Woody interns gain hands-on experience in range of museum roles

In summer 2025, ten William & Mary students with a passion for museums received Woody Internships in Museum Studies to pursue ten-week positions with local and regional institutions, as well as several farther afield -- in Delaware, Ohio, South Carolina, and Washington, DC. 
 
The Woody internship program, which is generously supported by Dr. Carol Woody ‘71 and Mr. Robert Woody, pairs William & Mary undergraduates with expert practitioners in the museum field.   
  
Clare Yee ’27, an art history and Hispanic studies double major, spent her summer at the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA. Yee says she had planned on applying to Woody program even before coming to W&M. 
 
“When I was applying to William & Mary, I was looking at the different internship opportunities for museums, and so the Woody internship program was always in the back of my mind,” she said. 
 
During her internship, Yee researched the Chrysler’s Asian glass collection, helped install various artwork in museum galleries, and learned visitor-engagement strategies from museum leadership. Along with a team of other interns, Yee helped curate and install an exhibit, which opened in the last week of her internship.  
 
The experience solidified Yee’s interest in pursuing a curatorial role within museum studies. She was most inspired by her research of the Asian glass collection and the opportunity to curate her own shelf for its exhibition.  
 
“I myself am half Chinese, and so even though my family is very culturally American, it was still really interesting to learn about just Chinese art history, learning about the dynasties, and the history of China,” she said.  
 
History major Andi Ko ’25 interned at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC.  
 
Ko, who works in Swem Library during the school year, says her internship in the library and archives department uniquely combined her passions for library sciences and history, “fulfilling library kid dreams.”  
 
Her internship largely consisted of cataloging and researching, an aspect of library work she’d previously overlooked. “That was a really interesting part of the process that I hadn’t considered,” she said. “Someone needs to make all of the records; they don’t just make themselves.”  
 
Ko says she enjoyed how crucial and integrated her work felt to the museum’s operations, giving her an unusual glimpse into how it all worked. “I think that was the really cool part about it. I could see the inner workings of this behind-doors space that a lot of people at museums don’t ever really get to see.” 
 
Working with education and archival teams, Ko was impressed by the breadth of roles in museum work. “There are all sorts of different routes within the museum itself,” she explained, including roles in curation, human resources, education, event planning, and more. “There’s something for everyone.” 
 
Art history and environmental science double major William Armacost ‘26, who interned at the Charleston Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, was also struck by the diverse array of roles in museum spaces and inspired by the conversations he had with various experts in their fields. 
 
“It was crazy to think that I could even be in those conversations. And each person has a unique skill set: there's a textile person, and there's someone who did plates. It was cool getting to be in the room where it happens.”  
 
In his internship, Armacost worked on a variety of projects including sorting and researching archives, building 3D models of museum objects, and designing potential displays for items in museum storage.  
 
The Woody internship was Armacost’s first time working in a museum, and the experience clarified his post-graduate interests as an Art History major. 
 
“I do see myself working in museums,” he said. “I think that the kind of work museums do — especially efforts focused on content, and working in archives, and curating — is something that’s really exciting to me.” 
 
This year’s cohort had one first-year: Sharpe Community Scholar Cadence Hodge ’29. She spent her ten weeks at Preservation Virginia in Richmond. As the only intern in the small office, Hodge developed close relationships with her colleagues and has stayed involved with their research into the school year.  
 
Her research focused on the Black families who purchased land at Smith’s Fort Plantation in 1886 and their living descendants.  
  
Researching with such specificity the personal history of individuals, Hodge said, felt very different from the sort of broader academic research she was used to. The nature of her research also meant details carried more weight.  
 
“It was such a personal history, and it was really interesting to see how significant the small things are when you're focusing on individual histories rather than a broader historical context.” 
 
Hodge’s research roles extended to attending Preservation Virginia’s Board meetings, and drafting an exhibit scheduled to open in 2027. 
 
Like many of the Woody interns, Hodge was inspired by this experience and the passion of her colleagues to pursue museum work in the future. Staying in touch with her supervisor has also opened the possibility for future internship connections. 
 
 “It definitely solidified that I’m interested in this,” she said. “There’s also the big benefit in the museum field that everyone knows each other.” 
 
And of course, research isn’t the only learning experience. For many interns, living alone in a new city for ten weeks was its own sort of challenge. Hodge explained, “I was really intimidated by doing everything by myself and going to work for the first time in that way — like not an on-campus job. But it went really well.”