake and our Opportunities page.