In Year Four, UMMA secured a $1 million endowment donation from Dr. Jiu-Hwa Lo Upshur (AM ‘61, PhD ‘72) to fund paid student internships at the museum. This gift, along with a $1 million endowment donation for internships and exhibitions from Erica Gervais Pappendick (AB ‘91) and Ted Pappendick, will ensure that all UMMA student interns are paid—a key FY20 action item for the museum, and an important step in expanding access to experiential learning experiences for a diverse group of students.

As former alumnae, both donors support this essential effort to not only provide U-M students with opportunities to engage with extraordinary art but also to encourage them to pursue careers in the arts. Energized by the June 2019 Association of Art Museum Directors (AAMD) resolution encouraging museums to end unpaid internship programs, these supporters are deeply committed to developing museum careers and appreciate that the arts often lag behind other academic concentrations in paid employment.

As Upshur noted, “The cost of education has increased significantly since my time as a student. I want to give students the opportunity to find meaningful internships that will build a career in the arts and museums, regardless of their financial position.”